CAMPAIGN FOR THE PROTECTION OF WELSH FISHERIES

[rwgbridgend]

Keiths comments should not be taken lightly.

It would appear that the most respected and loyal enforcement officers in wales no longer seem to work for the Environment Agency. This does not seem to be confined to North Wales but is symptomatic of the Environment Agency all over Wales. It would appear that one too many enforcement officers have left before their time. Why?

Something that brought home to me the state of affairs was having a story recalled to me about a senior fisheries officer who was gloating and rubbing his hands with glee that 'another bailff had gone' resulting in him getting more money for his budget no doubt!

The campaign is not designed or aimed at rubbishing EAW. It is aimed at highlighting the problems that are occuring - to the Assembly Government to provide more funding. It is a pity that 'rubbishing' EAW has been unavoidable due to their propoganda and continiuos denials through the Welsh media and to Politicians that there is a serious problem on Welsh rivers. It is this aspect of their behaviour which has been upsetting. After all they are suppose to be the guardians of Welsh Rivers.

Whatever happens in the future with funding and enforcement, a certain organisation needs to regain it's respect. Respect must be earned.

I would like to join Hoppy and Highplains in appealing to all forum members to to go back to your Associations and Clubs and ask them to support our campaign. If not, send your own details to Highplains now!

[highplains]

Thank you rwbridgend,

Well put.

Now forum members lets have you all signed up please.

You could also get your non forum member palls to sign up. Just send their names, locations and postcode, if they are not members, and PM me those.

We need the authority of numbers. Every single name is very important.

I look forward to hearing from each and every one of you.

Thank you.

Regards

Highplains

[BrianYates]

Add me to your list, It has been a long time since i lived and fished in Wales but i hope to wet a line there soon,
Brian Yates

[highplains]

Thank you Brian,

Support from across the pond (The good old US of A) is very welcome.

Some more from Wales would be good.

Many thanks

Highplains

[muddlerman]

HELLO HIGHPLAINS
HOWS THINGS GOIN ? WOT CAN I DO TO HELP YOU ?

[highplains]

Nice to hear from you Muddlerman. Any offer of help is very welcome, thank you.

We need as many people as possible to send a pm or email to me to confirm they agree with the aim of the campaign, which is to work toward getting more bailiffs looking after our rivers. So if you can drum up support that would be great. Supporters do not have to be forum members, just people that wish to give their support. Just collect their name, postcode and house number ans send them to me and I will add them to the list. If they are allowed to speak for a group who wish to offer their support, then the name of the group and number of members will be great.

The EA are clearly completely ignoring the campaign and all those who speak for it so the only way we are going to make progress is to get numbers the government can not ignore.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks again.

Highplains

[apprentice2]

Highplains,

Wife and daughter both wish to support your campaign, somethinhg to do with encouraging me to fish, hence ,making me feeling guilty about excessive fishing and financing shopping trips. (Actually they are both enthusiastic supporters of the rural economy, hunting shooting and fishing) Is their support relevant to the campaign andwould a PM from them and all other "civilians" help???


Brtian M.

[highplains]

Brian,

All support, from whatever quarter is very welcome. We need to have big numbers of supporters. A few thousand is pointless we need lots of thousands. And they are coming, slowly but coming.

An appropriate PM will be welcome and I will add their details to the list.

All comers are welcome. Name Post Code and house number is all that is required.

Thanks again.

Regards.

Highplains

[rwgbridgend]

I have now written to all Assembly Members who cover South Wales West to remind them that the review of enforcement has now been presented to the Minister (four months late).

Many of these AM's have supported our campaign throughout and I am sure they will now press the Minister for the outcome of the review.

When we know more about the review Highplains will be ready to pounce with the list of support that he has collected!

This list of support is already pretty impressive but we need more Clubs and Associations on board.

If any of you are members of Clubs/Associations who have yet to support the Campaign, please contact your relevant committemen.

[apprentice2]

Highplains,

Wifeand daughter both signed up via pm to you.

Come on forum members submerge Alan with support

Brian M.

[highplains]

No need to be a forum member to be a supporter so go and get your mates etc. to sign up.

