For those who are still a bit hazy about what the Angling Trust is, the short answer is that it is an amalgam of virtually all the much smaller organisations which existed and attempted to fight angling’s corner each from its own individual perspective. This unification came about in 2009, and was the realisation of something many of us had dreamt of for decades.
So what have we achieved – since the birth of the Angling Trust? This is a question I can easily answer: a hell of a lot, and at the same time not nearly enough!
So how about some of the real achievements before anything else?
First, Fish Legal (formerly known as the ACA, and now an integral part of the Trust) has taken on many hundreds of pollution and other cases, and also matters of advice on behalf of angling clubs and individuals, and fought those cases successfully. The most high-profile event of Fish Legal’s recent history has, of course, been obtaining a court injunction to stop the building of a hydropower installation which would have been totally fish and angler unfriendly at Gunthorpe Weir on the River Trent.
Other cases have successfully dealt with poaching, pollution, restrictions on angling and so on; all things which have set precedents and compensated clubs and anglers for damage to their fish or fishing, and have made it harder – and far less attractive – for those who might want to try the same thing again somewhere else, perhaps where you, the reader, go fishing!
Many of you will by now be saying to yourselves: ‘What the hell has this got to do with us?’ The answer is that it has everything to do with you, the angler, because if the issue does not affect you at the moment, it may very well do so in the future. And even if it never affects you, or could never possibly do so, then some other big issue in the angling world will without a doubt affect you. So you need a strong organisation, in effect a union to defend and promote your interests: the Angling Trust.
The Trust has kept the canoeists, who consider they should have the right to take over your swim no matter on which river it is, at no cost to them, firmly at bay. And we are holding rather better than our own on the right to exercise cormorant control, all achieved by effective political lobbying. The canoeing saga is an exercise repeated virtually every year, because the British Canoe Union regularly lobbies MPs and others on this very issue. It is a battle which never quite goes away, because the opposition never lets up, and will never admit it is wrong.
The other way of looking at the question in the title of this piece is to acknowledge that we have not achieved nearly enough. And the reason is that we have simply not got the wherewithal to do more. And why is that? I will let you answer this question yourselves, and simply say that the Angling Trust, the body which represents you, your club or syndicate, or your business, has around 15,000 individual angler-members, each paying £25 annually.
Given that the number of anglers in the UK has been put at around two million, the potential for angler power is immense. On the other hand, if you think this total of 15,000 individual members is enough, then you need do nothing, apart from enjoying your fishing – while you still can…
One comment I frequently get from anglers I talk to about this subject is that they ‘don’t get involved in anything to do with politics’. Presumably they think (and they are of course quite right) that politics can be a dirty game. But it is a fatal mistake to think there is any merit in keeping away from it. By doing so, you ensure defeat from the outset. If you don’t turn up for the game, the chances of winning are precisely zero. It is a sure course to annihilation. Given that the organisations we as anglers need to keep at bay are politically very active and spend a lot of time – and of course money – on political lobbying.
Other excuses I have heard as to why anglers should not join up to form a strong organisation representing their interests are, for example:
(i) Because anglers always get a raw deal (classic defeatism)
(ii) Because angling is so divided (defeatism again, given that the sensible aim should be to unite anglers under one heading)
(iii) Because I’ve already spent my money on my EA rod licence, presumably thinking, quite mistakenly, that the EA is some form of organisation which exists to represent the interests of anglers, or perhaps not really thinking much at all…)
Sometimes I think a good present for the average UK angler would be a bucket of sand:
(a) it is cheap, and (b) they can stick their head in it and forget what is their sure and certain fate (if they have anything to do with it, it seems) – to be sidelined or even wiped off the map by more powerful and politically active pressure groups.
I have many times seen in print comments to the effect that the Angling Trust is a fine organisation, but that it does not represent angling in a manner which is assertive enough. One criticism is that it spends too much time seeking the cooperation of other conservation groups, rather than independently promoting the interests of anglers. One thing I personally would like the Trust to do is to set up a network of local representatives who can be available for comment in the media on issues in their own individual areas. (As things stand, representatives are obliged to travel long distances to give interviews.) One thing many would quite understandably like to see is more regular lobbying of politicians on issues affecting angling.
All of these things are highly desirable, but one thing is certain: they all depend on sufficient money and training being available and/or the right number of suitable people volunteering their services to make things happen.
And one other thing is also certain: that this piece will spark off a string of negative comments.
Sensible people will take note, think about the topic, and act as they see fit. But there will be some who can think of no other response than to rubbish what they read. I do not take this personally, because I know from others who have involved themselves and stated their views on angling politics in public that their experience has been much the same. A pity really, because if these negative people put as much energy into the battles which we anglers need to fight as they do into their negative activity, the world, and the angling world specifically, would be a better place…
Because make no mistake, many of the real enemies of angling are in fact people who themselves fish. And they are this because they are short-sighted or mean, or have their heads in that bucket of sand I mentioned. Do you?
So quit moaning, join the Angling Trust and get on board. And for fishing’s sake do it HERE and now.
