What do the E.A do for me?

Steve Spiller · Oct 17, 2009

I've been accused of not knowing anything about the E.A and what they do for me, so here are some questions.

What have the E.A done to the Bristol Avon within the last 15 years?

When was the last time the Bristol Avon was re-stocked by the E.A?

When was the last time the middle and lower Avon was electro-fished?

Will the E.A be responding to the six letters sent to them by Bathampton Angling Club?

Why won't the E.A carry out fish surveys to confirm one way or another that the barbel stocks on the middle Avon have declined?

It seems to me and many others that the E.A do a great job around the country re-stocking other rivers like the Ouse, Thames, Stour, Hampshire Avon and soon the Trent too, but why have they abandoned the Bristol Avon?

I've watched the video and browsed the E.A website, I also clicked on the South West link which contained nothing of interest to the Bristol Avon anglers.

So when is my licence (tax) money going to find it's way to my river?

Fred Bonney · Oct 17, 2009

Get one of your club officials to contact Pete Reading, Steve.

Give him facts and describe problems, he may be able to steer your guys to the right person at the EA to deal with.
More often than not it is who you know, rather than what you think you know.

tigger · Oct 17, 2009

My local river was recently hit with a bad pollutin incident killing what seems to be most if not all the fish in the upper half of the river and I know the EA arn't going to stock any new fish.......it really **sses me off, just because the rivers not a well know game river it just gets a quick mention then it's just forgotton about. Personally I think the rod licence is just a nother stealth tax and anglers are just easy meat to target with it.
Lets face it, why should you pay for a rod licence if you fish a pond in a farmers field never ever even seen by an EA official and never will be ?

Stealph Viper · Oct 17, 2009

Ok, the EA have done a survey of fish stock on a stretch of the River Trent hit by the recent Cyanide Pollution in the area of Stone, in Staffordshire.

They found no live fish present.

Should they put the re stocking of that river lower down than the re stocking of the Bristol Avon ?

The problem is there is only so much money available to do all the jobs that every license holder wants to happen in their own little private stretch of water.

Does the Bristol Avon need re stocking ?

Why do the Barbel stocks of the Bristol Avon need counting ?

Does the Lower and Middle avon need electro - Fished ?

I typed in Bristol Avon into the EA website and it came up with 10 pages worth of Information, whether that is info that you want to read or relevent to what you want to see happen, or not, it still shows that they are taken an interest in that area.

Are we asking for regional representatives from the EA were only the money raised in your areas can be spent on your local waters ?

I do not think that would be a very good idea.

Do you feel you are not getting value for money for the £26 you pay for a year ?

Ray Daywalker Clarke · Oct 17, 2009

Steve,
We would all like the EA to do more for the money we pay, thats why I say make all those using the waterways, rivers or lakes buy a licence and call it a water licence not rod licence.

Think of the money that would come in if everyone paid their way.

There is much to knock the EA for, but there is also a lot of good work they do for angling, would like them to do much more myself.

It is worth a trip to your local EA office to make your point, also take a letter along and hand it in, get someone to sign for it, I used to go and work with the NRA and the EA on Saturday work shops, worth doing as you get a better insight into what goes on.

Steve Spiller · Oct 17, 2009

Thanks for all the advice, I will pass it on.

SV, that is a daft question about the re-stocking of the Trent! Of course it should be re-stocked and the polluter who ruined it should foot the bill! Why should our rod licence money be used to re-stock it?
Did you look at the information contained in those ten pages? I did...

Stealph Viper · Oct 17, 2009

No, i didn't read it all, i just browsed through them.

Of course it was a stupid question, i was trying to point out that not everyone can have what they want when they want it.

I feel that for the £26.00p i pay a year to the EA i am getting reasonably good value for money.

I don't fish the Trent, in fact at the moment i don't fish any river, so why should my money be used to fund them ?

Why, because i have to trust the EA to decide where the money will be used as that is what they are charged with doing.

Yes, the company found responsible for polluting the water should foot the bill, i agree totally, but why should every body outside of the Bristol Avon foot the bill for all of the things you want the EA to do?

