Download Hello All, This is the 4th news briefing for 2008. My plan to produce

EAA NEWS BRIEFING
14th MARCH 2008
Hello All,
This is the 4th news briefing for 2008. My plan to produce one briefing per week is slipping a bit
due to a lot of commitments at home and abroad. In the past 3 weeks I have attended the RSA
debate in the Scottish Parliament (27th Feb), a Shannon River Basin District Advisory Council
Meeting in Carrick-on-Shannon (28th Feb), a Failte Ireland/ Fisheries Boards workshop in Virginia
(29th Feb), a Board Meeting of EAA in Brussels (4th Mar), a Marine Protected Areas Workshop in
the Scottish Parliament (5th & 6th March) and Working Group meetings of the North Western
Waters Regional Advisory Council in Manchester (11th – 13th March).
If you would like this bulletin to go to other recipients please let me know.
John Crudden
IRISH NEWS
AGM of EAA-Ireland.
The AGM will be held on Wednesday 26th March in the offices of the ACI at 13:00. The Agenda
and other documents will be circulated in the coming week.
€25 million Salmon Hardship Scheme
Details of a Community Support Scheme, amounting to €5 million, have been announced by
Minister Eamon Ryan and Minister Eamon O'Cuiv. The scheme has been established following a
recommendation by the Report of the Independent Salmon Group.
This Scheme is not ordinarily directed at commercial salmon fishing licence holders (who have had
the opportunity to avail of payments from the €25 million Salmon Hardship Scheme) but rather at
the development of additional economic opportunities for crews and employees in the processing
and ancillary sectors in communities where commercial salmon fishing has been a well-established
activity and where its withdrawal has impacted on the economic and social fabric. The scheme will
be made available through 15 LEADER companies.
The “Salmon Hardship Scheme” has already allocated €25 million for commercial salmon fishing
licence holders. Over €22 million will be paid to applicants over the next three years, as well as €2
million under the Loughs Agency Scheme and €500,000 with the Appeals Officer. The Minister
said that “the majority of applicants were satisfied with the amount offered”.
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UK NEWS
ANGLING UNITY - A MAJOR STEP FORWARD
The major angling bodies in England have taken a major step towards a single unified body to
represent all anglers. In a joint statement they said:
“We have agreed that the following bodies intend to wind up their organisations and form a single
new organisation to represent all anglers. This will be subject to each organisation passing the
necessary legal and financial checks - known as due diligence”. The angling bodies involved are:
- Anglers' Conservation Association
- National Association of Fisheries and Angling Consultatives
- National Federation of Anglers
- National Federation of Sea Anglers
- Salmon and Trout Association
- Specialist Anglers' Alliance
The transition process is being managed by the Fisheries and Angling Conservation Trust, the
umbrella body for fisheries and angling organisations. FACT has retained legal, financial and
marketing professionals to advise on the formation of the new body.
Each of our organisations has contributed £10,000 to FACT to cover the new body's start-up costs,
a clear indication of our commitment. In addition to funding the essential due diligence much work
is needed to improve marketing and our services to members.
The target date for incorporation of the new body, ie legal registration as a company, is early July
with full operation by January 2009. Before then each organisation will seek approval to proceed at
a general meeting - NAFAC has already done so.
As Chairmen of long-established organisations with loyal members we have not taken this step
lightly. However we all believe that a single new organisation is needed to fight for the interests of
all anglers and the fisheries they enjoy. We have already received many messages of support for the
move and look forward to a bright future.'
Comment: Is this the road that we should be going down in Ireland? Are we ready to take that
step?
John Crudden
SCOTTISH SEA ANGLING
The Scottish Sea Angling Conservation Network (SSACN) held a Sea Angling promotion in the
Scottish Parliament on 27th February. The event in one of the Committee rooms was hosted by John
Scott MSP and was attended by 5 other MSP’s along with 52 people representing sea angling
organizations throughout Scotland. I attended the event representing the EAA and EFTTA, the
European Tackle Trade organization.
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The MSP’s were shown excerpts from a video that illustrated how sea anglers provide a “Lifeline”
to the economies of many coastal communities. It was followed by panel discussion which allowed
the MSP’s and other participants the opportunity to ask questions and highlight areas of concern.
Later in evening a motion on Sea Angling was debated in the parliament itself which received
unanimous cross-party support.
Comment: This was my contribution to the earlier meeting some of which was quoted from by
the MSP’s at the debate later in the evening. About 30 angling representatives stayed on in the
public gallery for the debate.
John Crudden
The European Anglers Alliance (EAA) is a pan-European organisation founded in 1994. It has 5
million members in 53 national organisations in 18 European countries and is recognised as a nongovernmental organisation (NGO) by the European Commission. The EAA has a permanent office
in Brussels and employs a full-time lobbyist.
Value of RSA.
The EU last year undertook a study on the socio –economic value of RSA. In the EU there are
between 8 and 10 million sea anglers generating a socio-economic value of €10 billion (£7.5
billion) and supporting 500,000 jobs. The fishing tackle trade in the EU has 3,000 companies
(manufacturers and wholesalers) with a turnover of €5 billion (£3.5 billion) and supporting 60,000
jobs. The sea angling element of this business is worth €2 billion and supports 20,000 jobs. In the
UK it is estimated that 1.1 million people go sea angling every year and this contributes £1.3 billion
to the economy and supports 20,000 jobs. Most of this money is spent in rural locations where there
are very few jobs so RSA becomes a vital necessity in maintaining these communities.
Governments need to recognise that RSA is a significant economic driver for many people and
seem reluctant to accept that what is a leisure activity could be so valuable to the economy. I don’t
know if a study has been carried out in Scotland but if not then it is a necessity in order to prove the
value of the product. Funding is available under the EFF, I know of two countries that have availed
of this, Denmark and Sweden.
Accepting the sea angler as a stakeholder.
Because the value of RSA has never been quantified governments have been able to ignore sea
