Start your own Anglers Conservation Association

Since the Specialist Anglers Conservation Group (SACG) was formed in 1990, one objective high on its agenda has been the need to help set up other county conservation groups throughout the UK. This objective is supported by all of the national specialist angling organizations affiliated to SACG including The Carp Society, PAC and NASA. etc. It is also intended that eventually SACG should act as the national coordinating body, through which the groups could cooperate. Sharing information and advice, coordinating efforts and planning objectives, working as a national angling conservation network.

The possibilities achievable through this initiative would be endless, but it can only happen if it is given support in the regions. There is so much expertise available in the ranks of SACG, NACA and the specialist groups involved that can be made available to anyone prepared to set up a group in their county, so they will not be working in isolation.

Are you interested, and if so, how do you start? The problems involved may seem insurmountable, but it is surprising how easily things can fall into place. It will take commitment, hard work, and a strong committee of members prepared to take on various roles and responsibilities. These people do exist, you may not know them now, but as your group grows they will be drawn towards it. Mighty oaks, they say, from little acorns grow! NACA grew, not from a gathering of professional environmental campaigners, but from a group of concerned individuals who had witnessed the decline of their fisheries and desperately wanted something done about it. None of them were experts, and none of them knew exactly how they would go about tackling it, but gradually things fell into place and the association grew in stature. In all probability this is the way your county's group would build and grow.

The future of your angling waters lies in your hands and those who will act to preserve them. The way forward is not always easy, there is so much which can be done, but it will not happen overnight. Start off as a pressure group. Get to know the mainstream conservation groups. While some will be suspicious of angling, most will want to meet you and discuss the issues. You can learn from them, and they can learn from you. The local media are always on the lookout for stories and the more exposure you get, the more attractive your group will become. Maybe there are some practical things you can do, such as collecting anglers litter, or planting trees along local rivers. Maybe like NACA, you can eventually even take on your own fisheries, which with your achievements could one day be the envy of the county.

Starting a County Anglers Conservation Association may sound like a major endeavour, but it's not as difficult as it may at first seem. It helps if you can get a few other intelligent people involved, especially if they are motivated enough to take on some responsibility. If the new group is to work effectively, the duties must be shared among all the members of the committee, if only one or two individuals take on everything, they will burn out and the group will achieve little.

Where on earth will all these committed individuals come from? Again, it's not as large a problem as it first seems. Don't be in a hurry to run before you can walk, the group will slowly grow in numbers and status, and as it does so, new members will gradually be drawn to it. The group should be seen as a collective effort, open to all who want to get involved, and in that way it will progress smoothly. If you avoid red tape and make the committee accessible, people will find their way in, taking on responsibilities as they get the hang of things. Others will come along, bringing their areas of expertise with them, and this will gradually strengthen the group.

Your first concern however, is to get the group started. It may be possible to do it on your own, but it will be much better if you have help from the start. Discuss the idea with other local anglers. The next step is to call an informal meeting, probably best held around a table in a quiet pub. Get as many influential local anglers as possible, plus regional organizers from associations such as NASA, NFA. PAC. The Carp Society and perhaps the local anglers consultative council if they are amenable. What you should seek from this meeting is a commitment to get the group up and running. Discuss the issues and find a name for the group, preferably one that will endure as the group matures. We suggest using your county name, as this presents a sense of authority for your region. You will also need to form the basis of a working committee, including selecting a chairman, a secretary and treasurer.

The next thing is to organize an inaugural public meeting to launch the association. This will need plenty of publicity, and you may find a better turn out is assured if you arrange for a well known angler to present a slide show later in the evening. The meeting's purpose, however, is to sell the idea of the group to as many people as possible. Ensure that invitations also go the local fishing clubs. You will need to outline the aims and objectives of the new group. Make sure you have a competent chairman, or you could find yourselves unable to focus the meeting and be unable to get your aims and objectives across.

