Dick also wrote in his regular ‘Angling Times’ column a good deal about the political side of angling, or should I say: political developments which are likely to affect angling. Recently I read through a collection of his best articles, which ended with his view of the specific problems and threats which angling would face in the future. He quite sensibly recognised that his predictions were only his best assessment.
So I thought it would be a useful exercise to take a look at that, and then see whether any of his predictions had come to pass. The book in question (‘Dick Walker’s Angling – Theories and Practice, Past, Present and to Come’) was published in 1979, so we are looking roughly at a time-span of 35 years. The final section is entitled ‘What lies ahead?’
In typical Walker style, Dick got straight to the main point:
‘Let me say at once that the angler is his own worst enemy…’ Anglers were extravagant when buying tackle, he said, but extremely mean when it came to organisations which defended their sport. Dick put the number of UK anglers at 3 million, and the number of ACA members at a mere 20,000. He mentioned the fact that anglers had turned down proposals to increase NFA subscriptions by 3p a year.
What can I say about this – other than to comment that some things never change? Apart from the number of licensed anglers, which seems to have declined, and can now be put at something a little over 2 million, if we include sea anglers. Think about that figure for a while. Let it sink in. And then reflect on the fact that, despite the still large number of anglers, only 13,000 of them are individual members of the unified body, the Angling Trust, which represents them. Do the maths, work out the percentage of anglers who support its work…
Even in the 1980’s the militant, highly political animal extremists were actively campaigning against angling, many local councils were being lobbied to ban fishing on waters under their control, local newspapers often published anti-angling letters written by activists, and no less a politician than Mr Michael Foot confirmed, in response to a question in Parliament, his belief that angling, along with foxhunting, should be banned ‘in the interests of civilised living’. One of Dick’s more political articles even earned him a rather derogatory mention in ‘Labour Weekly’.
Please do not think, by the way, that I am writing this because I am out to get socialists, or that this is some kind of party political piece. It is not. I am simply describing history. The political threat to angling can nowadays come from various quarters: the Greens, who are strong in German politics, once managed to get a law passed there which banned catch and release of coarse fish, and no doubt there are a few Tories around who look on us as stone-age beings who do not quite fit into the 21st century. And there are probably quite a few Lib-Dems around who if push came to shove would support an anti-angling policy. And you can bet that if angling ever became a political issue on the scale that foxhunting was, politicians of all parties would follow the general public mood in order to gain votes.
The Angling Trust ensures our views are heard at ministerial level
How did those Greens in Germany manage to push through such a law? The answer is that they simply pushed for what they themselves, and the majority of the non-angling public thought, namely that no fish could survive being caught and would have to be killed. As well as the fact that many if not most people see little point in fishing if fish are simply returned, even unharmed. Dick mentioned in his attempt at prophecy that the fact that there were so many ‘ill-informed townspeople’ about, who want to ban all field sports on grounds of cruelty, and of course as a result of the (then) public perception of ‘huntin’ shootin’ and fishin’’ as the pastimes of the privileged and leisured classes.
The answer to this particular threat is of course to educate the general public and to educate politicians who might otherwise have no particular axe to grind as to the benefits of angling for the individual and for the general environment. The Angling Trust is the body, recognised by Parliament as representing UK anglers, and with which it has direct dealings.
Dick thought by the way that, given the number of anglers, we should be asking political candidates at election time what their policy on angling was. And why not? If every candidate was asked that question by even a few dozen of us, he/she would soon start taking the question seriously. But of course angler apathy is such that not many of us will do that. A pity, with such numbers we could really exert a real bit of pressure…
Dick was convinced that the number of anglers would increase – ‘unless the politicians and others who wish to ban angling have their way’ – such that fishing might in future have to be time-rationed. All very interesting, and in the case of a very small number of waters only, possibly true.
