Unification update..

Email just received from the ACA

Responses to some common questions

1. Q: I am a life member of one of the organisations. What will happen to my membership after unification?
A: It is anticipated that life memberships will be honoured and carried forward into the new body to recognise the substantial support of these members in the past. However, if this is the case, one-off donations from life members to help with the costs of establishing the new organisation would, of course, be very welcome.

2. Q: What if I am a member of more than one organisation at the moment?
A: You will only pay one subscription in the future. Four for the price of one! We realise that this will mean that we will initially lose some income from those people who have more than one subscription. However, we intend to grow the membership rapidly and cut overhead costs so that this initial dip will quickly be made up for by new membership revenue and efficiencies. This applies to clubs and individuals alike. Many clubs are struggling to decide to which of the many organisations they can afford to affiliate; now they will have just one annual membership charge but receive all the services offered by the existing bodies, and more. Donations will always be welcome of course...

3. Q: How much will membership cost?
A: We are working on this now with our advisers and will be testing the market over the coming weeks. We want the basic membership to be affordable for all anglers, but at the same time we need to make it possible for individuals to offer additional support for particular campaigns or activities.

Similarly, we will offer clubs, river and fishery owners a fuller range of services for much less than they would currently pay for membership of more than one of the participant organisations. In brief, we will charge less than the collective subscriptions, but do more!

4. Q: I support the concept of unification, but I want to be sure that the good work of the NFA/ACA/S&TA/NAFAC will continue in the future and will not get lost in a large organisation
A: Our vision for the new body is that it will be able to do much more for anglers and fishery interests than the current sum of its existing parts. This will mean that it will encourage more young anglers, organise more competitions, exert greater influence on Government and its agencies, make more legal challenges to polluters, offer discounts and generally protect its members' interests better. Our vision is not just for a body which does a little more of everything we currently do: we want to create an organisation which is in a completely different league to anything anglers, clubs and fishery managers have had before. It needs to be far more efficient, professional and dynamic. It must be nationally recognised by anglers and non-anglers alike.

5. Q: I'm worried that a larger organisation will be more bureaucratic and will waste money
A: It's true that when organisations are very large they can become faceless bureaucracies which spend most of their money on meetings about meetings and fail to deliver any real benefits. Many government departments and agencies seem to fall into this trap... Anglers need a single organisation to represent properly their interests and while this is bound to be larger than any of the joining bodies it will always focus on delivering real benefits rather than maintaining its own existence.

By unifying, we will merge at least 4 administrations. By so doing, we will reduce the costs of printing, design, postage, software licences, audit fees, accountancy, legal advice, insurance, training and property management, to name but a few. More of the staff will spend their time delivering the organisation's objectives, rather than on administration.

6. Q: Will the new organisation cover just England or the whole UK?
A: Some of the participant organisations currently work only in England, while others have operations throughout the UK. It is very important that all these operations continue, and continue to develop, after unification. However, the new body will also perform certain roles - for example being the governing body for coarse, game and possibly sea fishing - only in England. Other organisations will continue to act as the governing bodies for the different disciplines of angling in Scotland and in Wales.

Most anglers go fishing at one time or another in other nations within the UK. Many of the things this new body will do will benefit all anglers, wherever they fish. UK-wide and European activities affect our interests - these include implementation of the Water Framework Directive, conservation of cross border rivers, marine fisheries conservation, the effects of climate change etc. After all, many of our rivers flow, and fish swim, across borders within the UK.

We will continue to work closely with the existing organisations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to ensure that all anglers in the UK get the best service and support in the most sensible and cost-effective way.

7. Q: Is the new body just another talking shop?
A: NO. Everyone involved is committed to making absolutely sure that the new organisation will deliver real benefits to anglers. Objectives will be agreed in advance by consulting members, and performance will be monitored and reported. Service level agreements will be agreed with clubs, river and fishery owners. Angling has always benefited from the tremendous efforts of volunteers, from organising local competitions to lobbying Europe. The new body will give greater support to these stalwarts with technical advice, information materials and training courses.

8. Q: Will we get to vote on whether our organisation gets involved?
A: Each organisation has different constitutional arrangements, but there will be a further opportunity for members of all the existing bodies to have a say regarding whether or not their organisation joins the new body at this stage. In the case of the ACA, there will be a vote at the AGM.

9. Q: How democratic will the new organisation be? What role will clubs and individual members have in determining policy, electing the board and officers etc.?
A: The rules or constitution of the new organisation will be drafted over the next two months, but it is our intention that the new body will involve its members in policy decisions through a regional network of groups comprised of Consultatives and branches of the participant organisations. There will also be mechanisms in place for ballots or polls of the membership to be taken on controversial issues. The usual practice in representative organisations is for the Chairman and the Board to be elected by the membership to serve for a fixed term, after which they will choose whether to be put forward for re-election. The board would appoint the executives and other paid staff, who would be protected by employment legislation and could not be voted out of office. The organisation will only be able to prove to government that it is truly representative if it has a significant number of members and there is a transparent process for them to express their views.

10. Q: Will the new body be dominated by coarse/game/sea angling interests?
A: The governance arrangements of the new body will guarantee against any such domination.

As far as possible, issues will be dealt with across all disciplines. Cleaning up sewage overflows in our rivers, for example, would benefit all river fish and would also reduce coastal pollution. Angling is a positive contributor to society, the environment and the economy, whether it is done using a pole, fly rod or beach caster, and should be promoted in its entirety. There will, however, be topics which require a specialist approach and we intend to recruit staff and voluntary committee members who can discuss and take action to address particular issues such as Koi Herpes Virus in carp, the impact of salmon farms on wild stocks, or the minimum landing size for bass. However, nearly half of all regular anglers practice more than one type of fishing and we are determined to break down the artificial barriers which have been created between people who all share a love of angling.

11. Q: What about the issues about which anglers fundamentally disagree?
A: There will be some controversial issues, such as the stocking of rivers, or certain fishing techniques, where anglers will never agree. The new body will not set out to achieve the impossible by seeking solutions to issues which have been debated for generations. There are plenty of things for us to deal with about which we do all agree. Where a policy position or action is required on a particular issue (e.g. if a ban on livebaiting were proposed in England), the new body's constitution will set out a clear and open mechanism for its members to be involved in its decisions.

I hope that these answers will help address your concerns. We will be circulating further details in the next month or two to our entire membership along with notice of our AGM. Thank you once again for your support of the ACA.

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Stephen Marsh-Smith
Chairman

The above is part of an email I just received regarding the update of the unification process. It seems that we will all get a vote whether to 'stay or go' at the AGM.

"In the case of the ACA, there will be a vote at the AGM."

Shame there isn't a postal ballot. How will members feel who can't make it to Fishmongers Hall or wherever?