I
Ian Cloke
Guest
TWO years ago this month, the Anglers? Conservation Association (ACA), the small but potent body that pursues polluters of rivers and lakes through the courts and had long been one of the sport?s most respected bodies, was plunged into crisis.
For nearly 60 years, the ACA had been fighting the good fight in England and Wales ? and had acquired a formidable reputation. It had taken on more than 2,000 cases, fighting some of them as far as the High Court, and had lost only three.
It had defeated multinational corporations and one-man bands, Government ministries and local authorities, water companies and even water regulators. By deft use of common law rather than criminal law, it had won millions in damages for the angling clubs and riparian owners who fund it.
Then, turmoil. Its director and its press officer, a husband-and-wife team, left abruptly. Although the pair denied wrongdoing, rumours of all kinds were rife. It later became clear that the organisation was in financial crisis, that membership was down, that key people had quit and that morale had reached rock bottom.
Well, that was then and this is now. Under a vigorous chairman and an energetic new director, the ACA is reporting finances under control, membership stabilised, the legal team strengthened and direction and focus sharpened.
The case book ? damages won in 11 disputes out of 11 in the past 12 months alone, more than in the previous three years combined ? tells part of the story. An aggressive new posture, combined with a wider interpretation of its brief, reveals another.
In February, a crucial victory on the sale of some sheep dips was won over the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD), the body that licenses the sometimes toxic chemicals used on farm animals and that often end up in rivers and lakes. The salmon-farming industry has been threatened with action if imported diseases and parasites affect wild salmon and damages from farms supplying coarse fish and trout have been won.
continues............
For nearly 60 years, the ACA had been fighting the good fight in England and Wales ? and had acquired a formidable reputation. It had taken on more than 2,000 cases, fighting some of them as far as the High Court, and had lost only three.
It had defeated multinational corporations and one-man bands, Government ministries and local authorities, water companies and even water regulators. By deft use of common law rather than criminal law, it had won millions in damages for the angling clubs and riparian owners who fund it.
Then, turmoil. Its director and its press officer, a husband-and-wife team, left abruptly. Although the pair denied wrongdoing, rumours of all kinds were rife. It later became clear that the organisation was in financial crisis, that membership was down, that key people had quit and that morale had reached rock bottom.
Well, that was then and this is now. Under a vigorous chairman and an energetic new director, the ACA is reporting finances under control, membership stabilised, the legal team strengthened and direction and focus sharpened.
The case book ? damages won in 11 disputes out of 11 in the past 12 months alone, more than in the previous three years combined ? tells part of the story. An aggressive new posture, combined with a wider interpretation of its brief, reveals another.
In February, a crucial victory on the sale of some sheep dips was won over the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD), the body that licenses the sometimes toxic chemicals used on farm animals and that often end up in rivers and lakes. The salmon-farming industry has been threatened with action if imported diseases and parasites affect wild salmon and damages from farms supplying coarse fish and trout have been won.
continues............