Rod license for sea anglers????

[Colin North the one and only]

As an occasional sea angler I think that a licence would be a good idea. Having a licence gives an angler legitimacy and provides funds which hopefully will be used to improve the fishing.

Much of my salt water angling of late has been done off the coast of New South Wales where a licence to fish is necessary. There is also, close to Cronulla, a fish hatchery which is used to maintain fish stocks in the area.

I realise that Australia is a different place with much greater wealth and resources than the UK, but wouldn't it be a good idea to have fish hatcheries here in the UK?

How on Earth can having a licence infer more "legitimacy" on a sea angler? Such inference implies that from time to time all current sea anglers are doing something illigitimate!

The only way to improve sea fishing, in my opinion, would be to stop foreign trawlers fishing our waters altogether, and to stop all trawlers trawling too close to the shore. I have seen trawlers fishing just a few hundred yards of the beach before now.

 

[Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)]

Look at this another way.

How do anglers (sea or freshwater) become aware of the various rules, regulations and byelaws effecting them?

By enforcing a license of some sort it can be used as a way of distributing rules and regulations or some sort of reference to them. eg catch limits, fishing seasons, rod limit etc.

In South Africa a permit is required to rock surf fish. Anglers are made aware of what species they can take for the pot and what species must be returned (those in decline).

How is this regulated in the UK? At the moment anyone can turn up at a pier and fish and will take home whatever they like.

 

[dezza]

Now you are really having a laugh Ron.



As to sea anglers needing a license, how on earth could you effectively 'police' that idea?

What benefit would there be for a sea angler to buy one?

I don't see the idea ever getting more than lip service from sea anglers at all.

Gidday Peter,

Of course Australia has more resources and wealth per capita than the UK. You could probably stick Wiltshire into the corner of an Oz Hobby Farm and lose it mate. In fact you could probably lose the whole of England in one of the cattle stations in The Territory.

And looking around NSW and WA I noticed that people had much better houses than here. There is much more room too. And there was no graffiti on the walls nor hoodies on the street corners either.

A licence to fish off the NSW coast costs A$12.00 a year and helps pay for many conservation measures which are in force there. There are strict rules and bag limits in force, rangers patrol the coast and quite honestly the fishing is bloody good compared with here!!

No worries mate!

 

[thedab72]

too right mate, and allso no pay no say!