We could go round and round like this forever and a day.

Do you think you get value for money from the EA for the £26.00p a year that you have to pay ? (yes, i know some anglers pay more than £26.00p if they want to fish with more than 2 rods at any one time).

Steve Spiller · Oct 17, 2009

Stealph,

If the information given to me today by a club bailiff was correct, which I'm sure it is, then no, I don't get value for money from my E.A rod licence.

The last time the Bristol Avon was stocked with barbel was 1969/70. So why has my licence money been spent stocking all the other rivers around the country and not mine? I'm not being greedy or selfish, I just know that 'we' on the Bristol Avon have got nothing since 1969! The upper avon was electro-fished a couple of years ago, where 'schoolie' barbel are present in numbers. This doesn't give a true reflection of the whole river.

It's a shame there aren't more anglers on FM from Bristol and the South West who are willing to share their knowledge...

Stealph Viper · Oct 17, 2009

Steve,

The problem is you are trying to put your own needs above everyone elses.

What do you think the Bristol Avon Needs above every other water and why ?

Steve Spiller · Oct 17, 2009

Stealph Viper said:
Steve,

The problem is you are trying to put your own needs above everyone elses.

What do you think the Bristol Avon Needs above every other water and why ?

No I'm sorry Stealph, I'm not! I'd like to see the E.A investing some of our money (Bristol Avon anglers) in the future fish stocks of the Bristol Avon. It's fine and dandy telling me I'm putting my/our needs first, but it aint your river and you don't fish it. We do and we know it's been neglected and ignored by the E.A. Watch the video again, 15 to 20 year life span of the fish that are stocked. 1969 was a very long time ago, aren't we due a re-stock of barbel by now? How about a study into signal crayfish that are feasting on the barbel spawning grounds, will the E.A look into that, or will they deny they exist on the avon?

The problem is, the Bristol Avon isn't the Ouse, Trent, Thames, Stour, Hampshire Avon, Wye or Kennet etc etc..........

Perhaps I should mention the Sea trout and Salmon that I saw trying to leap up the weir at Keynsham a while ago, perhaps that would work???

Ray Daywalker Clarke · Oct 17, 2009

The one simple fact is the EA have to look after all rivers and lakes, and it is impossible to stock all of them, the result will be some will get stocked others wont. You may find that the fish levels in the Bristol Avon are better than anglers know, therefore no stocking will take place at the moment.

We pay for the licence on a national base, so it is only right the Trent gets stocked again by the EA, and i agree that who ever did this should pay, but in the mean time it will be the EA, if they didn't those in the Trent area would be asking, Why are the EA not stocking the Trent, and rightly so.

Trust me, there will be a whole ton of red tape to get passed before anything gets done, thats not the fault of the EA. One thing for sure the Angling trust wouldn't be able to handle the EA work.

Waveney One · Oct 17, 2009

Steve Spiller said:
Stealph,

The last time the Bristol Avon was stocked with barbel was 1969/70. So why has my licence money been spent stocking all the other rivers around the country and not mine? I'm not being greedy or selfish, I just know that 'we' on the Bristol Avon have got nothing since 1969! The upper avon was electro-fished a couple of years ago, where 'schoolie' barbel are present in numbers. This doesn't give a true reflection of the whole river.

Steve, Surely if there are plenty of immature barbel in the headwaters of the Avon then in perfect conditions those fish would spread down the river and repopulate the areas where they are not present in numbers. The Severn was originally stocked with only 509 fish in 1956 and I quote "the barbel has become the predominant species in the 75 km-long middle reach of the river, whilst sparser populations exist throughout the whole system". Presumably the barbel in the Avon are not spreading down the river for a specific reason(s). Either the water is not suitable for them or they are dying for some reason as they migrate downstream. Whatever that reason is, it seems perfectly reasonable to me that the EA establish what that reason is and correct it if possible before they waste time, effort and money in restocking.

