A licence to fish
The UK Government plans to licence sea angling. What next? Hill walking? Picnicking? Breathing? The licence money would be used partly to manage fishing facilities and partly to fund the administration of the licence.
What facilities do you need to fish? You need water and you need somewhere to stand with your rod. The beach has proved useful for this in the past.
Another useful ingredient is fish but the licence will not be able to help in that respect because this and many other governments are doing too little to impose stricter limits on commercial fishing with nets at sea.
I would argue that hill walking causes far more more environmental damage than angling yet the government has no plans to licence walking. Perhaps it would if it thought it could get away with it. Some licences such as the annual game licence issued for shooters are a waste of time and effort.
I have no great faith in the ability of governments to manage our resources and would far rather invest my disposable income in other organisations devoted to conservation. In the meantime the government can't even manage its existing licences. I applied for my freshwater rod licence online two weeks ago and I 'm still waiting for it to arrive.
Meanwhile I'm getting ready for another trip to Scotland where you do not need a rod licence to fish. On the Tay last week I nearly fell out of my waders when I hooked a salmon in the first 10 minutes. It was nearly at the net when it shed the hook. Later in the week I caught a 7lb fish. Not the whopper of my dreams, but a fish nonetheless. For those interested in these things, both fish took a Black Frances. I'm hoping for better things on the Dee next week.
For returning my fish the Tay ghillies gave me a sweat shirt with the words "Saving Tay Salmon" on the front. I think they should add some words to the back: "I caught a salmon on the Tay and all they gave me was this lousy sweat shirt!" Just joking. I will treasure my shirt. It's a rare item. Incidentally, you get a bottle of malt for returning a fish on the Dee. But I wouldn't swap my shirt for anything.
What facilities do you need to fish? You need water and you need somewhere to stand with your rod. The beach has proved useful for this in the past.
Another useful ingredient is fish but the licence will not be able to help in that respect because this and many other governments are doing too little to impose stricter limits on commercial fishing with nets at sea.
I would argue that hill walking causes far more more environmental damage than angling yet the government has no plans to licence walking. Perhaps it would if it thought it could get away with it. Some licences such as the annual game licence issued for shooters are a waste of time and effort.
I have no great faith in the ability of governments to manage our resources and would far rather invest my disposable income in other organisations devoted to conservation. In the meantime the government can't even manage its existing licences. I applied for my freshwater rod licence online two weeks ago and I 'm still waiting for it to arrive.
Meanwhile I'm getting ready for another trip to Scotland where you do not need a rod licence to fish. On the Tay last week I nearly fell out of my waders when I hooked a salmon in the first 10 minutes. It was nearly at the net when it shed the hook. Later in the week I caught a 7lb fish. Not the whopper of my dreams, but a fish nonetheless. For those interested in these things, both fish took a Black Frances. I'm hoping for better things on the Dee next week.
For returning my fish the Tay ghillies gave me a sweat shirt with the words "Saving Tay Salmon" on the front. I think they should add some words to the back: "I caught a salmon on the Tay and all they gave me was this lousy sweat shirt!" Just joking. I will treasure my shirt. It's a rare item. Incidentally, you get a bottle of malt for returning a fish on the Dee. But I wouldn't swap my shirt for anything.
Labels: Andy Taylor, black frances, Dee, ghillies, licence, malt, record salmon, sea angling
posted by Richard Donkin at
3:33 PM
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