Contrary to the story in the Times newspaper (Feb 3rd), the Angling Trust has not called for a cull of otters.
This part of the story is completely untrue and we wish to reassure anglers and the general public about this urgently. The person quoted as being an Angling Trust spokesman is not an employee or spokesman of the organisation, and says that he has never spoken to The Times. The journalist did not contact the Trust to verify the ‘story’.
The Angling Trust office has received many e-mails and telephone calls about this subject today, all of which have expressed dismay at these reports. The comments on the Times web site and from members of the public demonstrate the strength of public feeling about this issue, and the damage that would be done to angling if anglers were ever to call for a cull.
Mike Heylin, Chairman of the Angling Trust, has written to the paper’s editor demanding a retraction and apology.
Angling Trust is campaigning vigorously on behalf of all anglers to ensure that our rivers are healthy enough to support populations of both otters and fish. We have also lobbied the Environment Agency to release funds to help fisheries to fence their waters, and otherwise deter otters, if practicable.
U18s and U22s Team England Coarse Angling Youth Trial
The application forms for the U18s and U22s England Youth Trial nominations are now available for download from the Angling Trust website, and must be completed in full and returned to the Angling Trust in Nottingham, no later than 20th March 2010. The 2010 Sensas Team England U18s and Drennan Team England U22s will compete at the World Youth Championships in Italy.
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| Juniors in Italy |
This year the first trial for the England Youth Coarse Angling Trials will be held on Saturday 10th April at Gold Valley Lakes.
These trials will be pole only and bloodworm and joker will be the predominant baits. Baits will be available to order in advance and can be collected at the trial.
Mark Downes, England Youth Team Manager stated “This year’s Youth Championships will be in Italy on a large canal that looks as if it will be full of skimmer bream. It will almost certainly be a pole and bloodworm event and I feel it will be a good one for us.
Steve Sanders and myself will be looking for strong pole anglers with a good grounding in bloodworm and joker fishing and the ability to fish under pressure.
There will be an initial U18s trial at Gold Valley Lakes, and then the U22s will be put through their paces at Packington Fisheries in the Midlands.”
Sponsors Support Team England Angling
The Angling Trust is delighted to announce a new sponsorship package for Team England Shore Angling with Tronix, the West Sussex based tackle company. George Cunningham from Tronix attended a recent Angling Trust Marine National Team & Competition Group meeting where he met with Mike Heylin, Chairman of the Angling Trust to seal this deal. All of the
Angling Trust Marine shore teams will be given product support while the England World Junior Shore Team will get a £1,500 cash injection for the next three years. Without such support it would not be financially possible to send teams to such events.
The Angling Trust can also confirm that Fox International is supporting some of the England Teams with product support: those attending the World Junior Shore Championship will each receive a top of the range multi-tip 16ft rod which should prove ideal for the Championships being staged in Portugal.
Kamasan UK are once again providing the Home International junior and youth teams with top of the range Kamasan hooks which could well give them the cutting edge during their Championships, which will be staged in Scotland during July.
Angling Trust Chairman Mike Heylin said: “The Angling Trust is committed to securing funding to support Team England in game, coarse and sea angling disciplines. This will enable the best participants to represent their country and will raise the profile of competition angling to attract more participants to matches at all levels.”
To visit the ANGLING TRUST site, click here
