License Sea Angling

You are conflating licence and lobby organization. It's a TAX.

So, let's see - tax anglers and give the money to some lobby group or some spurious public sector or semi-state body with the average salary (EUROSTAT 2004) is 46K Euro PA. Absolutely not.

And boy, we've got great value for all the licences and taxes we're already forced to pay, haven't we?

You want to influence decisions? There's local elections next summer.

I can see it now:

"Minister Gormley, please move legislation in the next Dail session to make it a criminal offence to keep whiting under 25 cm."

Garda Confidential Phone Line:

" Hello, Guard, I just saw somebody at Ennereilly using a rod and I think they bought it in Lidl because he's a non-national, if you know what I mean. Plus, I think it was the Lidl in NEWRY, so that makes them a serious threat to the economy too. Can you arrest them?"

Whether we like it or not, the only way we are going to improve the current situation (over-fishing, damage to marine environment, etc.) is by convincing government and state agencies that there is a problem, that it must be addressed and that there are clear benefits to addressing it.

To simply say that decision makers will never listen to us is to give up and admit defeat just because doing something looks too difficult.

Please forgive me if I sound very cynical and have a defeatest attitude. 10 years of getting nowhere does that to a person.

We have been campaigning for years to even get this fixed:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=U8MnAy2Bhjk

It is up to all anglers who want there fishing restored to some semblance of what it was in the past to voice their concerns through a legitimate and government recognised channel. Such an organisation does not exist at the present time, it is up to anglers and other stakeholders to come together and create it.

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Hi Ashley,
Is not the Angling Council of Ireland (through the Sports Council) recognised as the representative body for anglers?

Hi JD, and all others taking part in this debate,

I am 48 years on the planet and to date there is no organisation that I am aware of that has reached out and included all stakeholders of the marine environment. Organisations always represent groups, ie, anglers, commercial fishermen, sailing enthusiasts etc.

The sea is a treated as a commons and all people who have an interest in the marine environment have a right to be recognised. This will only happen at Government level when a large percentage of the population makes a noise. Sea anglers have the numbers to make a noise, but to date have shown no ability to channel it. Meanwhile the same old cliches are bandied around and the sea continues to be emptied of fish.

As I said in my first post, sea anglers should start to think outside the box and, PUT THEIR MONEY WHERE THERE MOUTH IS, if they really want change. The time for prevarication ended 20 years ago.

Regards...

personally id have no probs paying for a licence if the money was used to help police areas and also there was a minimum catch size and bag limit on every species,,, like in australia for example
at least then the w@@@@@@s who kill fish for fun could be fined,,

I do put my money where my mouth is. I hate to think how much I spend into the economy each year in pursuit of my angling passion. Thousands of euro, counting it all up.

As a licensed Salmon angler, all I've been getting in recent years is being treated with contempt.

I wouldn't mind seeing Bass and Mullet being joined with Salmon and Sea Trout under a "sportsfish" licence.

But beyond that I say "no" to a Sea Angling Licence. The freedom to angle is a fundamental liberty. It is a birthright. Subjecting that right to a licence means it is no longer a right, but a privilege. And privileges, unlike rights, can be withdrawn or denied at the whim of those granting the licence.

1, think there shoud be a poll added to this post.
2. look at the results of the "licenced" game anglers, theres now little or no driftnettin of salmon in ireland (western europe?) it took time,money and efford, but they got what they wanted, we sea anglers shoud do the same,.............................if 5/10,000 game anglers got there way, what cud 50/100,000 well orgnised S.A.s get

I agree Tanglerat with your suggestion regarding Bass and Mullet. I would go further and lobby to ratify the Bass as a sportfish, but again there is the same old chestnut, where is the strong coherent lobby group?

Regarding freedom and rights, with respect these are the same old cliches that are always thrown into the mix. The east coast, my main angling area is decimated, are not my rights affected by this tragedy?

We have to start thinking and acting in a broader way if change is going to be forthcoming. If an angler gives a government money through a licence then that angler has a fundamental right to be heard. How the message gets across is by being smart and having belief. As cortaz says the drift nets are gone. They were removed because of a strong lobby.

As Obama kept saying, YES WE CAN...

There has been murder in the UK for the last 2years over this subject, Why would anybody buy a licence to fish where stocks are steadily reducing due to comercial overfishing, How would it be policed???? and how many people would just plead ignorance?

i would have the same point of view unless they farmed certain species like they do with trout, salmon and carp. i dont think that they could police it for if you think about the size of the irish coastline and the area of water around it.

i saw on BBC newsline a year or two back that they were thinking of bringing one into northern ireland, i dont know about the south or britian but i know that they wer thinkin about it in the north.

Here's the problem as I see it, this will be debated forever without action of any sort. Same old story, there is an oppurtunity to reach so many anglers through this site and if we are all so concerned lets do something about it. If everyperson who visits this site could sign a petition which was drawn up about our concerns that would be a start, ensure the link is forwarded to every club in Ireland to be signed by their members and go from there.

Publicity is so easy to come by these days, newspapers can be notified, all the Angling press can be made aware too. If every Angler in the country is made aware of it more people may take an interest!

All that said unless there's a mass show of unity it won't go anywhere, and as recent debates on here about keeping small fish went, it's not very likely! So we all keep fishing saying how bad things are and refuse to accept the fact that small fish of which we keep and kill so freely won't grow up to be big fish! Hello!!! Sure it's only a small whiting or coalie that didn't go back what harm! Apply this logic to anything that lives and see how long it survives long term!!

I do put my money where my mouth is. I hate to think how much I spend into the economy each year in pursuit of my angling passion. Thousands of euro, counting it all up.

As a licensed Salmon angler, all I've been getting in recent years is being treated with contempt.

I wouldn't mind seeing Bass and Mullet being joined with Salmon and Sea Trout under a "sportsfish" licence.

But beyond that I say "no" to a Sea Angling Licence. The freedom to angle is a fundamental liberty. It is a birthright. Subjecting that right to a licence means it is no longer a right, but a privilege. And privileges, unlike rights, can be withdrawn or denied at the whim of those granting the licence.

Tanglerat, I too put thousands a year into my pastime, but I disagree that salmon anglers are being treated with contempt. After decades of yes, being treated with contempt, the government did eventually succumb to angler pressure and remove mixed stock fishing. There is now a far better stock management system in place, aimed at improving stocks of wild salmon and restoring them to abundance. Your extra licence revenue is going towards the installation of fish counters, improvement of fish habitat and research that will help the CFB/RFBs manage salmon more effectively. Barring catastrophe, such as an outbreak of UDN, I'm 100% sure that in 5, 10, 20 years time we will have more salmon than we did 5 years ago, and salmon anglers will be catching a lot more fish.

i would h8 to hav to buy 3 licenses every year.
i' just tight nyway