Sea Angling Licence

[Fletcher 0]

Just lifted this off another forum.

 

More than one million sea anglers will be forced for the first time to pay to fish under Government plans for a licensing system.

 

Ministers are proposing charges to cover beach anglers, boat fishing and charter trips, overturning a British tradition enshrined in common law nearly 800 years ago.

 

David Miliband, the Environment Secretary, wants to use the licence fee to help manage fish stocks. It would also be used to protect and improve shore access and car parks, provide launch sites for small boats and create artificial reefs. Part of the money would be used to administer the scheme itself.

 

Countryside campaigners see it as a stealth tax and say commercial fishing is the biggest threat to marine conservation. They also argue that it would be prohibitively expensive to police 2,500 miles of coastline.

 

The proposal would require everyone over the age of 12 who fishes in the sea with rod and line to have a licence. There would be exemptions for elderly people, group licences for charter vessels and daily and weekly charges.

 

Freshwater fishermen currently pay £24.50 a year for a rod licence.

 

A spokesman for the Countryside Alliance said: "Sea anglers know full well that it is commercial rather than recreational angling that is the biggest threat to marine conservation."

 

The spokesman added that the angling industry is worth £538 million a year to the economy and the Government should be trying to attract people to the sport rather than scaring them off with "a layer of bureaucracy that simply cannot deliver benefits".

 

The National Federation of Sea Anglers (NFSA) said it opposed licences without tangible improvements for sea angling. Richard Ferré, the chairman of the NFSA, said: "Sea anglers would be paying to put right the damage caused by years of over-exploitation by commercial fishing allowed through the neglect of successive governments."

 

The Government has invited comments on its proposals and a new Bill is not expected until 2009.

 

A public right to fish dates to the Digest of Justinian, a Byzantine legal codification, in the sixth century AD.

Edited April 11, 2007 by Fletcher

[Yokel Matt 918]

Sounds about right... nobs.

[SeanTheHawker 0]

bloody sickening

[spindolero 1,111]

You can't fart without being taxed in some shape or form.

 

isn't Millliband being touted as candidate for Labour leadership? 'bout right.

[jacob 28]

f**k em,ill never buy one

[Ricky-N.p.p 0]

the fresh water licence only applies in england just now does it not ?

[Guest gypo joe]

Sure is becoming a f*****g joke now next on the

tax list will be fresh air

[jacob 28]

ive been told that my local council are going to introduce a wheelie bin tax where you have to pay by the wieght

[elma-fudd 0]

revolution

[SeanTheHawker 0]

the fresh water licence only applies in england just now does it not ?

fraid not mate

then theres your permits on top

[Ricky-N.p.p 0]

the fresh water licence only applies in england just now does it not ?

fraid not mate

then theres your permits on top

 

 

the rod licence doesnt apply in scotland at the moment mate, are they bringing one in ?

[SeanTheHawker 0]

really? we need one here, in both the north and and in the south for seatrout and salmon. costs a fortune down south!

[midnight walker 8]

they have f****d up everything else we do it was only a matter of time before they f****d the fishing side of things as well wankers

[parkstone 24]

it will cost more to police it than they make from it, what about holiday makers who hire a rod for the day or kids that are crabbing off the rocks? bloody ridiculess

[derek.snr 7]

just bought my freshwater licence would not mind if it was checked ,never been checked and i am 43 been fishing since i was 10 always had a licence ,sea angling is not feasable due to the logistics of it