Angling Trust Christmas Greetings

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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the Angling Trust & Fish Legal A meesage from Roland Caley, Acting Chief Executive, Angling Trust & Fish Legal         In 2019, the Angling Trust and Fish Legal celebrated its 10th anniversary at a time when fish and fishing has faced huge challenges in both the freshwater and marine environments.         That’s why it has never been more important to be a member of the Angling Trust and Fish Legal and we are extremely grateful for your support. The money we receive from your subscriptions, donations and legacies enables us to campaign on behalf of all coarse, sea and game anglers, and to protect the interest of our members.       Those threats to the sport we love come from many sources: pollution from farming, over-abstraction, inadequate controls on sewage, predation, uncertainty over Brexit and the new UK Fisheries Bill, dry summers, decline in salmon numbers, plastics and litter, damaging hydropower schemes, invasive non-native species, falling rod licence sales, poaching, threats to anglers’ rights – just a few of the many issues that the Angling Trust and Fish Legal have been helping to tackle in the past year. It would be impossible to reflect on all the work we have carried out in 2019, so here’s a flavour of just some of it: Action on pollution Only 14% of England’s rivers are classified as ‘healthy’, mainly as a result of pollution from farming, inadequate controls on sewage, over-abstraction and dry summers. We are campaigning for a new payment system where farmers are rewarded for the good management of rivers that flow through their land. We also want to see tighter controls on water companies to prevent pollution from raw sewage and restrictions on abstraction, particularly from our precious chalk streams which have been seriously affected by lack of rainfall. See more  Protecting fisheries from predation Through our partnership with the Environment Agency, the Angling Improvement Fund has distributed £670,000 of fishing licence money to protect fisheries from predation. In 2019, we awarded funds totalling nearly £130,000 to 31 clubs and fisheries to protect fish from predation, including otter-proof fencing for stillwaters and measures to combat cormorants and mink. See more Representation for sea anglers Through our lobbying in Westminster we have succeeded in pushing sea angling up the political agenda and will continue to protect anglers’ rights after Brexit in the new Fisheries Bill. We’ve also lobbied the Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities to ban estuary and inshore netting and, only last week, successfully campaigned to increase the bag limit for bass anglers in 2020. See more  Making polluters pay Whether they are rogue farmers, water companies or multinational corporations, Fish Legal has continued to win pollution cases against companies large and small on behalf of its members. That’s enabled compensation to be paid to the angling clubs and fishery owners affected so that they can restore their waters. See more Increasing lawfulness and raising awareness of fisheries crime Our highly respected Fisheries Enforcement Support Service, managed by experienced policing professionals, plays a key role in coordinating the partnership response to fisheries crime - increasing the wider support available to the Environment Agency. Our hundreds of trained Volunteer Bailiffs contribute over 25,000 patrol hours annually, sharing 500 all-important intelligence logs with the police and EA. Concurrently, our Building Bridges Project continues educating migrant anglers regarding our angling laws and rules, providing multilingual information and integration opportunities through introductions to angling clubs and hosting international competitions. See more Getting more people fishing Through our partnerships with the Environment Agency, Sport England, Canal & Rivers Trust and Get Hooked on Fishing, we are determined to see more people take up fishing and halt the decline in rod licence sales. In the past year, we’ve organised 762 events and given 36,958 adults and juniors the chance to sample fishing for the first time. See more More competitions than ever We believe that every angler should have the opportunity to get involved in competitive angling regardless of their age, sex, experience or ability. This year we have organised over 350 individual and team competitions across coarse, sea and game angling and on the international front we’ve made a successful bid to host the inaugural Ladies World Carp Championships in England in 2020. Next year, we will also be hosting the SALC Home Nations Shore Championships in Weymouth.   We will also remember 2019 as a year of change for the Angling Trust & Fish Legal. In June, we said goodbye to Mark Lloyd who had led our two organisations as Chief Executive since they began 10 years ago. Next month, we welcome Jamie Cook to the role and very much look forward to working with him on his vision to build a bright new future for angling.   Thank you so much for your continued support. Please help us grow membership by referring a friend to join the Angling Trust & Fish Legal – and both you and your friend could receive £29 to spend on tackle at Fishing Megastore! Find out more here   Finally, may I take this opportunity to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a healthy and Happy New Year. Tight lines!   Roland Caley Acting Chief Executive, Angling Trust & Fish Legal

The Angling Trust is the united national representative body for all angling in England and Wales. It is united in a collaborative relationship with Fish Legal, a separate membership association that uses the law to protect fish stocks and the rights of its members throughout the UK. Joint membership packages with Fish Legal are available for individuals, clubs, fisheries, riparian owners and other categories. Please find out more. WWW.ANGLINGTRUST.NET