NACA 2008 Annual General Meeting
Followed by a talk by Richard Leishman
from Natural England on the River Wensum Restoration Strategy
Tuesday 20th May 2008 at Bawburgh Village Hall
How to get there
Direction from A47 leave at B1108 Watton road 200 yards turn down Stocks
Hill sign posted Bawburgh village hall can be found half mile on left
From Bowthorpe/Norfolk Show ground
proceed to Bawburgh Village
at village center bridge, cross the bridge and head up Stocks Hill
Village hall can be found half mile on right
How to get there follow link http://www.bawburghbc.com/Map.htm
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Bawburgh Open Day
Sunday 1st June 2008
10am to 16.30pm admission free
Celebrity guest Bob Nudd plus angling and the environment demonstrations
Sponsored by the Environment Agency
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Naca Fisheries Update
Lammas, Limborne and Ringland fisheries no longer under naca control.
Click here for more information
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Fishery Action Plans
Click here for Naca view
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THURNE FISHERIES WILDFOWL REFUGES
Click here for information
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Fishery Action Plans
While NACA enthusiastically support the objectives of the Environment Agency’s Fishery Action Plans (FAP’s) in creating a partnership approach to help it effectively carry out its duties, it has become apparent throughout the country that FAP’s are only as effective as the personal commitment of the officers put in charge overseeing them. In a few areas FAP’s have been tremendously successful. In Norfolk however, while we have two hugely important pilot FAP’s set up for the Broads and the River Wensum, so far very few of the actions proposed to tackle the issues identified in these plans has been effectively taken by either the Environment Agency or Broads Authority.
This situation is without doubt a sad reflection of the current weak position of fisheries in both of these organisations priorities. With neither the EA or BA having fully-trained Fisheries Officers committed to or responsible for implementing the actions identified in the FAP’s, it is difficult to see how any real progress will ever be made that will be noticed by ordinary license paying anglers who fish the fisheries these plans were set up to improve.
While NACA has no personal axe to grind with the Officers that either the EA or BA have put forward to be oversee their part in these FAP’s, they are all individuals who do not fish or appear to have a practical understanding of fisheries issues or even have a professional responsibility for fisheries duties. Considering the importance of the ‘angling pound’ to the economy of Broadland, it is high time the Broads Authority stumped up money to pay for an Angling Officer who has a real interest in fishing and fisheries. In the case of the Environment Agency, it is difficult to understand how they have allowed the head of steam built up by their Area Fisheries Team a few short years ago to tackle the problems of the Wensum to dissipate to its present level of inertia.
Hopefully we will se the Broads Anglers Slipway Strategy start coming up with some concrete proposals this year along with some serious river restoration schemes being set out for the Wensum. This will be the real measure of the success of Fishery Action Plans, not glossy PR productions or endless rounds of meetings to attend. If in the final analysis FAP’s fail to make any noticeable difference to the ordinary licence paying anglers then they will have failed miserably. So far since FAP’s came along we have seen pike anglers lose the right to troll under power of an electric outboard and we have been asked to bow to conservation concerns on Hickling Broad by supporting the new bird refuge areas. Apart from a free magazine and a Code of Conduct aimed at visitors to the Broads however, we are still waiting for something tangible to come out of FAP’s that will make any positive difference to local anglers and visiting anglers alike.
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