Steve Spiller · Oct 17, 2009

I agree Waveney, but the E.A have to do something first to establish the reasons why?

Hopefully they will do something one day.....

geoffmaynard · Oct 17, 2009

I think my local river, the Thames, is very understocked too. Anyone want to argue with that? Every year since the 1960s I have watched reports issued to the effect that 'the river has never been cleaner' and other bull**hit releases about 'salmon returning to the river' etc - yet I have witnessed the fishing get poorer with every passing year. How does the EA explain this?

I also think that the rod license money I spend every year could be much better spent. I suspect that at least 95% of it goes to paying standing overhead costs of which fishery restocking funds are but a very tiny percentage. I would gladly pay another fiver a year if I thought that fiver went purely in restocking the waters - but I'm equally sure that it would only go into the same black hole where the rest of it goes. We have several million potential license buyers. At £25 each that is a SERIOUS sum of money (hundreds of millions of pounds in just a few years) that could restock every water in the country in a very, very short time - because it really don't have to cost a lot to breed fish, it actually happens naturally when you think about it!

In the USA they have vastly more fresh water to care for yet you will rarely find understocked waters, despite lower license fees than we pay - and rivers are restocked every year as a priority investment. They recognise that angling is a massive earner, worth far more than the commercial fishing industry. Angling in the UK is barely recognised as even being an industry! Bah!

Jeff Woodhouse · Oct 17, 2009

Steve Spiller said:
I've been accused of not knowing anything about the E.A and what they do for me, so here are some questions.

Pardon me Steve, but you're taking the EASY option again, asking people on here.

How the devil are we supposed to know what's happened to or anything about the Bristol Avon? Do some ferreting yourself and stop relying on others to do it for you.

Now, just as a bit of information for you, IF the EA did stock your Bristol Avon with additional barbel they would be TRENT stock fish and not Bristol Avon stock fish. You might not think that matters so much, but unless there is a proven difficiency the EA would rather rely on river bed augmentation to improve recruitment rather than restock. IF you get in touch with your local EA you will find this out for yourself.

klik2change · Oct 18, 2009

geoffmaynard said:
Angling in the UK is barely recognised as even being an industry! Bah!

This is another reason for promoting the Angling Trust...

Gav Barbus · Oct 18, 2009

Steve ,what do you want it stocked with? 2lb roach by any chance?.
Seriously Steve I will swap you your fish for the ones that inhabit the Irwell.Access could do with some improvement in areas before fishing though !.Urban polluted wastelands first in my opinion.

Neneman Nick · Oct 18, 2009

The "EA" stocked a load of barbel into the nene last year,in the area i fish.This was to supplement old existing stock i believe.
I know there are fish over 16lbs which have been caught (the older stock obviously) and who knows,one day the Nene might be the home of the record fish ???

davegn · Oct 18, 2009

Steve, the money spent by the EA every year is done so on a priority basis, back in the late sixties the Bristol Avon was deemed as such, now it is lower on the list. Last time I fished it earlier this year I had a great day, better than the Trent!
The fact is that the total money raised is used nationally, think of it like this...back then my license money helped the Bristol Avon, now your license money has helped my local river. Thanks for the help and your able to fish my river for free, the EA own the fishing rights for much of it!

Steve Spiller · Oct 18, 2009

Pardon me Steve, but you're taking the EASY option again, asking people on here.

How the devil are we supposed to know what's happened to or anything about the Bristol Avon? Do some ferreting yourself and stop relying on others to do it for you.

Jeff,
I thought the FM forum was designed for asking fishing related questions to a wider more knowledgeable audience, spose I got that wrong too? Is that the 'easy option' as you put it? I can't see anything wrong with that really? And I've told you before, I haven't got bundles of time or dosh on my hands, I haven't retired yet. So stop patronising me mate, I knew the answers to the questions I asked! Perhaps I was hoping someone from the E.A would have the nuts to get on here and answer me...

I will pass on all the advice that has been given to me to the club bailiff that is working for us, he is in a much better possition than me to act on it.

Thankyou all.

What do the E.A do for me?

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