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| Voluntary
Wildfowl Refuges in the Norfolk Broads During late September I received a call from Denis Moules, Anglian Region Liaison Officer, advising he was in receipt of an email that related to forthcoming ban of pike fishing in the Norfolk Broads, the exact details were not available as the email had been deleted, but he felt that as I had some involvement in such matters via membership of the Broads Angling Strategy Group, I might have more details or if it was a looming problem I should be aware of. Whilst not having the full details of the email at that moment I advised Denis that I suspected that the ‘ban’ in question was related to a matter I had been emailed about a few days earlier from one of the members of the Upper Thurne Working Group (UTWG). This was in regard of some proposals for a new initiative to protect over wintering wild fowl on the River Thurne Broads during the winter of 2004/05. My concerns at this point, not knowing how the matter was going to progress and just what would be the final outcome of the proposed meeting the email had suggested, were not about this, but about the content of an email that was based on less information than I had and the effect it could have in creating an over reaction to an as yet, undefined problem. At this point I contacted PAC Secretary Rob Murray and tracked down the email Denis had been talking about and discussed the matter loosely with him. Following a discussion about the email and the pending meeting we agreed the best people to resolve this was our local angling group’s (PAC and BASG) and until it was clear that outside assistance would possibly be necessary, we would be best left to get on with it. I am sure that in itself was a relief to Rob as he probably he had no wish to make the journey to Norwich to participate in the matter, at least until it was necessary! In keeping with this decision to keep it local, I suggested to my ally in the matter, Chris Turnbull, representing Norfolk Anglers Conservation Association, that it was a good point for us to take the initiative and set a positive date with Clive Doarks from English Nature, to get all the representatives of the groups associated with the subject around a table so that we could discuss the matter ‘off the record’, prior to a formal meeting to settle any matters that might arise. That meeting took place on 31st August and in attendance were Clive Doarks from English Nature, Reg Land from Norfolk Wildlife Trust and Julia Masson the Senior Conservation Officer for the Broads Authority along with Chris and myself. The meeting was declared an informal one with each member invited to talk freely and get any current and past issues clear and out of the way before the matter was fully discussed. As it turned out there was little to discuss that was of any concern other than the behaviour of a small group of pike anglers who considered themselves outside the rules, more on this in a while. By having the freedom to talk openly and by doing so, it is my belief that angling locally took another long step forward in building a stronger relationship with the people who can influence decisions that will make or break angling locally in the future. The matter in question to which the emails had referred and which the meeting discussed was a proposed set of ‘voluntary’ wild fowl refuges on Hickling Broad during the winter of 2004/5 and that these areas would be clearly defined and made public in a printed leaflet. In addition they intended to run a programme of monitoring into the disturbance of the over wintering and short stay birds from 1st November 2004 until 28th February 2005, to try and evaluate how the birds were reacting to disturbance and the lengths of time they were off the reserves following it. The reason behind this is that many of the birds travel great distances and to be able to sustain themselves on their return journey, they need to build up fat reserves by feeding successfully during their stay, too much disturbance is believed to restrict this and in poor winters the availability of adequate food and feeding time is vital to the recruitment of the necessary fat reserves. Other areas of the Broads as clearly defined in the accompanying map (click here for map) were also subject to similar and in some cases more specific access restrictions, however in all cases these were not new areas of restriction, but adjustments to a long established area of the Thurne Broads that the birds have shown as established, natural areas to over-winter. This year the managing group of partners that make up the UTWG have worked to establish a partnership with sailors, windsurfers and anglers to get a jointly agreed ‘voluntary’ agreement to stay out of the refuge areas, in an attempt to minimise the disturbance on the wild fowl. With the exception of Horsey Mere and Martham Broads, a boat is at liberty to go into the refuge areas on Hickling Broad as they are voluntary ‘no go’ areas, but it is the hope of all concerned that by publishing the details thet sailors, windsurfers and anglers will agree to stay out and avoid disturbing the wild fowl. In keeping with this and accepting that a boat may need to enter the refuges a ‘code of conduct’ was suggested to minimise any disturbance at such times. Chris and I were asked to do the first draft, which we agreed to do following the meeting. The meeting came to a close with it being clear that we had achieved as much as we would have at a formal meeting and that as so much agreement and common ground had been found, that we should forsake another meeting and move forward based on the outcome of this meeting. Chris and I set about discussing the Code, putting the anglers points across, submitting this to the group, it was accepted with only minor amendments and has been used as part of the agreement and printed into a leaflet being circulated to Broads users. Details of just where to obtain a copy will appear at the end of the article. Following this initial meeting and our agreement to support the restrictions and the code of conduct, the next BASG meeting