This forum is for general discussion related to Angling. Areas covered would include Media Reports, Conservation Issues and the promotion of the sport.
teacher wrote:Maybe if the license fee went to an independent body that collected and fees and reinvested them (e.g. in anging facilities, safety, conservation, publicity, scientific research, etc.) then more people would be willing to buy one. The body could publish its accounts at the end of the year, show how the money was spent.
if this was the case I will buy one
If the fee just disappears into a government black hole, with no transparent accounting for how it's spent, then most anglers, including myself, will have very little confidence in it.
here is a list of things to think about-
# do you really believe that most of the money received in license fee will go towards improving facilities that anglers use. ( that was one of the "benefits" mentioned on the bbc ni news item )
# if it is a monetary success for the gov. in n.i. it will be introduced in the south - guaranteed.
# how will it be enforced ?
# what recognition do any of the irish angling teams receive from the government - none ( paying to represent your own country is starting to become an actual concern for some anglers ).
# will tackle shops close - yes, look how many pubs closed because of the smoking ban.
# will a license help with over fishing by trawlers - well they are doing a great job stopping over fishing right now ( "sarcasm, come on in!" -Bill Hicks )
What puzzles me is how do they plan to police sea anglers and their licences?
I left fresh water fishing because IMO it was a waste of money, you had to pay for your rod licence, if you wanted to fish the ministry waters you had to pay another levy and then if you fished a trout lake/fishery you had to pay another levy/fee. I knew the put and take lakes had fish in them to fish for so I suppose I didn't mind paying for that. I do mind paying a levy basically if it is only to wet a line somewhere for the sake of it. If there is fish to fish for then fine, no problem, if the chances are you are not going to catch then that's were I could will have an issue although there is very little caught now without paying the £22
As fishinmidget stated, £22 doesn't sound alot, but when you take everything into consideration, your bait, fuel to get to venue, wear on your transport, etc, etc then find there is no fish to fish for or the fish are very small then I feel the £22 is better off in your pocket.
I know I'm spouting but when push comes to shove I'll be first in the queue to buy a licence as I enjoy the "fishing" too much to give it up for the sake of £22. I suppose that's why the govt set the amount "so low" they know we will pay if needed.
My views on this are similar to quite a few of those already mentioned, how will it be policed, where will the money be spent, what are we paying for in general??
I have a fear that the money will basically be handed out as subsidies to commercial fishermen so that they can continue to destroy fish stocks and the marine enviroment. Also, I find it very hard to believe that a bailiff would actually have it in him to walk down Carrick Harbour in mackerel season and start asking for permits - will never happen unless he likes swimming.
Like N & G I used to fish for trout in the Ministry waters but they only had one bailiff to police six or seven lakes and so his effect was minimal, in ten years I was asked for my permit twice and that is a tiny area compared to even the Antrim coast. And what about recreational boat anglers?? Fisheries vessels can not control or effectively police the commercial boats so what are they going to do when there are litterally hundreds or thousands more?
This strikes me as just another stealth tax that Labour seem so fond of - remember that whenever car tax was introduced the then government stated that every penny would be spent on the upkeep and improvement of the road network, that promise seems to have been forgotten because it no longer suited.
Will I be buying a licence?? Yes, I won't have any other choice.
Any money lifted will be spent on admin etc and we will not see anything back. i will buy my licence and then get peeved off big time when others around me on the harbour have no licence and nobody will be checking them. Also is it £22 to fish or £22 per rod to fish? thats what i would like to know.
I also seen the trawler working no more than 300 yards for the prom on tuesday jonny.
I will more than likely be paying the £22. but were does it stop. Will there be certain harbours that put additional levy to pass through a 'gate' to fish in the mackerel session. . . . . . . .
will the tackle shops administer an additional fee with every lb of bait bought......
The list goes on
They can inforce it without the use of bailiffs!
if it stops some of the ppl we have been discussing in other forms taking everything they hook it would be well worth implementing. i was recently on south beach arlow and saw 3 "new nationals" (i believe this is the PC term) taking each and every fish they caught. I also witnessed "new nationals" driving a nail into the head of a conger in ballycotton in order to get their hook back and dumping the carcas back into the sea.
now dont get me wrong im not a racist or anything of the sort, i just think measures need to be taken to educate ppl to be more aware of the effects of cleaning out marks. if the money was re invested into the industry as has been said by many others then i would happily fork out my hard earned cash, lets face it fishing is probably one of the most expensive sports as it is so a few more quid wont kill anyone
[url=http://galwaybuccaneerssac.com/]Galway Buccaneers SAC[/url]
[i][color=red]St Juniper once said; 'By his loins shall ye know him, and by the length of his rod shall he be measured.'[/i]
Wasn't there all sorts of protest whenthey tried to bring in a freshwater rod liscence in the republic??
-very- occassionaly the irish Government doesn't do a copycat on British legislation (hunting ban??)
blair is pretty big on the nanny state, but i wouldn't imagine a license having much positive impact, any income would be pretty much guarented to be eaten up by admin costs
if it is brought in in the north I wonder how long it would stay at £22?
(think of the salmon and sea trout license in the rep doubling in price over one year)
would like to be wrong on this, and would be more keen to support somthing if I thought it would benefit the conservation of fish stocks etc.
but like the salmon situation, what anglers catch in a lifetime, is almost certainly less than one haul from one netsman .
davyp wrote:Wasn't there all sorts of protest whenthey tried to bring in a freshwater rod liscence in the republic??
Yes ther was a very active protest and after it I doubt they'd silly enough to try the same thing in sea angling. The government ditched it with their tales between their legs. In fresh water money can go towards improving water quality, restocking fiesheries and policing. What will sea fishing licence do? Some say improve the stock of fish but how will they do this?
As for removing foreign nationals that misbehave they can't even clamp down on them driving around in untaxed and uninsured cars.
Took a few minutes today and e-mailed the main political partys in the north about this nonsense of a license, even joined the petition at no10 Downing street against fees for sea angling. At least it makes me feel that i got my views across and not sat on my butt and done nothing. Cheers
looks like its already in the pipeworks by looking at this
[url=http://galwaybuccaneerssac.com/]Galway Buccaneers SAC[/url]
[i][color=red]St Juniper once said; 'By his loins shall ye know him, and by the length of his rod shall he be measured.'[/i]
contender wrote:Took a few minutes today and e-mailed the main political partys in the north about this nonsense of a license, even joined the petition at no10 Downing street against fees for sea angling. At least it makes me feel that i got my views across and not sat on my butt and done nothing. Cheers
can you put up a link to this
2010 species list: coalies, flounder, whiting, pollock, cod, doggie, sea trout, pouting, poor cod, short spined sea scorpion, long spined sea scorpion, 3 breaded rockling, shore rockling, 5 breaded rockling, tompot blenny, mackie, placie, dab, bullhuss, conger, ballan wrasse, corkwing wrasse, goldshinny wrasse,thronie, lesser weaver, bass, tub gurnard, red gurnard, grey gurnard, shanny, rock goby, turbot,
if this was the case I will buy one
if this is a case I will become a poacher 
