NEWS FOR "AUGUST 2004"
FROM THE IRISH FEDERATION OF PIKE ANGLING CLUBS

EUROPEAN ANGLERS ALLIANCE - 10TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

The 10th General Assembly of the European Anglers Alliance (EAA) was held in the Castle De Pont-a-Lesse, near the city of Dinant in South Belgium from 26th to 28th March 2004. 65 delegates from 18 countries attended.

European Parliament Seminar

To mark the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the founding of EAA a mini-seminar was held in the European Parliament in Brussels on Thursday 25th March hosted by Dr. Gerhard Schmid MEP, Vice-President of the European Parliament and Willi Görlach MEP.

EAA and the European Fishing Tackle Trade Association (EFTTA) delivered a presentation on the socio-economic importance of recreational angling in Europe, an activity worth more than an estimated €25 billion to the European economy. Dr. Schmid opened the session by referring to facts and figures from the German national socio-economic-study released in January. "I knew that the figures for recreational angling should be big, but not that big and I am sure very few people would know. This information should be circulated widely and a pan-European study should be funded", commented Dr. Schmid.
Willi Görlach asked for more action from the European Parliament. "I assume you will find some 70 keen anglers among the Members of the European Parliament. We must form a forum for those politicians".

EAA President Harm Minekus and EFTTA General Manager Janet Doyle called on the EU to fund a co-ordinated and comprehensive socio-economic study into the recreational angling sector under the 6th (research) Framework Program. Figures from the few existing national studies are not comparable, and to develop sound management policies, accurate and comprehensive information is required. Only an EU co-ordinated pan-European study can provide the figures needed.

Harm Minekus commented that "Angling is one of the most important social and economic activities in Europe, and it is a sustainable activity. Angling has a lot of benefits to offer - it provides quiet enjoyment of the environment for individuals and families across the generations and can take place anywhere there is water - in park lakes and urban canals, in rivers and streams, in town and country, by the coast and out at sea.
'The contribution by anglers is not just social and economic. Anglers are society's 'eyes and ears' in the water habitats, watching out for pollution and environmental damage. Anglers and their organisations care about the environment and biodiversity - and have done so for more than a century; long before any environmental organisation was born".

Ms Doyle followed up emphasising that, "Yet, the Commission continues to give priority to commercial fisheries and aquaculture, despite the fact that recreational angling dwarfs those sectors economically. Its time the Commission recognised these facts and offered more support to the development of the most popular recreational activity in Europe."

The Commission's bias in favour of the commercial sector was evidenced by the failure of a representative from DG Fish, Agriculture, Sport, Tourism, Environment or Regional Policy to attend the seminar. Approximately 40 people attended.

General Assembly - Presidents Address

The President Harm Minekus opened the General Assembly and welcomed delegates to the 10th anniversary of the founding of EAA. He also welcomed the following special guests, Marcel Ordan of CIPS, Janet Doyle of EFTTA, Marteen Openeer former president of the EAA and Espen Farstad, former Board member.

He said that this year the 10th anniversary of the EAA was historic and something to be proud of. With scarce finances and few staff, EAA had year by year grown into a powerful organisation defending all European anglers' interests at European level. A major step forward and a necessary one was the decision to install an EAA secretariat in Brussels some years ago. As a result of this EAA had put recreational angling on the map in Brussels. EAA was known and accepted by the relevant parts of the Commission and had established a forum with angling- friendly MEPs. EAA pressure for a EU wide socio-economic study has so far not been successful, however, studies by individual countries had produced startling results emphasising the economic value over the commercial sector. EAA would keep up this pressure. EAA has participated in various EU and International initiatives such as IUCN, EIFAC and REDCAFE. EAA plays a lead role at NASCO and this year attended IBSFC for the first time. Member nations have assisted by sending delegates on behalf of the EAA. EAA contributors are already seen as experts in salmon policy and cormorant management. The development of an EAA scientific committee would assist this process in future by increasing their ability to contribute to these forums.

