DHolmes

Hi Fred, I hope you made the time to come along on Sunday and hear some of the presentations, those that attended saw great value in the event. You are right, in that certain parts of the Broads are offer superb fishing for some species, despite saline incursion and prymnesium killing 100,000's of fish every year. However the access for fishing is getting less and less as time goes by, both from the bank and small boat access and this needs to be addressed as gradual erosion of these accesses will mount up to significant loss over time. BA and NE have huge responsibility for actions that effect anglers and have currently been shying away from these responsibilities. Using the BA's own figures, 40% of Toll payers are in fact anglers, so I would say that gives BA every reason to engage with anglers, but you are correct in saying it is the EA's responsibility for fish stocks. BASG are slowly, but surely starting to turn the tide with both these organisations in the terms how consideration is shown to angling requirements. One example of this is, we have succeeded to have the following statement added to the Broads Local Plan, to ensure access to the water forms part of planning development policy PUBDM27. “There is no loss of local or visitor facilities, such as moorings, access for angling and access to the waterside.” This is an important change for angling access and should help secure bankside access on future developments, just a very small number of words, but ones that will prove to be invaluable in the years to come. This why one reason why it is vital that the BA and anglers engage, not strictly a fisheries issue, but planning policy does and will affect anglers. At the weekend, we had a fantastic presentation by Chirs Bilby from NE, on the Great Hoveton Project. Anglers concerns regarding how the project is managed and the effects on fish movements in that area HAS been an influence on their work.

Thanks for your comments, As Jenny Morgan says the Broads Angling Strategy Group has existed since 2000, and although I am a relative newcomer to the group, I am also unware of any confusion. Whilst under its previous guise as a STRATEGY group, BASG helped deliver some great work which has benefited both anglers and the wider community, we have been continually frustrated in recent years at the lack of available funding to improve the Broads Fishery. The re-creation of the BASG as a SERVICES group under the legal identity of a Community Interest Company, creates a platform for the BASG to seek direct funding for projects, something that wasn't possible under the previous identity. We hope that the event will be well supported by the Broads Angling community, it will certainly be interesting to see what the BA, EA and NE have to say publically about how they manage the Broads as a Fishery. Hope to see you there Duncan

On the 20th May, the newly formed Broads Angling Services Group (CIC) is holding its official launch event.We have arranged some interested speakers and exhibitions, and will round up proceedings with a Q&A session on the management of the Broads Fishery, which will involve the EA and BA. Please see attached flyer for details.

Hi Peter, Oh yes, we have a mountain to climb, and I am sure that others will be climbing it long after my efforts in the area have worn me down to a shadow of my former self. :-) Some of the angling practices we see are unbelievable and in some cases quite literally criminal. I agree, pike do tend to thrive on neglect and I would personally prefer if there were far less pike anglers but unfortunately its not for me or anyone at the BASG to deny anyone their fishing. At present there is very, very little management of pike fishing or pike stocks on the broads, mainly driven by lack of data and funding, these two issues are the very heart of what we are trying to address. The access point you make is interesting, I have a slightly different spin on it, I believe restricted access concentrates pike angling pressure to certain areas of the broads, improved access should dilute this pressure and the pike would benefit from this. I fish for pike 30-35 times a year and prefer to get well away from the busy areas and often have miles/acres of water all to myself. There certainly isn't over fishing in those areas, but it requires a great deal of effort/time/fuel to fish those areas, something most anglers aren't prepared to put in. Four rods is a subjective issue, I know many pikers than fish efficient methods that are more than capable of handling 4 rods, but I also know of some pikers that TBH shouldn't be allowed to fish even one (and I would love to see a solution to the small net, spinning rod and carrier bag diner catchers) I would urge anyone who witnesses illegal fishing practices, like JM has mentioned with rod spacing to ensure they report it to the EA hotline as soon as possible. Enforcement is intelligence lead and unless it is reported the EA will deny there is any issue and deploy their resources to areas with reported problems. EA hotline 0800 80 70 60 Regards Duncan

Fred, I see dialogue such as this as incredibly constructive and I really appreciate your time and thoughts on this subject The District Councils, and BA do have a statutory duty to support angling under a bigger directive, a couple of years ago a paper was published that demonstrated the Economic value of the Broads as a fishery and the numbers are eye watering. The Broads has a greater Socio Economic Value than the entire Scottish Salmon Fishery, yet has a pathetically small budget allocated to it. I have attached the paper if you are interested in a read. Yourself and JM, comments on bad angling practices are spot on and as a Broads angler of 30+ years I have witnessed this all too often. BASG are well aware of this and it is lobbying by us that has lead to an increase in the number of warranted EA officers in the Broads area. We were also key players in the publishing of the Broads Angle magazine that included information on fish welfare and best practice, and have funding in place to put further publications out in to the tourist space this season. I know its not a full solution, but it all helps. http://www.broads-authority.gov.uk/news-and-publications/publications-and-reports/conservation-publications-and-reports/water-conservation-reports/50.-Angle-on-the-Broads.pdf All the comments you make are perfectly valid, and we now collate all feedback from all platforms in order to be better informed, armed and placed to help angling in the Broads, so once again thank you for your contribution. Broads fish stocks are under serious pressure from all angles, saline incursion, prymnesium, illegal fishing, increased predation, climate change, and of course bad angling practices, just identify a few. If you take a look at the strategy below, you will see we have identified these and have people working in those areas almost on a daily the basis. https://basgonline.org/download/general/Broads_Angling_Strategy_V3-June-2013-FINAL1-low-res.pdf Duncan The SocioEconomicImportanceOfE_N_S_Fisheries_V5.2_Final.pdf

