Why we don’t believe sea angling licences will work

 The Consultation on a Recreational Sea Angling Strategy for England has just been released by the Government.

The main purpose of the strategy is to enhance the recreational sea angling experience in a sustainable, responsible way. One of the main measures it is considering is the introduction of a sea angling licence, as well as a voluntary code on bag limits and the size of catches.

Sea anglers are very concerned about the implications of this paper for our sport. We do not see that a sea angling licence will do anything to promote better marine conservation or improve facilities for anglers.

Portugal recently introduced a similar scheme. As a result, sea fishing has dropped off dramatically and the sport has lost 500,000 anglers in the first year. According to the Government’s own statistics, sea angling is worth £538M annually, contributing almost as much to the UK’s economy as commercial fishing. Our economy could take a considerable hit if this number of fishermen retreated from the sport and it cannot be in the national interest.

By contrast, we see the activities of commercial fishermen going unchecked year after year, with trawlers and factory ships regularly fishing closer and closer to the shore. We see the Government rejecting the opportunity to increase the catch size of bass after the lobbying of the commercial sector, even though it flies in the face of sustainable fishing policies. The cynics among us may believe that this measure has more to do with raising revenue and placating the commercial fishing lobby than promoting marine conservation and enhancing our sport.

But our main concern is that it will actively drive people away from fishing, one of the oldest open access sports. It is the UK’s most popular sport, enjoyed by young and old, male and female alike. It can be practiced with a £1 handline or a kit worth hundreds.

Please vote against this proposal. As anglers, we are more than happy to work with the government on conservation issues, but the introduction of sea licences is not the way.

It does not tackle the bigger issue of how the commercial sector operates, particularly in inshore waters. It does nothing to promote the replenishment of stock by imposing sensible catch sizes on popular species. And it will be expensive, cumbersome and bureaucratic to police, so that the benefits it promises in better facilities for anglers will not materialise. More importantly, it will deny the pleasure of fishing to vast sectors of our community, hitting the young, elderly and poor the hardest.

We look forward to your support.