anglers as having any rights as a stakeholder. We in EAA were able to convince the EU
Commission that sea anglers are legitimate stakeholders and so we were granted seats in all the
Regional Advisory Councils set up under the CFP. We are part of the “other interests” groups,
which holds 1/3 of the seats on the RAC’s. You might say “what good is that, your opinion will
always be ignored” but not so. If a consensus is not achieved on a particular topic the minority
position must be recorded in any communication with the Commission and the Commission does
take it into account. The RAC’s also gives us an opportunity to sit down at the same table with the
“enemy”, the fishing industry. There was quite a bit of animosity displayed to us in the beginning
but the industry now accepts that were have a part to play and we are there to stay.
I would urge the member state governments to follow the EU example and accept that RSA has a
right to its say at national level.
Fish stocks.
We accept that commercial fishing is a necessity to meet the needs of society provided it is
practiced in a sustainable way. Sad to say that sustainability has not been to the fore for many in the
industry in a long time if at all. This is mainly due to the disastrous regulations imposed under the
various fisheries policies that has brought about a collapse in many fish stocks. The practice of
discarding up to 80% of fish from every tow is to be deplored.
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That said, I have to applaud the initiative from the Scottish industry to introduce voluntary “realtime” closures in the North Sea, however, I am yet to be convinced that it is workable or not just
another ploy to get “extra days” at sea.
Most sea angling takes place within one mile of the shore. Many commercial boats are now fishing
these zones thus bringing them into direct conflict with anglers. There is a case to be made to set
aside certain areas for sea angling where no commercial activity is allowed.
A case could also be made to declare certain species as “recreational only”. I mention the situation
in Ireland where Bass is in that category but subject to strict bag limits and a seasonal closure.
I want to thank RSA-Scotland for inviting EAA/EFTTA to this meeting. We wish you well in your
promotion of the RSA product and we hope the Scottish Executive will recognise that RSA has a
major role to play in the economy of Scotland.
EAA NEWS
EAA Board
A meeting of the EAA Board took place in Brussels on Tuesday 4th March. All board members
were present at the meeting. A report of the meeting will be circulated separate to this report.
EAA Subgroup - River Systems
The next meeting will take place 24th April. The meeting will take place in the offices of
Sportfishing Netherlands in Bilthoven. Lunch will be provided. After the meeting participants will
have diner together during the evening.
Agenda for the meeting
1. Opening of the meeting, opening remarks by the chairman.
2. Approval of the agenda.
3. Minutes of the meeting of October 26, 2007 in Greenwich (London), prepared by subgroup
secretariat
4. Report and discussion about the current situation of European Eel policy and a new Dutch
report on the status of the eel in the Netherlands by Fred Bloot
5. Report and discussion about the current situation of Atlantic salmon in the Rhine basin and
elsewhere:
- Report by-catches protected migratory species in the Rhine and The Netherlands
- SALSEA research (Survival at sea);
- Situation of Baltic salmon.
6. Report and discussion of the Cormorants Working Group and reports from two international
symposia in Bonn (November 2007 – see enclosures).
7. Report of the state of affairs regarding the Water Framework Directive:
- Reports of the different countries (please prepare oral or written report)
8. Possible lead ban:
- How probable is it in the near future?
- Development of a lead policy
9. Discussion about our current resolutions:
- Resolution on eel
- Resolution on hydropower
- Resolution on cormorants
10. Open debate, conclusions and closure
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EAA Subgroup – Sea
The next meeting takes place in Brussels on 19th & 20th April 2008. I will circulate the agenda and
other papers for the meeting by 28th March.
EUROPEAN NEWS
EU COUNCIL REGULATION No 199/2008
Recreational sea angling (RSA) is now recognised as a genuine part of the “fisheries sector”, for the
very first time. This happened two weeks ago when this regulation was published. We are also
accepted as a group “exploiting living aquatic resources”. From our point of view this is an
excellent result having asked the Commission for a ruling on this on several occasions.
We have not reached our objective as yet but we have come a long way. This recognition of RSA
has come via a Council Regulation, which establishes a “Community Framework for the
Collection, Management and Use of Data in the Fisheries Sector and Support for Scientific
Advice regarding the Common Fisheries Policy”. This is not the same as being recognised by the
CFP or the EU Treaty, however, this Regulation certainly gives us new “hooks” to work with.
In the old CFP (before 2003) we were treated as “enemies” to the commercial fisheries, as the
Member States should “ensure that non-commercial activities do not jeopardize the conservation
and management of resources covered by the common fisheries policy”.
These words were not repeated in the new CFP of 1st January 2003 thanks to our lobbying efforts.
From that date we were treated as genuine “stakeholders” in the consultation process.
With specific reference to data collection:
The Member States have for some years been obliged to deliver data on RSA catches of salmon and
tuna and since last year cod also. From this year eel catches must be reported as well as salmon
catches in inland waters. We have not yet studied the new regulation in detail but we believe that
our request for a socio-economic study on all recreational angling can find support in
this legislation. The new regulation can be found at
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2008:060:0001:0012:EN:PDF
Environmental Liability - Directive 2004/35/EC
Comment: The Directive is likely to be transposed by December 2008 and seeks to achieve the
prevention and remedying of environmental damage - specifically, damage to habitats and
species protected by EC law, and to species or habitat on a site of special scientific interest for
which the site has been notified, damage to water resources, and land contamination which
presents a threat to human health. It reinforces the “polluter pays” principle - making operators
financially liable for threats of or actual damage. The following is the consultation process in the
UK. I am not aware of any similar process here. Please bring this to the notice of your
Environment Officers.
John Crudden
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
draft regulations - consultation

