Does the Environment Agency even like fishing?

 

Greetings!   As many of you will know I have had two passions in my life, gambling and fly fishing, both of which I have been fortunate to make work as work. Though it is 30 years or more since I last took a pay cheque from the betting industry, I still keep an eye on my old colleagues, with my attention drawn earlier in the week to the financial results (not good) of the international betting behemoth Entain who swallowed up one of my old employers, Coral Bookmakers.   Now, normally I don’t bother with the comments section of a Times newspaper article but for some reason I clicked to scroll down all twenty four. The very last, noting what Entain disingenuously call regulatory headwinds, read:   “… having been involved as a Non Exec in the gaming industry I can categorically state that I have never encountered a Regulatory Authority, anywhere in the world and across multiple industries, which so actively detests their sphere of activity like the UK Gambling Commission.”   I have no idea who the writer of the comment, a L de Medici might be, though I am guessing it is a thinly disguised nom de plume inspired by the 15th century Italian statesman and banker. Well, Signor Medici I could not agree with you more but I can sadly only give you cold comfort in that your industry is not alone. We have our own such authority. It is called the Environment Agency (EA).

 

... but maybe not anglers.

 

There was a time, not so long ago, when the EA was the helpful friend. Want a survey to assess the state of your fishery? The electrofishing team was on hand. What to improve your gravel spawning beds? Free kit was loaned and sometimes even a team to do it. Want to do some river improvement works? A bankside chat, some minimal paperwork and off you go. Weed cutting? The EA had their own boats and skilled operators. Spotted something odd about the water quality? I’ll be there in the hour would be the response to your worried call.   All this, and much, much more has disappeared in the space of two decades as the EA has become increasingly desk based, bureaucratic, process driven and remote from the everyday lives of angling folk. The few things they actually have to do they have contracted out to such bodies as the paramilitary wing of the Angling Trust for fishing licence enforcement and River Trusts who often have values and aspirations that don’t entirely accord with the needs of recreational fishing.   Now, I do not want to throw every EA employee under the bus. On the lower Itchen we have a fantastic guy who is all over the poaching epidemic. Others are helpful and kind but you often get the feeling that they are sinking into the mire that is the EA decision making process or bamboozled by frequent personnel changes – a stint at the EA is a useful CV builder so many young recruits, who I would add are rarely anglers, soon move on. None of this has been helped by the EA eagerly adopting remote working post pandemic. Last year I met with a new member of the Flood Defence team who, three months into the job, was still to meet another member of his team in person!   Ultimately all leadership comes from above and the side lining of fishing as part of the EA brief is amply demonstrated by the Annual Report. In the most recent version, the Chair’s Foreword and the Chief Executive statement, mention angling not at all. The 'What We Do' section is also an equally recreational fishing free zone. In fact, fish do not get much of a mention at all in the 186 pages, largely lumped under the heading of wildlife.   As our rivers become increasingly degraded by sewage, agricultural pollution and abstraction Britain’s 2.5 million anglers deserve one of two things: a seat at the table and a voice within the Environment Agency or an alternative statutory body that chooses to embrace our sport.

 

 

Blue space thinking   Do you want me to tell you what we all overwhelmingly are, according to the latest research? Well, we are white, married or in a cohabiting relationship, with no disability, in employment, with a household income above £25,000, do not smoke but do drink alcohol.   How do I know this, aside from the obvious? It is thanks to a research paper Mental Health and Recreational Angling in UK Adult Males: A Cross-Sectional Study recently published by the science journal Epidemiologia (read it here) that concluded that regular anglers were less likely to suffer with depression and anxiety. It also indicated a clear relationship that the more you fished the better your mental health.   I do not think there is anything particularly ground breaking about this research though to be fair to the scientists most evidence presented in the past tended to be anecdotal rather than empirical. To improve on this, they surveyed  anglers via the social media feeds and emailing lists of retailer Angling Direct and mental health charity Tackling Minds which elicited 1792 responses, only 40 of which (2.2%) were women which is disappointingly low.   However, I suspect the lack of female participation might have something to do with the sampling as the vast majority of the respondents would have come via Angling Direct a predominately coarse fishing focussed business the discipline in which female participation is at its lowest. A Fishing Breaks survey would be more like 8% female participation for regulars and 15% for first year fly fishers.   The paper also usefully pulls together similar research from a 2012 Sport England survey and also from Western Australia which concludes that we fish to relax, whilst enjoying the challenge with a modicum of physical activity in the vicinity of what the researchers call ‘blue spaces’, or what you and I call water.   The one bit of data I did wonder about was the suggestion that we are a band of 1.25 million, so 2% of the UK population. This seems to me low, bearing in mind that around a million fishing licences are sold each year in England and Wales with it very likely that many people, especially infrequent participants, fail to buy one. Likewise, Scotland and Northern Ireland are not included in the licence count and nor are sea anglers, where no licence is required. Add to that a 2015 study that concluded that the participation rate for recreational angling in industrialised countries is 11% one does start to wonder why the UK could possibly be such an outlier. A 2021 report put the value of spending on freshwater fishing at £1.7 billion which, if we are to accept the 1.25 million figure, equates to £1,360 spend per angler per year which strikes me as high representing, as it does, 5% of pre-tax median salary.   So, let us do a bit of math: assume 5% participation (probably on the low side) in Scotland and Northern Ireland with a combined population of 7.4 million. Take the mid-point estimate of regular sea anglers that is between 550,000-750,000. Assume 50% of English and Welsh anglers are non-licence buyers. That brings us to a shade over 2.5 million which feels to me, closer to reality.

 

 

Fishing Cottages 2024  Wake. Fish. Sleep. Repeat. Our fishing cottages and huts are now online for 2024 bookings, with the full roster including the stylish Kingfisher Lodge back for next year plus 2023 Christmas and New Year weeks.   Hemsworth Huts - River Allen, Dorset Three and four night stays with all wild, wading beat. Two huts for one to three adults, plus a tent option.   Ilsington Lodge – River Frome, Dorset Three and seven nights Sleeps six in three bedrooms. Also available for grayling October-March, including and Christmas and New Year.   Kingfisher Lodge - River Avon, Wiltshire Seven day rental with six days fishing. Sleeps four.   Lock Keepers Cottage – River Itchen, Hampshire Three night weekends and full week stays. Sleeps seven in four bedrooms. Also available for grayling October-March, including Christmas and New Year.   Croisy-sur-Andelle - River Andelle, Normandy, France Seven day breaks with fishing each day April-October. Sleeps twelve in five bedrooms.           Top to bottom: Lock Keepers Cottage, Hemsworth Huts, Kingfisher Lodge and River Andelle.   Dogs welcome at all our properties. See full list here or click on the individual links for each property.

 

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)     What did American oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller achieve on this day in 1916?   2)     What word describes the shape of a rugby ball?   3)     Golf’s Ryder Cup is named after which person?

 

Have a good weekend. Go Europe (with apologies to all my American readers)!   Best wishes,

 

 

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

 

 

 

Quiz answers:   1)     He became the world's first billionaire. 2)     Ellipsoidal 3)     Samuel Ryder, a successful English garden seed entrepreneur, golf enthusiast, and golf promoter who in 1926 conceived the idea for a match between British and American professional golfers and donated the gold Ryder Cup trophy that will be presented in Rome on Sunday.