THE EUROPEAN ANGLERS ALLIANCE
9TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY


The 9th General Assembly of the European Anglers Alliance was held in Leipzig, Germany from the 4th to the 7th April 2003. The aim of the Alliance is to promote angling with the European Commission and its integration into the management of freshwater and saltwater environments.

The European Commission has had a very short-sighted attitude to angling, friendly but with no real motivation, political or otherwise to address the concerns of anglers. This attitude had to be changed hence the creation ten years ago of the European Anglers Alliance. Today the Alliance brings together 19 nations with an office in Brussels and a full time general secretary. Its activities include lobbying the European Commission and members of the European parliament as well as keeping the member nations informed of developments affecting angling at EU level. This activity is bearing fruit even if it is happening slowly, for example, the commission has accepted reluctantly that sea anglers have a stake-holding in talks on the Common Fisheries Policy.

Ireland is affiliated to the organisation through EAA-Ireland which comprises representatives of the Trout Anglers Federation of Ireland (T.A.F.I.), National Anglers Representative Association (N.A.R.A.), Federation of Irish Salmon & Sea Trout Anglers (F.I.S.S.T.A.), Irish Federation of Sea Anglers (I.F.S.A.) and the Irish Federation of Pike Angling Clubs (I.F.P.A.C.). Ireland is allowed send one official delegate. Much of the work takes place on the first day where regional and sub-group meetings debate, make proposals and as much as possible reach a consensus on the issues coming before the conference over the following two days. The host nation also delivers a presentation on the state of angling in their own country as well as a related topic.
This year's topic was delivered on the subject of stress and injury tolerance in fish. The paper was delivered by Prof. Kurt Schreckenback on the conclusions made by Prof. Rose on whether fish can feel pain. Rose is of the opinion that because fish don't have an area in the brain associated with pain therefore they cannot experience pain or emotions. They can express anxiety by association with events such as attack by other species or changes in temperature that causes them to release hormones into the bloodstream. They communicate this anxiety to other fish by chemical changes to their skin. The levels of hormones in the blood can be measured and an accurate assessment made on the levels of stress experienced depending on the situation. Rose concludes that fish caught by rod and line experience a low stress reaction while fish caught in gill nets experience continuous levels of stress and anxiety. They also experience increased stress levels if they are re-located to another fishery or if there is an over-population in a fishery. These conclusions if adopted will have a detrimental affect on coarse angling as the use of keep nets may be banned as is presently the case in Germany.

REGIONAL AND SUB-GROUP MEETINGS - FRIDAY 4th APRIL

Migrating Species Report.
Chris Poupard, Chairman of this sub-group reported on progress over the past year.

Mixed stock salmon fisheries
· Salmon stocks in the North Atlantic improved slightly in 2002, though stocks of multi-sea-winter fish remain at or below conservation levels.
· The North Atlantic Salmon Fund (NASF) and Atlantic Salmon Federation (US) negotiated an historic long term buy-out of the West Greenland Fishery.
· Progress towards a buy-out of the English north-east coast drift net fishery continues; this involves public (UK Government) and private funding, co-ordinated by NASF-UK.
· Progress towards a reduction of the Irish drift net fishery, which remains the largest and most damaging fishery in the North Atlantic, intercepting salmon of UK, Irish and Northern European origin, continues to be disappointing. The Irish Government has decided to accept its own scientific advice and introduce quota reductions of 40% over the next 5 years however he expressed disappointment that the time-scale was too long. NASF continue to negotiate with Irish driftnet fishermen to try and achieve voluntary agreements.
· The 2002 EAA resolution on mixed stock fisheries was presented to NASCO. A new resolution will be tabled later at the Assembly.

Salmon Aquaculture
· Proposals from the Wild Salmon Committee in Norway for the establishment of National salmon fjords and rivers excluding salmon farming have been watered down by the Norwegian Government with the result that only three farms have been removed. This is regarded by the aquaculture industry as a significant victory.
· In Scotland new legislation puts approval for new salmon farms into the public planning process. This is a step in the right direction. Full regulation is promised for 2007.
· In Ireland the industry has announced plans to double production. There have been limited improvements in sea trout runs. Prof. Graham Shaw, the leading sea trout campaigner, sadly died during the year.


Gyrodactylus
· This parasite has devastated stocks of salmon in Norway and Sweden. The Norwegian Government has announced additional funds of €2m to fight the problem.


North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation NASCO
· The EAA continues to act as Chair of the 27 accredited NGOs at NASCO.


International Baltic Sea Fisheries Commission IBSFC
· IBSFC regulates the fishery for Baltic salmon which is of huge commercial importance to Sweden, Finland, Germany, Poland and the Baltic States. The fishery has a dramatic impact on wild Baltic salmon running the rivers of southern Sweden. EAA intends to apply for NGO accreditation this year.


Eels
· There is world-wide concern at the continuing decline of eel stocks. A joint resolution incorporating both a UK and French resolution will be presented in Leipzig.