implementation options
Draft regulations
The regulations impose obligations on operators of activities which cause or threaten to cause
environmental damage. Environmental damage is defined in the Regulations, and generally includes
only the more serious damage to certain species and habitats, water and land.

Consultation on draft regulations - deadline for responses 27 May 2008
Environmental protection is a devolved competence. Separate regulations will be made by England,
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Scotland and Northern Ireland will be consulting separately
on their draft regulations.
Implementation options
We consulted on implementation options jointly with Wales and Northern Ireland.

Implementation summary of responses (PDF 200 KB)

Implementation consultation document (PDF 900 KB)
Key features
Scope - the Directive does not cover all types of damage to the environment. It only covers
‘environmental damage’ which is one or more of: ‘damage to protected species and natural habitats
or in a site of special scientific interest’, ‘damage to water’ and ‘land damage’
Introduces two types of liability: fault-based liability in respect of environmental damage to
protected species and natural habitats from all other occupational activities and strict liability in
respect of environmental damage, caused by a specified range of 'occupational activities' (described
in Annex III of the ELD)
Reporting environmental damage - operators are required to take immediate steps to prevent
damage or further damage and to notify the enforcing authority.
Role of enforcing authority - the authority must establish if it is ‘environmental damage’ and
identify a responsible operator
Existing liability regimes in the UK
A number of legal systems already exist in the United Kingdom which provide for the remediation
of environmental damage. Under these regimes, action is taken in the public interest by public
authorities such as local authorities or the Environment Agency. They can require damage to be put
right by those responsible for it, or put the damage right themselves and then recover the costs
afterwards from those responsible.

Overview of existing UK regimes concerning contaminated land, industrial or commercial
activity, water, waste, species and habitats (PDF 20 KB)
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