Angling Trust in trouble

Angling Trust to Make Cuts

Just had an email from the AT saying it's made redundancies because too few anglers were prepared to put their hands in their pocket to support it.
Isn't that always the way in this sport? The old ACA used to struggle. Here we have an organisation which has achieved great things in its short existence and has been damned by the apathy of the people it supports.
I'm a member. I hope you lot are.

B****y typical! I dispair with anglers sometimes.

I haven't joined the Angling Trust, and i don't even know who they are, or what they do.
I have never had any correspondence from the Angling Trust inviting me to join them, let alone any correspondence from them explaining to me, what they do, and the benefits of joining them.
So, perhaps it has come down to poor advertising, as well as, a less than explanitive discription of the benefits to all anglers.
This could simply be down to my own ignorance, i buy a rod license every year, and i join, and support my local club waters, i buy fishing tackle from Local fishing tackle shops, so am i not doing my bit for angling?
When the Angling Trust invite me to look at what they do, and what the benefits of joining them are, i will consider funding them, until then i shall continue to support what is the law and what i know.

Tight Lines

Its just the new version of the ACA been a member for a few years now.

Bob,

I don't even know what the ACA did or do?

There was massive publicity, threads on this forum, articles in the angling press (weekly and monthly): coverage everywhere. Here's a link to the (depressing) news item on their website http://www.anglingtrust.net/news.as...ion=29&sectionTitle=Angling+Trust+Latest+News
Less than 1% of anglers have joined. That is SO disappointing. If our fishing continues to deteriorate we have no one to blame but ourselves. Get your cheque books out!
I suppose now we'll get a whole series of moaning, I-told-you-so, I pay enough already, posts

I have been on to the Angling Trust Website as i had no previous knowledge of what they do, to be totally honest, i still don't see what the benefits to me would be if i did join them.
Instead of telling people to get there cheque books out and join them, tell me why i should and explain it in a way that everyone can at least understand the so called importance.
Do the EA not take up pollution issues?
Fish for Free bonus points??
Get free points when you buy your fishing tackle from participating Tackle Shops or online Tackle shops?? what if my local tackle shops don't participate, should i just abandon them??
Personal Insurance Cover?? why incase i accidently impale some eejit with my bankstick.

Other than keeping some people in a job, please explain to me in laymans terms why i should pay the Angling Turst £20.00p ........ Bear in Mind i am unemployed at the moment and if i am going to fork out £20.00p on top of my rod License and Club license i want to know why first.

Paid up member me.

Will I get a refund? Only joking

It's a shame that people, like Stealph, are unaware of what the AT is and the work it either does or intends to do. With all the good intentions in the world, without support that work cannot be done and we all shall be worse off in the future.

Stealph, do you like canoeists paddling up and down your favourite stretch of river? No! Well the AT is one of the bodies that are trying to restrict the access to ALL waterways for canoeists. Left to the government and without any representation every river in the UK would become open to every d*ckhead with a paddle. They also have a subsiduary arm that deals with polluters on behalf of any member club to gain compensation for damages. Just some of the benefits that membership brings. Not necessarily pennies or pounds in your pocket or to your local club but a long term investment for the future of our sport across the whole country.

Edit: Crossed over your post. The benefits aren't necessarily something you will see first hand but without someone acting on your behalf you are just a single angler p*ssing in the wind when something goes wrong. Leave a gate open and cattle get onto the road, insurance pays for your stupidity. Not that I think you're stupid but you can see the point of insurance surely? I agree about the free points but then again do you never buy anything online, eBay, amazon and the like? A bit like airmiles, unless you are spending hundreds regularly then the benefits aren't really there. As for the EA dealing with the legal aspects of pollution I think you'll find that yes they prosecute but do the affected club waters get anything out of it? The AT will try to make sure they do.

Well i am not a member, but I always wished them well. I always said they were and are a minority, not a governing body.

I would have joined had it been individual members only, but it wasn't, sad news for all those who have put in the hard work to put it together.

I used to give to the ACA as it was, but not under the new AT.

There where many who wanted to know what was in it for them, but the leaflets with the information only came out just before their launch, IMO I think they missed the boat not letting anglers have the information, it may have only been £20 to join, but that was to much for many anglers.

Hope things turn around for them once this recession is over with, that may also have a big factor as to why some haven't joined.

If I recall the AnglingTrust information was put out with the Rod Licence Renewal stuff too.

Come on you lot, no use complaining when the rivers have no fish because of pollution or theft,or the rowers are wrecking the breeding areas, or that nobody is doing this or that for you.

Your Rod licence only entitles you to fish, where you are allowed to by the owners of a fishery..........nothing else..

The EA do nothing to protect anglers ability to fish that's down to you.

But, you can't do it on your own you need to be organised and that's what Angling Trust sets out to do.