Sea Sub-group Report.
This group has been by far the most active mainly because of the reforms to the Common Fisheries Policy. EAA's main aspiration is to have recreational sea angling included as a stakeholder at Fisheries Committee level in any new CFP reform along with the restoration of sustainable fisheries. This was not achieved at this round of talks however it has succeeded in gaining participation status on the Fisheries Regional Advisory Councils. These councils which cover sea areas under the jurisdiction of at least two member states allow the various stakeholders to have their concerns addressed during future reforms. The view was expressed that the idea of anglers having to becoming political and lobby to save their rights is not natural to most of us. However this is now the case and if we want this to continue we will have to put our hands in our pockets and pay for it. This is the experience from other countries particularly the United States and Australia where the results have been spectacular.


Rivers Sub-group Report.
This group held its first meeting at the offices of the Dutch angling body NVVS last February. 17 delegates from 9 countries were represented. The meeting discussed the problems affecting the inland waterways of Europe. The list was so long that the group will concentrate initially on the problems common to a majority of countries.
These were grouped under the following headings.

· Water and Habitat.
Hydro power stations,
Man-made barriers,
Pollution (agriculture, urban, industrial, acid rain, chemical)
Physical conditions affecting spawning places
Water flow regime
Water abstraction
Commercial fishing
Climate change

· Fish
Extinct species
Endangered species
Exotic species
Migrating species (with human influence)
Genetically modified species
Bio-diversity Stock management
Commercial fishing

· Fishing
Access
Quality of fishing
Natural surroundings
Cultural differences
Codes of conduct
Various disciplines
Relationship with other users Education

· Work programme for the coming year
A questionnaire has been circulated to each member nation looking for details of the problems in their own country. Each nation will also identify the various stages of implementation of the EU Directives in their own country. Replies to be back by end May. During the summer the replies will be collated and following another meeting in October a plan will be put in place focused on these replies. This will be put before the General Assembly in 2004. NVVS (Dutch Angling Organisation) will do the secretarial work for the present and will be receive a subvention of €1,000 from EAA for this.

West Region Meeting

· Budget and Finances
Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic made representations to the Board on their subscription fee to EAA. Following an emergency board meeting the following proposal was made. The new fee would be based on the GDP ratio in each country respectively.
Hungary - Fee reduced from €8,820 to €5,000 for the next three years
Poland - Fee reduced from €8,165 to €6,653 for the next three years
Czech Rep - Fee reduced from €6,800 to €5,544 for the next three years
As a result of these cuts a new budget would be proposed to the Assembly. The Region accepted the changes as the best deal that could be got under the circumstances. A working group would be established to look into the present system of subscriptions to EAA. Submission had been made to levy the fee based on three criteria, number of affiliated anglers, overall number of anglers and the national GDP ratio.
Bruno Broughton said that the possibility existed to get sponsorship for particular projects from a major player in the tackle trade.

· Structures
The EAA continues to evolve and the present structures of Regions and Sub-groups are not cost effective from a management point of view. A working group is in place to look at this and West region proposes that a new structure based on catchment areas be put in place.
Atlantic Rivers Area
Mediterranean Rivers/Sea Area SE Europe Rivers Area
Atlantic Sea Area
Baltic Sea Area
Migrating Species Group
It is possible that the Board may need to be expanded to take account of these changes.


TECHNICAL SESSION SATURDAY 5TH APRIL

The Assembly began proper with a long debate on the future of EAA. Proper structures and business plans must be put in place together with the necessary financial backing to realise this. Future partnerships and alliances need to be formed, including national governments, as is presently the case in a number of countries. As the organisation continues to grow so also does the issues affecting us and it will be necessary to respond to these issues. Two working groups have been established to look at this issue, a technical and a scientific group. Both groups will report back and make recommendations to the board before the next Assembly.

Because of historical cultural differences it will not be possible for all nations to agree on all issues coming before EAA. Where there is consensus on a particular issue it will be classed as a resolution. Where the majority of countries agree on an issue it will be classed as a recommendation.

As the organisation grows so also does the workload involved. Up to this a lot of the work was done on a voluntary basis but this situation cannot continue indefinitely. The possibility of commercial sponsorship will also be looked at by the board over the next few months.

Reports from the regions and the various sub-groups were presented to the meeting. The sea sub-group report was vigorously debated. France and Italy expressed grave reservations about the inclusion of recreational and leisure angling in any future CFP arrangements as TAC's could be imposed on the sector. For the purposes of making submissions to the EU etc the Board needed a definition of recreational angling. Because EAA represents anglers from a lot of different disciplines using a variety of fishing methods not just by rod, line and hook the board proposed the following wording.
"Recreational fishing is the catching or taking of fish as a hobby, pastime or sport without objectives of financial gain".
The cormorant report discussed the mid-winter census. Angling organisations in Germany, Switzerland and Holland carried out a census at the same time as the official count was done and found widely different figures reported. They found that the number of birds was grossly underestimated by the official count.
The EU is being asked to fund a new Social, Economic and Environmental Research Project on behalf of EAA. This was previously the Socio-economic study which has its remit widened to include environment issues and a lot of lobbying is taking place to get it in place for next year. The project will involve 2,000 to 4,000 angler interviews in all EU and transition countries.
Hungary will host the European Youth Camp in 2004.


Elections to the Board

Treasurer: Chris Poupard
West Region: John Crudden
Northern Region: Jens Thygussen
Southern Region: Bernard Breton (re-elected)


10th General Assembly
The Assembly will be held next year in Brussels.

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