A good return for your money…
…is what you spend time and effort looking for in these hard times. In terms of interest on capital invested, it is virtually impossible to find. But hard-earned cash, when not needed for essentials, needs a good home.
Suppose I say you have £20 to play with: to invest as you see fit, to get the best return you can from it. You might think there was no way this pathetic amount of money could be made to work and bring in any significant return. Perhaps an alternative investment might be the thing, an antique or something which would increase in value, then how would you know exactly what to buy… But what on earth, you might interrupt, has all this to do with fishing? Allow me to explain:
£20 will buy you individual annual membership of the Angling Trust, angling’s mouthpiece and representative body in England and Wales. The Angling Trust is our link with the outside world, and most importantly with the political world.
The Angling Trust has lobbied the three main political parties, and secured their support. Good, you might say to yourself. Then all is well. But the truth is that it is not. Or if it is, it may not always be. To get support from politicians needs sustained commitment and effort. Just the kind of commitment and effort other interested parties, such as the British Canoe Union, who are pressing for the ‘right to row’ everywhere in the UK for free, have been putting in. Angling of course has its own supporters and friends in Parliament, but they need to be kept on our side. This year has seen the departure from politics of Martin Salter, who has been a staunch defender of the angling cause in Parliament. So immediately there is a gap to be made up there. Commitment, effort and of course money, will help to fill it.
One new departure in the Angling Trust’s activities has been to campaign, with the help of external funding, and alongside marine conservation interests, for the future of sea fish stocks. In other words, anglers are joining the battle for sustainable use of natural resources. They are making their voice heard and being seen to take their rightful place at the forefront of pro-active environmental campaigning. Angling needs to demonstrate that it can take the lead in drawing public attention to critical environmental matters.
Many anglers, when asked to join an organisation which is supposed to defend their interests, shrug their shoulders and say that they already pay their EA rod licence fee, so why should they pay again? The answer to that one is very simple. The EA is in reality just another government department. The angler’s £26 is therefore nothing more than yet another tax. And like any other tax, it is money which potentially can be used against anglers’ interests. Such as recent EA plans to extend ‘run of the river’ hydro-electric schemes massively, effectively destroying many miles of river environment and fish habitat. The idea that the EA will defend our interests is naïve. Defending our interests is simply not what they are there for.
Members of Fish Legal (formerly the ACA, and a component of the Angling Trust) will know of its campaign to get the EA to put proper pressure on a number of water/sewage companies to adhere to proper regulations controlling Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) discharges. The EA has attempted to do so, but as might be expected, water companies have resisted on the grounds of cost and, believe it or not, exposure to the risk of prosecution. The Planning Inspectorate has predictably sided with the water companies, which in the end put their own shareholders before any environmental considerations. Fish Legal’s quite reasonable view is that devastating pollutions from sewage are on the cards. So the battle goes on, but only with your help.
So we anglers need a union to defend our interests, make no mistake. It is encouraging to see that Angling Trust club membership has grown significantly. It now stands at over 1,300 clubs. And rightly so, because the Trust has made promotion of angling clubs a main component of its activity. It fits naturally with encouraging youngsters to fish. After all, new blood is a standing requirement in any sport. And at last it gives us some real clout.
But we can, and should, have much more clout. Individual Angling Trust membership stands at just over 14,000. Many of you will read this and be astounded. How can so few individual anglers take any interest in the defence and promotion of fishing? I am old enough to know that angling apathy is not a new thing. Anglers have been backward in defending their interests for decades. If you are not a member, you should be, is the simple answer. I apologise if you are reading this and you have already joined. All I ask is that if you already are a member, please spend a little time persuading other anglers to join. If you are a member of a club, make sure it joins. Because the AT is the best hope for angling unity there has ever been. The more of us join up, the stronger a lobby we will become.
And let us not forget the sterling work the AT is doing in the encouragement of youngsters to take up fishing. The value of fishing as a socially positive activity, something which keeps youngsters occupied, interested and gives them a sense of real achievement, is now widely recognised in political and law-enforcement circles. And this value needs to be preached everywhere, not least to the general public.
I have no vested interest in the Angling Trust. I receive no payment for composing this article. I have however had a great time as an angler. Fishing is the sport I love. And writing this is one way of putting back a little into that sport. And if reading this prompts you to sign up, then it will have been well worth it.
So what I’m asking you to do is invest that modest amount: £20, to join the Angling Trust. Because when you look at the alternatives for investment nowadays, they all look a bit sick. And when you contemplate the possibility of the Angling Trust not gaining in strength, and consequently of anglers’ views not being taken into account, the outlook is poor. The more people sign up, the better-off we as anglers will be. And I mean ‘better-off’ in the wider sense. So spend that twenty quid, on the best alternative investment you’ll ever make, and be part of the future…
(Visit the Angling Trust at www.anglingtrust.net. Ring the AT re membership on: 01568 620447.)
Rod
