Nature Reserve Meets Fishery.

Here's the problem,

I stand to lose some fishing in the near future. The reason for this is that the owner of the lake has retired and sold the lake off to the North Lincs Wildlife Trust who operate the neighbouring Far Ings nature reserve.

I have only been fishing the venue for about 6 months. I desperately want to keep the fishing going there. Under the arrangement made for the sale of the lake, 5 people will be allowed to fish the lake for the next 5 years. Also I have heard that members of the family which owned the lake will be allowed to fish it.

I would like to present the idea to the North Lincs Wildlife Trust to develop the lake as a syndicated private fishery. I have though up quite a few arguments which I could use as to why fishing should be allowed in a controlled manner.

1. If a syndicate was set up then a set amount, say 20 fishermen would have to pay to join each year, this could provide an income of upwards of ?1000 per yer to the Trust

(The Lincs Wildlife Trust Development Plan Review, Part 4, Nature reserve Acuisitions and Management Priorities. Sub section 4 is below.

4)Funding/income/capital items

The Reserves Dept accounts for the largest part of the Trust?s expenditure but the annual demands for management costs can only be partially met. There is still much work to do to bring all reserves to the highest standard. This is more important than ever due to commitments made to RES and agri-environment schemes. Are the following proposed action points appropriate:

a)Establish investment into a long-term 'replacement fund', to ensure the nature reserve infrastructure, particularly the huge investment in fencing and access, can be maintained to a good standard (last 10 years > ?500,000 spent).

b)Ensure a rolling programme of capital equipment renewal for reserve management can be achieved (current book value c. ?250,000).

c)Explore sources of funding and keep abreast of changes to existing funding processes, e.g. agri-environment, aggregates, landfill, etc.

d)Re-examine cost balance of income from reserves, e.g. woodland products, meat/livestock.

e)Explore means of identifying grants and other funding bodies.)



The part that interests me is sub section d. Surley a fishery is an ideal income from the Trusts Reserves at no cost to the trust.

2. Anglers who wished to join the syndicate would be subjected to a interview where someone from the trust could participate in to satisfy themselves of the anglers attitude towards wildlife in general.

3. Regardless of whether fishing is allowed of not it will most likley be carried out on occasion with or without the Trusts consent. Surely it is better if it is carried out with the Trusts consent and following rules set by the trust? Anglers who are part of the syndicate would act as Balifs stopping anyone fishing without consent.

4. Anglers on the bank of the lake thoroughout the year would provide usefull sets of eyes around the lake to help prevent the fly tipping that goes on at the moment at the site and also keep a general eye on the site.

5. Birds and other wildlife rely on fish as part of the food chain to survive both through eating of fish and their eggs. There is no-one better placed than fishermen to keep an eye on the well being of the fish.

6. Work parties would be organised to carry out any work required at the site, both from a fishing point of view (only when authorised by the Trust) and to help with any work that the Trust needs carrying out on the site.



Well thats about my lot at the moment. Have any of you been in similar situation or had any dealings with nature reservs regards fishing. Can anyone provide an example(s) of where a nature reserve and fishery exist hand in hand successfully. Can anyone provide advice.

Thanks
Paul

Paul, you're suggesting that a syndicate of say 20 anglers would produce an income of around ?1000/year. This works out at ?50/year/angler. If the lake offers outstanding fishing, I think anglers would be willing to pay this amount. If not, a lower income might be more realistic. I can think of a number of big fishing clubs offering lots of waters, with annual subs of less than ?50.

The Wildlife Trust would probably not want to be involved with the details of setting up and running a syndicate. The Trust might also not want large clubs ( who may have little control over actions of individual members ) to use the lake.

The Trust might look favourably on fishing if a syndicate leader approaches with an offer.

Running a syndicate might be time consuming.

Another solution might be to approach a small local club (preferably one you belong to) explain the potential of the lake and persuade them to lease it.

This really is a serious issue in your area paul. I've looked around lots of lakes between lincoln and the humber and it seems the various wildlife/birdy lobys (are actively encouraged to) swallow up every piece of water they can lay their hands on. I would think that there would be some seriously good fishing on many of these pits and it's not as if the area is well endowed with good accessible fisheries.
These organisations are rarely willing to talk to anglers. The impression that I get is that the local councils are totally anti-angling to the extent that angling is never considered an option from the word go!
One thing I'd like to know is where are our so called governing bodies and other angling conservation bodies when all this is occuring. If this sort of thing was happening in the Colne or Lea valleys on such a grand scale the organisations in question would at least have some sort of opposition!

Based on my dealings with various Bird and Wildlife Trusts you've got no hope Paul because not a single one that I've approached will even contemplate listening.

Good luck, hope you prove that there is one willing to allow anglers.

Your only hope is if the owner will build a covenant into the deed of sale stating they must allow fishing to continue.

I'd guess there's probably little chance of that, and these kind of organisations tend to pretty much be as Sasha says.

Similar things are going on in parts of the Fens, where various nature groups want to create a new wetland.

The lake does not offer outstanding fishiing for the average day ticket angler. It does however hold some very nice fish and the all important carp. The reason I say they are important is because these should attract syndicate members. The carp only number a few and have been in there a long long while as far as I know, They dont get fished for a lot either. Not many places offer that kind of fishing these days, especially in my area.

For those resons I dont think one of the local fishing clubs would be interested as they all seem to be based around match anglers and match style waters. This year I have paid ?55 for the year if memory serves me correctly so there must be at least a few willing to pay that as the syndicate currently on there does have a few members. What it would offer that a larger club of association does not is exclusive fishing where more often than not you would probably have the lake to yourself.

Tim, the nature reserve which I am talking about certainly has control of quite a few lakes, the potential of which is very very good. I have been looking into it and it appears they have been donated a lot of money from a couple of sources, one being the national lottery, to purchase this lake.

Your right about is it wa in the Colne Valley.

Well I'm going to put somthing together and either write to them or try and go and speak to somebody at the reserve. Its a plan in the running and it will most likley be a while before I approach them, I need to get the idea/plan straight first.

Paul,
All you need to do is persuade Lionel Grooby that it a good idea, he can make it happen, take some doing though.
Faye has worked with him for 10 years now and might be able to advise you of whats the best approach. Must be in writing and concise in the first instance I would have thought though.

There are many that will pay ?50 just to be somewhere nice and away from the idiots in our pastime these days, easy.

Tony.

You have mail at your home address Tony!

Paul count me in mate