Thanks of your feedback Fred, I will make sure it goes in to the analysis of the survey process. You are of course correct in that tidal water is free to fish and will remain so, however access to the bankside and the lack of good facilities to launch trailer boats is currently dire in a lot of areas of the broads. Now are the facilities so dire because of anglers are not prepared to pay for them, or would anglers be prepared to pay more to have improved facilities. Currently any answer to that question is purely a personal opinion, what the survey does is to put some numbers around that question so that the correct action can be taken. 2017 saw the loss of at least one considerable amount of bankside access and I know from speaking to the landowner that this access has been lost purely on financial grounds. He couldn't get anywhere near to recuperating the operating costs, let alone market value so has chosen a different business model. I am particularly passionate about this as it is one of the areas I learnt to fish the broads as a child, and now this resource is lost to my (equally passionate) nephew as an introduction to his broads fishing. Its situations like this that having the data is vital in to knowing what can be done within the angling community, and when you are talking to EA, BA, NWT, NE and the like, unless you have data, you have nothing. Thanks for taking the time to complete the survey, and I hope my ramblings above, do enough to ensure you that it wasn't time wasted. Regards Duncan

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/674964/Essex__Norfolk_and_Suffolk_area_report.pdf

Thank you for your participation, we now have almost 1000 completed surveys now in the bag which is a large enough percentage of the angling community to be considered statistically robust. And thank you for the warm welcomes.

We have seen a surge in responses since I posted on this forum this morning. A big thank you to all who have responded. Duncan

I joined the group under Mike Hoyland's (rip) chair, so after your time by the sounds of it. I don't know your history there but if you fancy a second stint you can always contact by pm or Duncan.holmes@basgonline.org. We are hoping to take the BASG to the next level and have some really passionate people which should allow us to do so. Regards Duncan

Just for clarity BASG is nothing to do with the Angling Trust, it is a completely independent organisation. The Angling Trust however, have been helpful in enabling us to access data to deliver the survey to over 19,000 anglers, something we simply wouldn't have been able to do without their support for our efforts.

Hi Charlie Below is a cut and paste off our website, of the official launch isn't until May by which time we will have our Broads Angling Strategy document published, so expect a lot of noise around that time. In a nut shell, BASG exists to give angling a voice that can be heard in the Broads, and to deliver improvement and investment in to this nationally important fishery. The Broads Angling Services Group CIC was formed on the 27th Dec 2017 as a Community Interest Company. This was done to formalise and continue the work of the Broads Angling Strategy Group. The original BASG was dissolved in 2017 to allow the CIC to be formed. Since the two groups are, historically, one and the same thing, we choose to continue to brand ourselves as the BASG, To inform and improve our activities over the coming months, one of the first things we are doing is collecting responses from a survey. We invite all interested parties, both individual and groups, associations and other bodies to participate. We are holding a formal launch event at the Forum Norwich on Sunday 20th May 2018 and the results of the survey will be reported at this event. The Broads are a very special living, working landscape and an important centre for navigation and leisure activities such as angling. The natural beauty of the Broads landscape and its importance for wildlife is reflected by a number of National, European and International conservation designations, including Special Areas of Conservation and Sites of Special Scientific Interest. By necessity, this delicate balance of interests leads to a complex management system for the area involving local authorities, Natural England, the Broads Authority, the Environment Agency, Norfolk Wildlife Trust and other specialist interests including, of course, anglers. The Angling Trust recognises the value of the Broad land both in terms of it’s social economic and environment value, with it being England’s largest fresh water fishery. The Angling Trust will work with the BASG and key partners to ensure these values are both maintained and enhanced so they can be enjoyed by all for the future.

HI Pete. (I think its Pete right?) Part of the revitalisation of the BASG is to engage more effectively through digital platforms, this forum being one of them. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes by a small but dedicated bunch of anglers that work very closely with the EA teams on the ground, but unfortunately no one is aware of it. This has been confirmed by the survey results we have received so far and something that we at the BASG will hopefully be addressing ready for the start of the new rivers season in June. Duncan

Hi Alan Thank You.

Ladies and Gents, Some of you will have been aware of The Broads Angling Strategy Group for a number of years and some of you will have been involved in various projects and initiatives that it has been involved in. Over the past few months the group has undergone a transformation to the Broads Angling Services Group, a community interest company, which will add a level of identity and professionalism that is required to succeed in today’s world. The official public launch of the Group will be 20th May at a launch event to be held at the Forum Norwich, but prior to that we are seeking opinion from broads anglers so that we ensure that our efforts are focused in the directions that anglers want. Below is a link to an initial survey, so if you are interested in the Broads as a fishery please take a few minutes and complete the survey. Thank You Duncan https://basgonline.org/limesurvey/index ... &newtest=Y