Thanks Brian

Regards.

Highplains

[clwydman]

As I read this I see that this thread has had 2096 hits, yet just 90 replies. Highplains is the number of PM's you have recieived for this vital campaign nearer to 90 or 2096?

I suspect the 20 would be closer. Fisher folk,sometimes I am embarrassed by your approach. Moan about lack of fish, moan about licience increases, moan about lack of baillifs yet when given the opportunity to do something about it so many just cannot be arsed!

If you have signed up in support, you understand my frustrations, if you have not signed up, please do not be upset at my comments, frankly I don't care, you ought to be ashamed of yourselves!

[highplains]

Clwydman,

It's nice of you to be so supportive of the campaign. I have to say the numbers are good enough to show we have serious support and good enough to give credibility to the campaign. However, the support from all the forums has not been as good as I had expected and I have to say I share your frustration. We need every single supporter and we need the support of forum members friends and relatives, provided they understand the campaign aims and agree with them of course.

This is just the first stage of the pre launch process. We intend to wait until we have numbers that show we have the support of anglers generally.

Please PM or email me your support: name and location if you are a forum member, name location post code and house number if not.

I look forward to being inundated.

Thank you.

Regards.

Highplains

[cff]

Officers of CFF yesterday met senior EAW managers and key staff to discuss our Water Resources and Bailiff Group, with yet three more members joining our team.
New initiatives now being explored are to be further developed that will revitalize our teams.

We find that our customary policy of active debate and collaboration can be so much more productive than confrontation.
Seemingly insurmountable perceived problems, often turn out to be contrived and misconstrued - no more than unsustainable hot air.

EAW will be the first to tell that CFF are not a soft touch. We appreciate they are facing increasing pressures on ever limited financial resources. Just by helping out we are helping ourselves.
Some others would do well to follow our example.

[rwgbridgend]

I find the previous post by CFF both offensive and patronising.

The way I have percieved his comments as are as follows:

1) The CFF has a monopoly on working productively with EAW and that everybody else is confrontational.

2) The problems on Welsh rivers are hot air and contrived

3) Only the CFF help themselves whilst everbody else wallows in self pity.

His comments are so arrogant it almost beggars belief. Here are one or two points for Mr CFF himself.

1) Ogmore Angling Association has had several meetings with EAW to work closer together. Meetings have been arranged between EAW and our Bailiffs. There is regular contact between the Association and EAW management.

2) The problems on Welsh rivers are real otherwise I must have imagined being chased off the river and having my car kicked by poachers. Our member who was pelted by rocks must have imagined it. It must have been a figment of my imagination watching a net being placed across the river. I must have dreamt the gang I saw carrying 4 large sewin which had been poached. I must have been hallucinating when I saw a trail of fish eggs on a footpath on our spawning grounds. As for the 8 rods that have been confiscated that are taking up space in my spare room - well they cant really be there. I must be totally losing it. I may as well just jump in my canoe on the towy and paddle myself out to the Irish sea!

3) The Ogmore Angling Association has an active Bailiff group who go out on regular patrols. our 600 members permits have the EAW hotline printed on the back. Members are encouraged to ring that hotline.

It is a pity that a well respected Federation has just lost it's credibility on an internet forum due to Mr CFF.

I would like to apologise to forum members for my outburst but hope that I have spoken for many of you by stating that the Carmarthern Fisheries Federation do not hold a monopoly on helping themselves and working productively with EAW. Clubs and Associations around Wales are more than capible of helping themselves without belonging to the the Carmarthen Fisheries Federation.

[waddington]

I agree with you Rwgbridgend. My gripe with the EA is quite simple. I am a paying customer and do not consider that I get any value for money for my licence fee. Unfortunately I am locked into paying the EA each year what I consider to be a reasonable sum of money to provide a service, that proves to be non existent, merely to comply with the law. As a paying customer I feel that I have every right to complain bitterly regarding the lack of service from the EA. This is not the sole preserve of organisations such as CFF, but the right of all individual anglers. It is all very well suggesting collaboration and debate as being the way forward, but the EA is currently failing miserably in its obligations to Welsh rivers. I think that the agency needs to be reminded bluntly of this fact both by individuals and organisations such as CFF. I do not relish confrontation for the sake of it, but on this issue, anything less is simply fudging the matter.