You will want to start recruiting members at this meeting. If the tone of the meeting is right, and met with an enthusiastic response, most people will be keen to join. Collect a list of members names, addresses and telephone numbers and make sure that you list any professional skills they may have which you may need to call on at a later date. Set the joining fee as low as possible (no more than one or two pounds to start with), as you are mainly looking for a goodwill gesture, once you have a proven track record, members will be prepared to pay more. If you can get those in attendance keen enough to make some donations, it will help start a pool of funds to begin financing the group's work. Local clubs cannot be enrolled on the night however, as their representatives will have to take that proposal to their committees. All being well, you will have now started your association on something of a wave of optimism.

Once the association is formed you will need to open a bank account with two signatories. You will also need to get your committee meetings organized, and there you can outline one or two preliminary objectives and begin to formulate campaigns.

At this point it is a good idea to concentrate most of your efforts on arranging meetings with other organizations with an involvement in aquatic environments. This should include the area fisheries and conservation officers from the EA., your county Wildlife Trust and the regional officers of English Nature. If part of your region includes a national park authority with fisheries under its control, then also get to meet with its conservation officers. There may also be countryside management projects along some river valleys, and it is certainly worth meeting their officers. Discuss the issues which concern you, but be prepared to listen to what they have to say, these people often have in-depth knowledge which can be very useful.

It may be useful at least in the early days to start a regular programme of open meetings which will assist in building popular support for the group. While these can have a social nature they will be a useful forum to air the issues you wish to pursue, include a few fishing talks, slide shows and don't forget a raffle. More importantly, however, organize occasional talks which deal with local issues or have or have a relevant conservation theme. Exactly how the group will be run is up to your committee to decide, eventually however, it will need to put together a constitution and organize annual general meetings through which the association's membership can have an input and new officers be elected. Avoid becoming too bureaucratic and formal about things if you can. While a constitution can help keep things running smoothly, it is important that the organization should work cooperatively and be open to input from its members.

If the committee is to be really effective, each member should take on specific responsibilities. Committees have a tendency to become talking shops, some people love the sound of their own voice, but are not prepared to put themselves out. Fill a committee with people like this and you will quickly burn out your more active and constructive members

Ideally each committee member should have a well defined role, starting with the chairman and vice chairman, membership secretary, general secretary etc.. While the group is still new it may be possible to get by with only a few officers, but the more active each member of the committee is, the more quickly and effectively it will get things working. Secretaries take on a huge main burden, as lobbying and campaigning work requires a lot of correspondence. An assistant secretary will be invaluable if only to take the minutes at meetings and produce the agenda for the next meeting, thus greatly reducing the secretary's workload.

At least in the early days it may be possible that post of treasurer can be joined with that of membership secretary, subject to one person having the time to do both. As the group grows, however, these posts will need separating. Sooner or later you will need a press officer, as campaigning requires plenty of media coverage. Whatever you undertake to do, workloads must be shared if you are to avoid overburdening individuals. It is possible to continue adding posts forever, but try to avoid tying everyone up in specialist positions so much that they can not take care of anything outside of their designated role. How you go about sharing duties is up to you, but the following list might help: Association Representatives to sit on various advisory committees; Special Projects or Campaign Managers; Newsletter Editor; Fishery Managers; and Social Meetings Organizer; Products Manager etc.

Angling is full of opinionated individuals, who with no qualifications endlessly spout off their often misguided opinions. You cannot afford to be led by ignorant opinions, so take on as much qualified expertise and advice as possible. If you can find anglers with professional status who will join the committee or be prepared to offer advise, use them. Biologists, fisheries workers, ecologists and legal experts are the sort of people you must strive to attract. It will also be really useful if you can get some graphic designers or printers, secretarial/word processor operators, and others whose practical skills can add to the professionalism of the group. All this might sound like a tall order, and you will inevitably fall short in some areas, but as your group's status grows, such people will be attracted.

Any help or interest in your group should be welcomed, however, qualified people on the committee will be invaluable, as you will be communicating with professional organizations and can not afford to present yourselves amateurishly. With a well informed professional approach your group will be taken seriously and will be able to make a very real contribution to the conservation of your county's fisheries.