I have no problem with this apart from, how the hell are you going to police it to make sure that everyone abides by the same rule. The only people that will buy licences are those that care which maybe everyone on here but that is probably a small minority of those that actually fish in the sea. How long before people get fed up with buying there licence because they are a minority. The coastline is an awfull big place to put bailiff on 24hrs a day. I guess you could have a it so that you can only buy tackle and bait by showing your licence number. I think in theroy it is a good idea but worry that it will cost as too much administrate.

 

I disagree, you will gain nothing by having a licence, you might have a voice but it will fall into deaf ears, artificial reefs cost hundreds of thousands plus many won't like the idea of dumping stuff in the sea,you won't stop the netters as they are not doing anything illegal if they keep an eye on them, most are just scraping a living, as for protected areas just for anglers it will never happen, if estuaries are protected we won't have any bait, yes you are bonkers, if you want to waste your money join the AT

 

hi foundry
thanks for getting the ball rolling .

i know this will be tough to administer, but i would hope anglers would think they get value for money and pay up

fresh water anglers are checked by a very few bailiffs , but very few fish unlicensed .a culture thing i suppose , but who wants
to have their tackle seized . fishing tackle that is !

 

I disagree, you will gain nothing by having a licence, you might have a voice but it will fall into deaf ears, artificial reefs cost hundreds of thousands plus many won't like the idea of dumping stuff in the sea,you won't stop the netters as they are not doing anything illegal if they keep an eye on them, most are just scraping a living, as for protected areas just for anglers it will never happen, if estuaries are protected we won't have any bait, yes you are bonkers, if you want to waste your money join the AT

thats fine , i'm just interested in peoples views

 

Sitting on the fence when it comes to license, mainly for some of the reasons that Meanstreak gave, but as sea anglers we already put a lot of money into the economy, far more than commercial fishermen I been led to believe, if a license doe's become a reality and anglers give up the sport, would that not be very damaging to local economies, in particular, tackle shops who already find it hard to make a living.

 

If each county of England and Wales with a coast line charged a licence fee then they could use the income to police their area.this would mean the money collected would only be used in that county not spread over the whole counrty from one pot.

 

I would support a licence if it was compulsory and rigidly policed.I used to buy a licence to fish the piers in Swansea only to see many others fish there without one and nothing was ever done to stop this.I was paying for something that others were getting for free.
Another thing with a sea license is would you also need a permit?
A lot of the land around our coast is privately owned, would the land owner be able to charge for a permit to fish from his land as all coarse and game fisheries do.
We have gone from licence to licence and permit, what next?

 

I would pay a license fee, but before doing so I would have to be assured that it would go towards protecting and safeguarding fish stocks and improving fishing venues for all paying anglers. What needs to be asked is how much as individuals would we be prepared to pay on a yearly basis for our licenses?

 

Sitting on the fence when it comes to license, mainly for some of the reasons that Meanstreak gave, but as sea anglers we already put a lot of money into the economy, far more than commercial fishermen I been led to believe, if a license doe's become a reality and anglers give up the sport, would that not be very damaging to local economies, in particular, tackle shops who already find it hard to make a living.

we do put a lot into the economy ,but that is not the same as a direct investment which a licence would be .

i suspect freshwater tackle tarts spend a lot more than us on tackle ,although i dont think anybody takes into account the huge sums of money
spent on boat maintenance .

it would be good if licences were on sale in tackle shops ,as they used to be .it used to be like xmas in the tackle shops in
the days before sale in post offices

 

If each county of England and Wales with a coast line charged a licence fee then they could use the income to police their area.this would mean the money collected would only be used in that county not spread over the whole counrty from one pot.

i prefer the national (freshwater) licence

i was nearly prosecuted a long time ago for fishing a water in essex which unknown to me , drained into the thames, and came
under thames conservancy.

fortunately i had about 10 years licences in my tackle bag and he accepted that i did not know .

better than getting a licence for each county & cheaper

 

So what do anglers get for the license.
Policed, tackle confiscated, why what would they be doing wrong?
You propose or suggest a licence to the same people who have to endure miles of nets, Prawn trawlers dumping miro fish as bye catch, Scallop dredgers destroying the sea bed, pair trawlers from EU countries sucking the life out of Bass stocks.
Why would any right minded person wish to pay for that.

 

So what do anglers get for the license.
Policed, tackle confiscated, why what would they be doing wrong?
You propose or suggest a licence to the same people who have to endure miles of nets, Prawn trawlers dumping miro fish as bye catch, Scallop dredgers destroying the sea bed, pair trawlers from EU countries sucking the life out of Bass stocks.
Why would any right minded person wish to pay for that.

my vision would include restrictions on netting and dredging

that is why i believe we have to offer it up as a basis for negotiation on destructive commercial fishing.

if we wait until it is imposed it will be little more than a tax on fishing


(ps have you escaped from the C&P asylum ) ?

