Broads angling under threat

This is one of these e-petitions, and one that is close to my heart! Please atleast read it, even sign it, and hopefully post it on some more angling forums. Its already on AnglersNet and Angling Times.

BROADS ANGLING UNDER THREAT

At this very moment a private Bill is going through Parliament. Called the Broads Authority Bill it contains some welcome and long overdue safety requirements for the boating fraternity. But, as ever, angling gets a poor deal. The Chief Executive of the Broads Authority has stated that the Bill is of ?no interest to anglers?. Angling most certainly is interested, and concerned.

The Broads is a tidal waterway, plain and simple. Anglers have, for centuries, had the right to cast a line pretty much where and when they wish. But these common law rights and practices are under serious threat under the terms of the proposed Broads Bill. Quite clearly the Bill would give the Broads Authority the ability to control where and when anglers go fishing. The majority of successful Broads anglers do so from a boat, and ?special directions? would allow a Navigation Ranger the power to move an angler on from their chosen location, and to do so without specific reason.

During the summer many of us go angling at the crack of dawn, partly to avoid the holiday boat traffic, but also because it a good time to cast a line. Most of us do so with consideration to those who slumber on, but the Authority is asking for the ability to control boat traffic, either by closing a stretch of river or by quite simply telling us that we may not navigate at that time. They wish to be able to tell us when and where we can go.

The bank angler is also subject to the Nanny State?s desire to control everything that we do. Who would have thought that an angler?s rod could be seen as an obstruction to navigation? Well, there are folk on the Broads that do, and Broads Rangers who have made it clear that they would like the power to be able to restrict the length of anglers? rods and poles. The proposed Broads Bill will allow them that power.

The details of the Bill are in the public domain for all those who wish to read them. Many of the clauses are wide open to interpretation, and there lies the problem. How might the Bill be used against angling, not only now, but also in the future?

This is one time when anglers need to support each other. The Broads is an angler?s paradise, one that attracts tens of thousands each year. The present administration may not have a stated anti-angling agenda, but there is a strong conservation lobby within the Broads Authority. The wording of the Bill is loose, too loose. In a nutshell it could be used against angling with devastating effect.

The Broads Bill has already been opposed in Parliament, it must be opposed again. Whilst no one expects the Prime Minister to oppose the Bill, we all have the ability to ask him to do so via an ?E-Petition?, and to see that relevant M.P.s made aware of it. Details of the E-Petition are here:

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/BroadsBill/

Please sign, please register your opposition to these draconian controls that can be used against angling. The details of the petition will then be made available to M.P.?s in both Norfolk and Suffolk, hopefully encouraging them to oppose further progress of the Bill through parliament.

If you are willing then please copy this to any other forums that you visit, thank you.

Done it!

Thanks.

There has already been a query on AnglersNet as to why the Petition doesn't actually mention angling. I lifted the reply:

QUOTE, no mention of angling because I have tried to keep the petition short and sweet. I have also asked yachtsmen to sign it, and I haven't mentioned poles because many yachtsmen are anti long poles! I am asking everyone to sign. I also had to present my petition for inspection, and there is a stated need to keep things short. By and large I think that the boating fraternity are fairly well protected in the Bill as it now stands, but I am concerned as to how anglers stand. If a conservation lobby gains control of the Broads Authority then I believe that we could have serious problems on places like Hickling.

Please, please don't ignore this one. We stand to loose a great deal on the Broads.

What do we stand to lose..? I've read the bill and can't see a problem.

The worry was the National Park status, which was defeated several months back.

Simple Chris, the Bill very clearly gives the Authority the ability to restrict boat movement, e.g. anglers wishing to access their chosen swim at their chosen time; also to prevent boats mooring where they wish, e.g. anchoring to go fishing. The Authority still has the power to close off sections of the waterway for a number of hours, great if your destination is the other side of that closed area. May I suggest that you re-read the 'special directions' as well as the clauses relating to closures, its clear enough.

The Bill also allows for the clearance of obstructions, seemingly harmless but on two occasions, at public meetings, I have actually heard the Chief Navigation Ranger tell people that anglers poles would be classed as obstuctions.

Then there is the issue of wakeboarding. Wakeboarding and angling do NOT mix, plain and simple.

I'm sorry but what I regard as the soft soap and platitudes from the Broads Forum is not entirely convincing. Personally I have no great confidence in the Forum. Its a talking shop, hardy a decision maker.

At a recent committee meeting the Chief Executive of the Broads Authority actually stated that there was nothing in the Broads Bill that concerned angling. For any angler that fishes from a boat, and that is most of us who fish for pike, then the Bill does concern us.

The Bill needs to go back to the table, the Authority needs to rethink what it is doing. Anglers need to ensure that they are free to go angling when and where they wish.

It isn't just a case of how the Authority intends to use the Bill now. It is also a case of how the Bill is worded and how it might be interpretted in years to come, infact that is the greatest fear.

QUOTE 'The worry was the National Park status, which was defeated several months back'.

The Broads is already a member of the National Parks family. What was defeated was the renaming of the Broads as a National Park because that would have had to include the use of the Sandford principle.

Chris, it is an issue of trust, and I, for one, don't trust some of the people involved. I don't feel that angling is entirely safe. We need to make sure that it is.

Not a case of reading the Bill to see how it is to be used, more a case of reading the Bill to see how it could be misused.

Another aspect of this Bill is that it depends on who you have been talking to, and to whome they have been talking to. But the Bill is there to be read, I'll sort out a link. The link being:
http://www.broads-nav.com/
and you will find various useful inks, including one to the full Broads Bill so you can judge for yourselves.

Chris, an edited version of the 'special directions', just read them and it must surely be clear to you how such wording could be used against all those who fish from boats. All the national boating organisations have formally objected and anglers are being left out in the cold. Read too the mention of 'obstructions, and how that could apply to fishing poles.

Special directions to vessels

(b) for regulating the time at which and the manner in which any vessel may enter, leave, lie or navigate within the navigation area;
(c) for regulating or requiring the movement, berthing, mooring or unmooring of any vessel in the navigation area;
(d) for regulating the position, or placing, of any vessel while it is in the navigation area;
(iv) it is making an unlawful use of, or causing an obstruction to, the navigation area, or interfering with the reasonable use or enjoyment of the navigation area by other vessels or persons exercising a public right of navigation therein; or
(i) for removing obstructions from the navigation area and keeping it clear;
(j) for prohibiting the mooring or anchoring of any vessel in any particular part or parts of the navigation area;

The above can so easily be used to tell that we can't go fishing in certain locations. Just imagin how such wording could be used to move anglers on who are piking on Hickling for example.

I've signed.

Even though I don't (at present) fish the Broads, I see any new restrictions placed on angling as a threat to us all and would encourage everyone involved in the sport to do the same. This may not directly affect you now but could form a precedent that allows similar restrictions elsewhere that do.

I just signed. It's of special interest to me because I'll shortly be moving to Norfolk.

Enjoy your angling, Angler.

I don't know how many of you guys have signed, but thank you. Its mounting up nicely.