What is DEFRA up to? Plans to abolish the close season for coarse
fishing on rivers were shelved a couple of years ago. However, this spring,
under instructions from DEFRA, the Environment Agency commissioned a survey of
the opinions of anglers on the close season issue. This curious move has
re-opened the debate and raised expectations. Some sections of the fishing
community, a powerful lobby, especially the Angling Times and the larger clubs
like the Birmingham Anglers’, Association, are again applying a lot of
pressure. Given the signal from the government, who can blame them?
The
original plan was hatched in 1993 by MAFF. The aim was to rationalise a bagful
of inconsistent laws on close seasons across England and Wales. Under a
phased programme, the close season on still waters, including canals, has been abolished
apart from special cases such as SSSIs where a case could be made for retention.
Abolition on rivers was not pursued because these waters are under multiple
ownership and contain wild fish stocks whose spawning and fry are not managed
or monitored and so need protection. The laws were changed for fishery purposes
alone - only the interests of the fish were considered.
So, who looks
after the welfare of the myriad other groups (mammals, birds. amphibia,
invertebrates, plants) that need a few weeks peace and quiet on the rivers in
the spring?, To justify a change in the present position requires a thoroughly
objective, scientific study of the impact of continual fishing on the whole
riverside ecosystem. This will take time and money. In its “vision statement”
the Environment Agency says, second in the list of what it intends to achieve: “An
enhanced environment for wildlife. Wildlife will thrive in urban and rural areas.
Habitats will improve for the benefit of all species. Everyone will understand the
importance of safeguarding biodiversity”.
The agency must be held to this
commitment to improve habitats for the benefit of all species. We must do all
we can to ensure that DEFRA does not use the pressure from the angling lobby as
an excuse for taking quick action, thus avoiding the cost of carrying out
proper research and full consultation with all interested parties.
Two of our members have been
in the limelight recently. In alphabetical order:,
Alasdair Aston, regular
contributor of poetry to White Admiral, and of other , occasional articles, has
been honoured by the publication of his poetry in The Linnean, the
newsletter of that august body, the Linnean Society. The editor,augmenting
previous honours for the piece, also praised his poem, see Newslines for
more detail.
Steve Piotrowski, ornithologist par excellence and
previous holder of many, offices in SNS and SOG, has had his avifauna, The
Birds of Suffolk, published; it is reviewed in this newsletter. Congratulations
to both of these people. We should be proud to count them, among our number.
David Walker
© 2003 Suffolk Naturalists' Society