Add to that the fact that nowhere else in Europe, including half of the United Kingdom has such a law and it soon becomes apparent that the wildlife seems to get on quite well in it's absence.
In fact it could be said that nesting birds in particular are more at risk of disturbance due to the close season being a perfect time for clubs to carry out maintenance to their fisheries in the form of work parties just at the time when the birds are sitting. As a conservationist and a countryman you surely know that the best time to do that sort of work is during the winter when everything is dormant and the fishing is generally poor and any disturbed ground will provide a welcome feast for the birds.
How you manage to extrapolate that I believe, "that all conservation measures put in place for the protection of our wildlife is wrong", from my belief that the close season is a law which has been made redundant by changing angling practices is beyond me but I suppose some people will stoop to anything to win an argument.
I could go on and on about why this law is counter productive but the buzzer has just gone on the oven and it's time to serve dinner.
Finally and just to clarify, I have nothing to gain either financially or from a sporting point from the abolition of this law as I will be too busy fishing for tope and gravid tench (sic) at this time of the year, only heading for the rivers when the schools break up for summer.
Second time you’ve said this so let unpick it eh? Across many European countries there are close seasons based on individual species, where you are not allowed to fish for them during a given point.
Half the UK doesn’t have a close season. NI doesn’t have indigenous stocks of dace, chub, barbel and grayling. The salmon/seatrout seasons are enforcing stringently there.
Scotland doesn’t have a close season on the above either, true, but you be hard pressed to find a river up their where they allow you coarse fish during the Salmon Season as salmon/seatrout fishing on its rivers are dominant.
You are clearly unaware and/or are choosing not to acknowledge it that on all AONB, RAMSAR, SSSIs, SBIs, land owned by Government Agency, Local Authority, County Council, Parish Council, Conservation Area designated under Planning Law, Royal Arboriculture Society, Arboricultural Association (Code of Practice) the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, the European Habitats Directive 1992/Nesting Birds Directive there is a General moratorium on work being carried out between the 1 March to 1 September for this very reason.
Where work can’t be avoided, an emergency, there has to be a pre-work survey carried out by a suitably competent person. E.g. Ecologist, Ornithologist, Bird Biologist.
Therefore any club or landowner carrying out such work during this period could well be falling foul of any or all of the above.
Any Work Party Organiser worth his/her salt should know all this and adhere to all of it. And if they don’t they fully need to avail themselves of it to avoid dropping themselves and the club in the courts.
Outdated as much as you think the CS is, the Conservation Laws of the UK are not! Any club landowner who disregards them, does so at their own peril.
So Titus would you like to tell us all the clubs who are not compliant with the laws please?