was attended by members of the UTWG who advised that a further meeting was being held on 22nd Sept to discuss the specifics of managing access to Horsey Mere, involving the owner John Buxton, the listed partners representatives, a police advisor and an invited angling representative. I was elected to attend on behalf of BASG. To cut a long story short that meeting was to discuss the repeated poaching of Horsey Mere during its winter close season by a small group of pike anglers, some of who were angling guides. After a review of the past problems and the failures to complete a satisfactory resolution, the advice received from the assembled advisors was that there was merit in changing the way the problem was managed and the recent changes to the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (Crow Act) now provide a means of taking legal action in respect of intentional disturbance of water fowl and entry into the Mere, with the intention to fish, is considered to qualify as a prosecutable offence and such offences now run the risk of a £20,000 fine. The hope of the partners is that there will be sufficient deterrent in the new legislation to encourage compliance with the rules and avoid the need to take out a prosecution on any anglers for deliberate entry to the Mere. From a local anglers perspective, any such action is regrettable, but considering the effect the actions of those few who repeatedly poach the Mere have had on the local pike angling community and its relationships with landowners and authorities in the region, some such action is necessary and generally supportedy. The effects could help restore much of what has been lost and allow us to rebuild and promote our real image, as fair and reasonable people and not be ‘those bloody pike anglers’ any longer. In this respect, the matter of utilising the above policy and of issuing warnings via a published information leaflet to previous offenders and to issue an initial ‘warning’ to all first time offenders entering the Mere and advising the subsequent risk of a costly prosecution and fine for repeated offences is supported by the largest portion of the local pike angling community. I am aware that already some anglers are seeing the issue as an attack on pike anglers, some presuming that this is a national policy to exclude angling from sensitive areas by English Nature and the local Naturalist Trusts, but I believe that given all the facts, they may well change their minds in time. Be sure though that if these people are treated as the Buxton Estate have been on Horsey Mere for many years, then they are likely to make use of the laws available to them and the Crow Act provides them with a suitable vehicle to achieve this! This whole issue has been a compromise in many ways, but it is likely to pay dividends in the future as the bodies involved in this matter have already indicated a willingness to support us in a goal we have in getting changes to a troublesome Byelaw, carried through in the near future along with other opportunities that will benefit angling as a whole. From a local perspective we look forward to the outcome of this winters exercise with regard to whether the poaching problem continues and the outcome of any prosecution that follows any offences being committed. Additionally the survey data may help determine the extent of effect from disturbance on the birds. Many of the honest law abiding local pike anglers will be looking to see what the effects of enforced restricted access will have on the Horsey pike population, when they finally get the chance to fish there in the last two weeks of the season, perhaps if there has been no poaching there might be some surprises to be had, we’ll have to wait and see! Whilst this was all going on I received a call from Paul Rix, RO for Norwich regarding another ‘problem’ that had been reported to him by a couple of members fishing on the Thurne during September. They had come across a notice board on the entry to Deep Dyke that advised ‘live baits’ were banned there and on Hickling and a ‘no livebait’ sign at Dungeon Corner at Martham. With all that was going on at the time I delayed attending to this other than to raise the matter with one of the UTWG members who would have some reference to it. I was able to revisit it properly when the refuges partnership agreement was settled and I have been assured by NWT Reserves Manager, Andy Miller, that the notice was an error on behalf of the local warden and that no live bait bans will be enforced for the foreseeable future! I like to think that we have secured the respect of the Trust again and look forward to maintaining this. To anyone wishing to use live bait on the Thurne system, the guidelines published in Pikelines back in the November 1998 Issue (No: 82) still hold good and should be observed to comply with both the original NWT agreement and the EA rules on the transfer of live fish. Do this and we continue to maintain a positive image and presence on the Thurne fisheries! The rule list from the above issue can be found here for your reference! Details and PDF version of the Hickling leaflet are available at: www.norfolkanglers.com/hickling In closing I am sure that there will be those who might not agree with the decision to support this activity and see it as a threat to angling, but given that the underlying problem in question is greater than can related in this article it is justified! It may be necessary for angling to clean up its act in many ways, if we want protect it from threat of attention, now that hunting has been banned as of February 2005. Our efforts locally are focussed on being part of the forward looking process of managing or influencing the inevitable change, rather than being reactive after the event and perhaps we all need to consider whether we need to take a look at ourselves through the eyes of those we see as our attackers, we might not like everything we see! David Batten All details
and links correct as at 22/11/04 More
advice on responsible pike fishing practice can be found on the following pages: |
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