 

:clap2: I've always advocated a sea angling licence for RSA's, although the old NFSA was against it. I believe that if we pay for a licence, providing the funds raised are for the improvement of sea angling, not just another stealth tax, we should have a voice. Unfortunately, MAFF, now Defra and the commercials didn't want us to have a licence because it would give RSA's a legitimate share of the UK quota and that share would have to come from the commercial quota and Defra wouldn't like to have the problem of dividing up the quota. If RSA's had a 3 mile limit we could control the breeding grounds of most fish so improving fish stocks overall, for the benefit of all. It will never happen though because of the block votes of the commercial fishing ports. :nonono:

 

I do not want a sea rod licence introduced.
Most of the money would go for administrating and office jobs, we would see no benefit as the likes of stock replenishment etc, it would just be one big whitewash and again unable to police, unless your licence fee went towards bailiffs, again complete waste of your money.
As a suggestion if we MUST ever have a licence why not just the one as the EA is now, all the admin etc is there to collet and produce licence. Example if not one for all is how many licences would you need to catch Sea Trout?????

 

:clap2: I've always advocated a sea angling licence for RSA's, although the old NFSA was against it. I believe that if we pay for a licence, providing the funds raised are for the improvement of sea angling, not just another stealth tax, we should have a voice. Unfortunately, MAFF, now Defra and the commercials didn't want us to have a licence because it would give RSA's a legitimate share of the UK quota and that share would have to come from the commercial quota and Defra wouldn't like to have the problem of dividing up the quota. If RSA's had a 3 mile limit we could control the breeding grounds of most fish so improving fish stocks overall, for the benefit of all. It will never happen though because of the block votes of the commercial fishing ports. :nonono:

all true
i know c/f s will oppose for the reasons you give .

all the more reason to do it IMO

 

I do not want a sea rod licence introduced.
Most of the money would go for administrating and office jobs, we would see no benefit as the likes of stock replenishment etc, it would just be one big whitewash and again unable to police, unless your licence fee went towards bailiffs, again complete waste of your money.
As a suggestion if we MUST ever have a licence why not just the one as the EA is now, all the admin etc is there to collet and produce licence. Example if not one for all is how many licences would you need to catch Sea Trout?????

as you say, the mechanism is already in place .

im not sure what the current situation is for sea trout .

perhaps someone could tell us

 

i prefer the national (freshwater) licence

i was nearly prosecuted a long time ago for fishing a water in essex which unknown to me , drained into the thames, and came
under thames conservancy.

fortunately i had about 10 years licences in my tackle bag and he accepted that i did not know .

better than getting a licence for each county & cheaper

At least if its a local licence , money would stay local .imagine if all the fresh water licence fees from wales were diverted to an English organisation to fund an England only scheme.

 

At least if its a local licence , money would stay local .imagine if all the fresh water licence fees from wales were diverted to an English organisation to fund an England only scheme.

how about a licence for england & another for wales .(exclude scotland , as we dont know what the vote will bring )

 

how about a licence for england & another for wales .(exclude scotland , as we dont know what the vote will bring )

Still means money from one going to the other for grand schemes.keep it local use it only to police the anglers..no undersized fish, litter etc.
they would still be able to report illegal netting but only if the money only goes to form a dependable bailiff scheme not voluntry.

 

Still means money from one going to the other for grand schemes.keep it local use it only to police the anglers..no undersized fish, litter etc.
they would still be able to report illegal netting but only if the money only goes to form a dependable bailiff scheme not voluntry.

Sounds like you after the job. God help anyone you catch breaking the rules:roll1:

 

Sounds like you after the job. God help anyone you catch breaking the rules:roll1:

To be honest I hate the idea of paying for a licence. However the way things are going we will see changes in sea angling good or bad we do not know,I haven't got the sort of education you would need to apply for the job.
but I have got a little book which I can put names into ..for when the revolution comes brother.

 

By paying for and holding a licence we will get less than we do already NOT more.....:thumbs:

 

do not need another tax or rip-off have enough of this pay as you breath air culture !

 

I pay annually for my coarse fishing licence have done since I was a nipper, in about 50 years I have been asked for it ONCE by an EA bailiff, despite being on the banks once or twice a week. I should add that it was only about two years ago, the two of them were quite brave approaching a lone respectable 59 year old angler, obviously out for a days fishing on a sunny afternoon.

That being said, what are the chances of you being approached by an appointed bailiff, when fishing on an out of the way rock mark, or even on a crowded pier or breakwater.

The E.A bailiffs wear boodyarmour and work in pairs these days, so when they obviously have a concern about their personal safety,here is no real incentive for them to get out and do some real enforcement, in case they meet some confrontational individual, and lets be fair, there are plenty of those types about.

So no, I dont think it is workable, maybe just a money making scheme for the EA, who are allegedly going to lose some 500 or so employees in the future, once the flooding issues have been sorted.

Licence... no, and I wont be buying one either if it does come to play, I must have paid hundreds of pounds over the years for my coarse licence, and I dont think that I have seen any return for the investment, rivers left to silt up, poachers taking coarse fish unchecked, coarse fish stocks in rivers and lakes being decimated by Cormorants and Otters, unchecked.

I could go on, but TBH the EA dont care , so long as they get the licence fees.

Anglers talk about having a "voice" and wanting their views to be heard in the right places, well, various self appointed organisations have tried ,are trying, and getting nowhere, and I cant see it ever happening .

If we want a voice, we have to be united, it wont happen.Once a group form a committee, there are always differing views, if the Government /political parties, with all their wealth and clout cant get it right, what hope have we.

Try reading the Conservation and Angling Politics Forum, no more need to be said.

Sorry to be so unhelpful, but ........:nono:

Dave

 

By paying for and holding a licence we will get less than we do already NOT more.....:thumbs:

not necessarily

not if we're smart