One thing Dick could not have foreseen was the full impact of the computer age. Just about every outdoor activity has been hit by the cyber revolution, which encourages kids to stay indoors playing computer games, or live their lives on social media. This has been compounded by parental concerns about health and safety, and not least anxiety about the threat from child-molesters.
As well as this, there has been a radical change in the way people live: since 2007 there have been more people worldwide, and certainly in the UK, living in towns and cities than in rural areas. This has meant that increasingly fewer people have come into contact with, and been attracted to, angling in the normal course of their lives. Many children, it is said, never stray more than a couple of hundred yards from a major road, such is the extent of urbanisation and the lifestyle which goes with it. All I can say on this particular point is that, whatever the venue I fish, the sample of anglers I see on any given occasion, school holidays included, tilts alarmingly towards the grey end of the age spectrum…
So we can be pleased that we have a dedicated member of staff in the Angling Trust whose job it is to promote angling and to ensure that enough people, young and old, are given the opportunity to try out fishing for the first time. No anglers in the future means no future for angling.
In his ‘crystal ball’ piece Dick noted that: ‘competition from other water sports has been increasingly severe…’ As I said above, some things never change. So we can be glad that we have an organisation, the Angling Trust, to promote our own sport among the general public. Because we can be sure that every other sport competing for water space will be doing the same.
One other thing Dick mentioned was over-abstraction of rivers, along with pollution caused by farm chemicals, trout farms and the like; this was not likely to go away. It was the ACA then, and now its successor Fish Legal, a highly successful body which works very closely with the Angling Trust and takes polluters to court and also battles with utility companies over establishing the exact nature and amounts of discharges into rivers.
The simple fact is that the forces and factors we have to contend with are not going to go away; in fact most of them are likely to become more significant as time passes. The canoeists are not going to pack up and go home; over-abstraction of rivers continues; the extremist animal rights people show no sign of reducing their efforts to get angling banned; illegal fishing will not disappear overnight; we need to maintain a parliamentary presence; government ministers and other politicians and those of influence will forever need to be lobbied, both as they themselves are replaced, and also as new issues affecting us arise. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
By now you will have rumbled the fact that the question I ask in the title to this piece is the wrong one. The real question we should think about is: how far do we still need to go? And clearly, the answer has to be – a long way yet. Since Dick’s day we have come on a bit. Instead of a number of small, disjointed angling organisations we now have a single, united one: the Angling Trust.
Let me round off this piece with Dick’s best assessment of what anglers need to do to ensure that their sport really has a future. He summed it up thus:
‘The dangers to angling are thus formidable; if they are not defeated in the future, the reluctance by anglers to finance adequately their protecting representative bodies will be largely to blame.’
‘Much depends’, he went on to say, ‘on what anglers do to help themselves.’
So true then, true now, and true always…so Dick old mate, you were not exactly a clairvoyant, no ordinary mortal can be, but you certainly put your finger on the truth with that one.
So please take some time to look at the website of the organisation which is the governing body for your sport, and which represents you and your interests as an angler. Then do something to help yourself: join, donate, support, and/or volunteer. The future is in your hands. The future starts here, and now.
*Rod began fishing in his local park lake at the age of twelve, and from there he graduated to chub and roach from the river Tees in North Yorkshire. He now lives in Surrey within striking distance of the river Mole, as well as the Medway and the Eden in Kent and does a lot of surface carp fishing on small waters in the area. Latterly he has enjoyed winter fishing on the Test in Hampshire. He has contributed numerous articles on various angling subjects and personalities to ‘Waterlog’ magazine, as well as many posts on environmental and political subjects in support of the work of the Angling Trust on the ‘Fishing Magic’ website (www.fishingmagic.com)
He remains a passionate angler as well as a member and promoter of the Angling Trust.
The Angling Trust deserves your support in its dealings with politicians and the media to defend and promote fishing. Find out all about the Angling Trust and its work atwww.anglingtrust.net or call us on 01568 620447. If you’re not already a member DO consider joining.