The work of the sub-groups continues to evolve. The sea-angling Sub-group has worked hard to develop EAA policy on Common Fisheries Policy reform and Regional Advisory Council composition. The rivers group has developed an overall policy for EAA encompassing the Water Framework Directive, and has taken up the cause of the eel. Work on migrating species has centered on NASCO (Atlantic Salmon) and IBSFC (Baltic Salmon). All this had been achieved with a very small staff and part time assistance. If this effort were to progress EAA would need more staff and a permanent office and the necessary finance to fund it. He concluded by wishing delegates a productive session. He would hope that the GA would have the courage and foresight to take bold decisions necessary to cement EAA progress over the past ten years and to make the EAA a real force to be reckoned with in the EU corridors of power in the years to come.

Report from the Secretary General to the EAA

The President commented that this report was a very detailed report. As this report was fourteen pages long it was not read out. It had been circulated to delegates with other documentation prior to the meeting. Troels Hegland who as part of his masters' thesis on the Common Fisheries Policy had worked in the EAA office for a period of three months gave a presentation on how the EAA is perceived by the European Commission. He commented that the commission saw the EAA as a fairly well known organisation, well organised and well funded. He had spoken to EU personnel just after the EAA's submission on the Regional Advisory Councils. These people were well informed of the EAA's submission. He commented that the people he had talked to in the Commission dealt primarily with commercial fishermen but that there was a general rising interest in finding alternatives to the commercial fisheries sector and ways to use the fisheries resource in a sustainable way. He spoke on the ways lobbying could be done in Brussels. He spoke about the huge number of lobbyist employed in Brussels at the present time. He suggested that if national delegations go to lobby the Commission that they should go under the umbrella of the EAA. He commented that the second place where he would see a prominent position for the EAA lobbying is in the European Parliament. He spoke about the need to identify angler friendly MEPs and to inform Jan Kappel of who these people were and suggested national delegations combine with the EAA in lobbying these MEPs. He went on to comment that the council of ministers was probably the most important institution in the EU. Again he suggested that lobbying at this level by national delegation be done with the EAA. The president then thanked Troels for his presentation and commented that the Secretary Generals report was still on the agenda for discussion. Chris Poupard then commented that the SG had been campaigning for more representation on RAC's. At present we had one place on each of these. There was a certain difficulty as he saw it with the amount of time a member of an RAC would have to spend per year working on them. He estimated possibly twenty to thirty days per year. As there was six RAC we had the challenge to try to find people that had the time to sit on them. A discussion then took place on the type of people and what qualifications they would require to sit on RAC's. Jan Kappel commented that possibly the best type of person would be someone that had been in the angling business for some years and was aware of the commercial mentality. He mentioned Malcolm Gilbert as a perfect example, but he was of the opinion that Malcolm could not find the required time. The type of person that he had in mind would be someone with expertise like Malcolm. A German delegate commented that Germany would like to have a seat in the RAC for the Baltic Sea. The President then commented that it would be a shame that after lobbying for a position on these RAC's we could not take up the positions that we were already offered. He commented that it was up to the regions where these RAC's were to find people to sit on them and also to deal with the costs. The EAA would not be in a position to pay these people. He went on to comment that when regions had names to sit on these RAC's that they be given to Jan Kappel so that he can lobby the European commission to appoint these people. The President closed this discussion by commenting that he thought that it was very impressive the list of activities that the Secretary General reported about and then complemented the SG on his report.

(Next Month - Reports from the Sub-Groups)


FARMED PIKE USED TO REPLENISH STOCKS

Annagh Lake, in Co. Cavan has been noted as suffering from poaching activities on its pike stocks in past years and hence has experienced poor angling returns. Last month the Lake received the replenishment of its pike stocks from a unique source, that being fingerling pike from a fish farm in Arvagh, Co. Cavan.

Phillip Simpson, of PDS Irish Waters Perch Ltd, Arvagh who commenced operations two years ago, primarily operates a perch farm but his diversification to farming pike this year has heralded this new pike stocking opportunity. The pike as eggs are reared under constant temperature until their yoke sack has been used and are then transferred to special ponds where they feed on zooplankton in an environment designed to develop growth and their natural predator instincts. In this environment, the female pike can reach 6 to 8 inches long in 10weeks with males already showing a slower growth rate. There is a preferable cut off point for this development at around 5 to 7 weeks due to the occurrence of cannibalism as the young pike stake out their territories. For this reason the pike used for stocking Annagh Lake were reared specifically for that purpose, receiving a health check and certificate of approval prior to stocking. In addition, an interesting aspect of the perch farming process for pike anglers could lie in the idea of a renewable and professional source of bait been established, should a bye-law prohibiting the killing of coarse fish including pike, come into effect. For more information, Phillip can be contacted on (043) 83910 or (086) 8162750.

WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE WORKSHOP

A seminar and workshop on the implementation of the Water Framework Directive was held in the Mullingar Park Hotel on 2nd and 3rd June 2004. The event hosted by the Central Fisheries Board and attracting 120 delegates, heard speakers from Ireland, the UK and the EU deliver papers on the theme " challenges and opportunities for fisheries".

The Junior Minister for the Marine, John Browne T.D., opening the seminar, said that under the WFD fish would be one of the biological indicators. The physical habitat of our waterways would be another indicator and in that regard he was today reporting that the "Wetted Areas Study" had recently been completed. The Minister said that the relevant agencies would deliver the national programme however there were resource implications. One of the primary concerns was the over-enrichment of our waters by nitrates. The Government is resolved to "protect existing water quality and to reduce the levels of pollution. The agricultural sector has been identified as the largest contributor of nitrates in our waters and non-compliance with the Nitrates Directive is not an option. The financial consequences for Ireland and Irish agriculture are potentially devastating if we do not respond with an action programme".
"The Government objective is to negotiate the best possible terms with the EU Commission and we believe that a satisfactory derogation of up to 250 kg/hectare will be achieved to take account of Irish concerns".

Over the two days the delegates heard papers from a range of speakers on the implementation process of the WFD in Ireland.

· The implementation process here is on schedule however the consultation process with stakeholders was not taking place as yet.
· Funding will be under the Common Agriculture Policy. Adequate resources both financial and human will need to be allocated in the immediate future. At present the process is being implemented by staff who are doing the job on top of their normal day job.
· Fish-based assessment will be one of the indicators for the quality of our water and in that regard a standardised method has been agreed. Up to now research has principally been carried out on salmonid species in shallow waters mainly rivers. This standardised method will assess all species at all depths in both rivers and lakes however only lakes in excess of 50Ha will be surveyed. Only 5% of Irish lakes are larger than 50Ha. Assessment of fish will also take place in estuaries and transition waters and as a consequence it is expected that commercial fishing will be banned in these waters out to one mile past the base lines. The methods to do the assessments will include electro-fishing, hydro acoustics and use of various nets and traps. A standardised gillnet has been agreed for the assessment in deep water called the multi-mesh Nordic gillnet. The net contains 12 mesh size, each panel being 2.5 m long and 1.5 m in height, total gillnet length of 30 m. The mesh sizes vary from 5mm up to 55mm with the thread thickness from 0.1mm up to 0.25mm. It is estimated that it will take up to 3 years to carry out the initial base assessments. Pressures on fish stocks other than water quality will also need to be addressed. These include hydro power stations, which was found to kill an estimated 50 tons of migrating fish each per year.
· There is no guarantee that the Fisheries Boards will be given the task of carrying out the fish-based assessments.


MAVER ALL-IRELAND JUNIOR PIKE CHAMPIONSHIP

The last two qualifiers are as follows:

1st August, Keady, Co. Armagh
22nd August, Rossmore Park, Co. Monaghan
For further details on the junior championship, contact Youth Officer Finbar Meehan on 086 0711137.


KINGSPAN NATIONAL PIKE CHAMPIONSHIP 2004-05

The results of the fourth qualifier on 4th July on Lough Egish are as follows: 52 anglers caught 140 fish. Eugene Mc Cabe caught the biggest fish at 18lb 5oz.

1st Shane Fisher, Keady, 12 fish for 32lb 14.5oz
2nd Tommy Regan, Trim, 10 fish for 31lb 01oz
3rd Eugene Mc Cabe, Newbridge, 3 fish for 26lb 03oz
4th Thomas Mc Cabe, Newry, 8 fish for 24lb 10oz
5th David Murphy, Newbridge, 5 fish for 23lb 14oz

The fifth qualifier will take place on Lough Urlaur, Kilkelly, Co. Mayo on 8th August and the Sixth will take place on Lough Avaghon, Co. Monaghan on 5th September. For further details on the Kingspan National Pike Championship, contact John Chambers on 086 6057306 or Ibar Condron on 087 2488648.



August 2004

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