While I disagree with the CFF's approach on this matter I am only too pleased to congratulate them on their efforts in other areas such as the proposed Tywi net buyout.
Phil

[highplains]

May I refer all campaign supporters to post number 93 on this thread, posted by cff.

It would seem that those of us who have been working so hard to gather support for the campaign are either liars or delusional or indeed both. If any of the thousands of you that have offered your support wish, as a consequence of this revelation, to withdraw your support please PM me and I will immediately remove your details from the list.

If on the other hand you find the comments; patronising, offensive or just plain *.*. Then please make a point of PMing me your support so that your name can be added to the list. If you have already sent your support and find these comments unbelievable, then please go out and seek at least 10 supporters for the campaign, send me their name, post code, house number and location and I will add them to the list.

Please remember, we have not launched the campaign yet. We are currently in the pre launch phase that is designed specifically to gather support prior to the launch. And look out for some surprises when that happens!!

To those of you who have been supportive, A BIG THANK YOU. Without you there is no campaign. You are the campaign. Let’s all keep on keeping on.

Over to you cff old chap.

All the best and tight lines.

Hignplains

[highplains]

Regarding my response to the post by the anti campaign chap.

I should not have posted any comments. It seems there was a fly cast and I took it. Silly disillusioned me!

[cff]

They say that August is the silly season for news and this one is no exception.
Firstly, we had the Committee of a major Towy angling club trying to deny their members the opportunity to enjoy a long term bonanza.
Now we get these bizarre responses to my humble little announcement about progress made by CARMARTHENSHIRE FISHERMENS FEDERATION (CFF), which I innocently thought forum members might find of interest and helpful.

But dear me!. I've touched such very raw nerves that 'rwbridgend' feels he has to resort to personal abuse in his rambling response while all the time pointing out that his club is doing - in a small way - just as does CFF.

'Highplains' is equally touchy about his mysterious 'campaign'.
We are now accused of being 'anti'. Anti what?
How can we be expected to support something we know nothing about?
Why do the identities of his supporters have to be secret?
Who indeed is 'highplains'? We know about rwbridgend of Ogmore AA and CFF.
So who is this anonymous person? Is he like us - a club secretary or a federation sec?
Or is he simply representing himself?
Why was this general observation by CFF so upsetting ?, quote,
"Seemingly insurmountable perceived problems, often turn out to be contrived and misconstrued - no more than unsustainable hot air".

It seems to me that in some instances it may be a matter of caps and fittings.

And a final word of advice to 'rwbridgend' - take care not to canoe down the Towy expecting to paddle out to the Irish Sea - you will be in the wrong river.
And if you are going to criticise CFF, please do us the courtesy of using our correct title.

Other forum members not familiar with CFF will find details on one of our websites.
Suffice to say we represent the interests of over 11,000 anglers fishing on UK's premier waters.
Come to think of it, I seem to remember that another little club expressed an interest in joining CFF, I believe it was called Ogmore.....

[rwgbridgend]

I cannot believe that this gentleman has been given the mandate to represent the 11,000 members of the CFF.

His comment was upsetting. It was upsetting to many of our members who have experienced first hand the problems illegal angling and poaching can bring. Of course their experiences are just 'contrived' and 'hot air'

Ogmore Angling Association is not a 'little club'. We have 600 members and have fished our waters for 116 years.

I can also confirm that the Association has never expressed an interest in joining CFF. The only approach ever made to CFF was by myself to sit as an observer at a bailiff group meeting - a far cry from expressing an interest to join!

It is clear to forum members that the words of CFF were not posted innocently as he states but were posted for reasons only known to himself.

I have read my previous post carefully and can find no comments which represent a personal attack on CFF.

With regards to the Campaign coordinated by Highplains, if CFF would care to read this thread he will see full details of the campaign have been posted.

Finally, I cannot and do not understand the motives of a senior officer of CFF attacking the campaign which represent so many anglers and associations around wales not to mention berating certain angling clubs.