Sea fishing legend Alan Yates calls for saltwater rod licence
24 August 2010 12:29
“It’s time that narrow-minded sea anglers woke up and put their hands in their pockets!” This is the impassioned reaction of a former England sea fishing international following news that recent proposals for a sea angling rod licence have been rubbished by the Government.
As previously reported in Angling Times, the proposals for the introduction of a licence to fish the UK’s coasts were slammed by anglers as ‘unfair’, with fisheries minister Richard Benyon responding to this by stating that the licence might not be ‘the best way to encourage angling in the UK’ - an admission that almost certainly spells the end of the proposal.
However, former England captain and hugely respected sea angler Alan Yates believes this would be a big mistake for the state of the UK sea angling as a whole.
“It’s time that British sea anglers woke up to the fact that something needs to be done about our fishing, and the best way to do that is to get our money on the table to give us a voice,” said Alan.
“A lot of anglers say they wouldn’t pay to fish the sea until the fishing gets better, but the truth is that won’t happen until we put our hands in our pockets and pay to have our say.
“A sea licence is inevitable, and the majority of ‘serious’ sea anglers I speak to agree that the sooner it happens, the better,” he added.
Speaking to the Angling Times about the situation, Combe Martin Sea Angling Club chairman, Wayne Thomas, said: “Most of our members are opposed to a licence. Anglers just can’t see the value of paying to fish water where commercial fishermen have decimated stocks. But if we saw things improve I’m sure anglers would be happy to pay much more than the price of a licence.” The Angling Trust said it was ‘very pleased’ by the news that the fisheries minister had made a ‘solid statement’ about the proposal.
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