Is this the unacceptable face of fishing?

 

Greetings!   The Environment Agency posted this photo on Twitter over the weekend of a licence inspector meeting with an angler the general theme of the post being ‘that is quite the tattoo’. I think, on that, we can all agree. However, having long given up understanding why people put on their skin artwork they probably would not hang on their wall my eye was drawn to the EA inspector.   I can look past the Mohican haircut but what is it that requires someone doing a task as simple as checking a fishing licence to be dressed like an SAS soldier? The stab vest. The hefty devices on the epaulettes. A utility belt that carries enough baggage for a family holiday of four. Let’s be clear this outfit is designed to intimidate and that makes me ashamed.

 

 

Our pastime is the only sport of which I know that requires a statutory licence backed up by the force of law. Frankly, I have long thought this to be wrong. National Parks are funded from the central exchequer. The Arts Council doles out billions. I am not having a pop at you should you happen to be a cyclist, canoeist or walker but you have no obligation to pay licence money to pursue your innocent pleasures.   But a shade over a million of us anglers in 2020/21 forked over £24m to the government which in part funds wannabe commandoes to patrol our riverbanks. And to what end? Here are the statistics of their work published by the EA in their 2020/21 Annual Report:   17,106 fishing licence checks carried out by Environment Agency enforcement teams with the support of the Angling Trust Voluntary Bailiff Service (VBS). 867 offence reports were issued, and 340 anglers were prosecuted for fishing without a licence.   That’s on average 50 checks a day that unearths roughly 2 licence evaders a day. Or put another way, all that effort for sixty odd quid in lost revenue. I suspect it barely pays the fuel for the muscled-up 4x4s which I imagine are the vehicles of choice for our ‘revenue inspectors’. As for the prosecutions if only the EA would put as much effort into prosecuting water pollution offences; only 30 reached court in the same period.   Look, I know I am probably being unfair on the many of those who carry out the licence patrols with a true intent to do good and that, in all probability, the uniform that been dreamt up by some misguided bureaucracy. But the point is that we should not be at this moment. Fishing does not require paramilitary licence enforcement. The cost to gain ratio is negligible. If you check 17,106 people and find 16,239 have a licence that is a damn impressive 95% compliance.   Ultimately, the fishing licence should be abolished but in the meantime the energies of the licence inspectors should be redirected to tracking down the truly bad players in the daily life of the Environment Agency – the river polluters.

 

 

Orvis UK to be scaled back   As many of you will know I have a long association Orvis, which has its headquarters in Vermont USA, having bought Nether Wallop Mill from them back in 1999.   They were, at that time, embarking on what would be a long period of expansion relocating from the small warehouse here to create a much bigger operation in Andover which was followed by the opening of many retail stores and expanding the familiar mail order operation.   Sadly, just after the New Year Orvis announced that they were considerably scaling back in the UK citing the complexities of running both the US and UK businesses, to offer a narrower scope of business.   We all know how the British high street has struggled both before and during Covid but it will still be sad to see all the stores close sometime between now and 31 March apart from the main shop in Stockbridge. The UK part of Orvis will be significantly smaller, focussing solely on the company heritage of fly fishing products sold through the Orvis website and the Stockbridge store. However, the fishing lets on Abbots Worthy, Kimbridge and Timsbury 5 will continue unchanged.   Writing this today from The Mill it is odd to think how things have gone almost full circle. In the early 1980’s Dermot Wilson’s mail order business was struggling in the teeth of a Thatcher recession so he wrote from here to the Perkins family, who he would call his friends and who own Orvis, to see if they would like to acquire The Mill, the fishing on the Test and Itchen and the mail order business, which carried many Orvis products, as a jumping off point for Orvis in the UK. To this they agreed which began the official Orvis presence this side of the pond which is now in its fifth decade.   But though we might have gone full circle in some respects, this photo kindly sent to me by Laurent at the International Fario Club, shows how much the world has changed. Pictured here at Nether Wallop Mill shortly before Dermot wrote that letter is Charles Ritz, he of hotel fame, the trying to explain Long Flex Long Lift casting (what is/was that?) to an unnamed client or friend.   A trilby, gaberdine raincoat, three piece suit, tie and black shoes. Whoever knew such an age existed! At least Mr Ritz put on wellingtons .....

 

 

 

Wind but no willows   I used to be an avid reader of the ‘satirical’ magazine Private Eye, but it rather lost me some years ago when it became more finger jabbing than satirical.   But, from time to time, I see it on a newsagent shelf and reunite for old times’ sake with E J Thribb, Dave Spart and the Ecological Correspondent Lou Flush. Last week was one such moment though, disappointingly, Sid and Doris Bonkers were unaccountably absent. Maybe they have moved from the green pastures of suburban Neasden?   Regardless, I was delighted to see the water companies getting some stick. On what you might call Private Eye’s editorial page our friends on the coast, Southern Water, are reported as about to spend £12.8m on an advertising campaign to encourage us to use less water because we’ll be short of water by 2030. Which is I suppose why they cancelled the £60m desalination plant that would have been up and running by 2030. But not to worry Southern Water CEO Ian McAulay picked up his £550,900 bonus.   They also carried this depressing, but apposite, cartoon. Doubles all round!

 

 

 

A vacancy at Fishing Breaks   Thank you to all of you who kindly passed on news of our vacancy here at Fishing Breaks; we’ve had many impressive applications and will be interviewing next week.   Of course, the obvious question is why we have a vacancy. Well, sadly for us Kris Kent having found love a long way from the chalkstreams will soon be heading north to join his partner Anne-Marie having secured a job with the Angling Trust.   Kris leaves with all our best wishes in his new life.

 

 

Kris (left) at the 2018 One Fly

 

 

Quiz The normal random collection of questions inspired by the date, events or topics in the Newsletter.   It is just for fun with answers at the bottom of the page.   1)    Which novel by Jane Austen was published on this day in 1813?   2)    In its 61 years Private Eye has had just three editors. Name one of the other two in addition to Ian Hislop who took over in 1986?   3)    The 2022 Winter Olympics start soon. How many gold medals did Great Britain win in South Korea in 2018?

 

 

Have a good weekend.    Best wishes,

 

 

Simon Cooper simon@fishingbreaks.co.uk Founder & Managing Directorwww.fishingbreaks.co.uk

 

 

 

Quiz answers:   1)    Pride and Prejudice 2)    Christopher Booker and Richard Ingrams 3)    One. Lizzy Yarnold in the skeleton to become the first British athlete to retain a Winter Olympic title. As The Japan Times said, “British women continue unlikely dominance”