YOUR FISHING NEEDS YOU!

No excuses because if and when P**a starts you can't fight them on your own

Fred we are in a position where we know all what youve said but 99% of anglers just want to get out of bed on a sunny day and go fishing and dont want to know
I go on holiday with a couple once a year fishing ,they happily buy a licence but try explaining the ACA/AT to them

I know that Cakey, and I can recall my original comments.

Hardly anybody was prepared to pay me a £1 a year to organise an alternative, let alone £20 a year which most spend on bait in a month, and is too expensive to protect their fishing...cobblers let them all suffer the consequences of no representation.



Apathy Rules

and Im going to :wh

But why was the ACA discontinued, what was wrong with it? Was it just re-branded? Are there the same admin staff/directors/president or are new people involved? If so, why are the 'old guard' not present? Anyone?

It's part of Angling Trust and is now called Fish Legal, have a look at the website all is explained.

This will go round and round as before.

Fred,
I understand what your saying, but 1% says it all doesn't it. The information was sent out with the rod licence, but that was after the AT launch, bit like closing the stable door after the horse has done a runner.

Had the fee been less than £20 I think they may have got more members, only time will tell if they can carry on, there was talk about big funding, what happened to that, or was it just talk?? not being funny just wondering what happened with all the backing the AT was talking about.

Yes, I can, and will do that Fred, I just wondered if anyone here could answer my questions re' staff.

Ok, so now i am starting to get an Idea of what the AT does.
If it such an importance to fishing and there is a huge threat to the decline of fishing, then what did we do for all them years without them?
I hear people saying about the ACA, but i wasn't a member of them either, i didn't even know that they existed, and as far as i could tell the fishing didn't decline.
If joining the AT is such an importance to save fishing in our country, then why didn't i know about it? why has it not teamed up with the EA, so that when you buy your rod license, a percentage goes to the EA and a percentage goes to the AT.
From what i read on there Website, they are having to cut back jobs, and other resources, as they didn't get the Response from anglers that they had predicted and consequently don't have the financial resources available to keep these people in a job or support some other resources.
Well, what they should have done is had a poll of some kind to see what level of support they could expect, before putting all these resources, and creating all these jobs, before they had the financial resources to fund them, Now that is just poor Management IMHO.
If i feel that by giving them £20.00p of my money would help support angling and change angling for the better, they could have it without a seconds thought, but if they can't even run and support there own organisation, what hope is there of supporting us correctly?
And now they have had to cut Jobs and other resources, why should i now give them my £20.00p, they have even less resources to support us, and if everyone does pay them the £20.00p, will them people get there jobs back?
I was made redundant just before xmas as the company i worked for re located to Romania, because it was cheaper and better business sense for them, so i know what it's like to lose your job, so yes i sympathise with them, but management should have put more thought in to what they had there and then and not what they might get if everyone joined.

Still not Convinced

Tight Lines

As Fred rightly says, the AT info was sent out with the EA rod licence.
As for previous posters saying they know nothing about the AT??? Almost 600 postings and they never saw a written word??? A bit rich!

Ditch the NFA side of the AT, prior the formation of the trust it was heading for bankruptcy anyway.
May-be if there were more people like Fred than Ray....

As for the £20 cost, yes some anglers might find it a bit high, but I'd wager my pension (basic) that there would be more who could afford than couldn't. A lame excuse .

There's a lovely old man (devoted his life to seeing a single body) lying in an intensive care bed in Barrow who would probably think has it all been worth it if he ever reads this about the AT.
If nothing else we owe it to him and many others who have worked selfishly for decades to get to this point...please don't let them down.

And just for Ray; there are poeple out there who are prepared to pay £20, and more, a week just to STOP you, me and the rest from fishing. Never forget that.

Internal re organisation is another matter and I have expressed my views very forcibly...not sure whether they were taken note of though.

Xplorer1, Sadly the SAG's are not listed, not a sniff. Probably more SA's would have joined up if they could see they were being 'represented'
Fortunately the SAA web site is still live. (but this link posting tool isn't)

Steaplh, I'm sorry about your redundancy, and I understand the financial stress you must be under.

The AT was formed in January from six former associations covering sea fishing, coarse and other specialist groups (I'm sure they're listed on the AT site somewhere). THe idea was to come together and form a single body speaking for all angling. The ACA was an organisation dedicated to pursuing pollution and other cases against offenders for the benefit of angling clubs. They're now Fish Legal and part of the ACA.

Why can't the AT team up with the EA? Because the EA is a government statutory body with lots of responsibilities and restrictions upon it: they are supporting the AT as far as they can.

Others (esp. Fred Bonney and Grumpy Git) have articulated reasons why anglers should support the AT: basically it's our trade union. Like the RSPB, Caravan Club, British Canoe Union, etc.

Hope this helps