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To: George Eustice MP, Minister of State at DEFRA, Lesley Griffiths AM - Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs and The First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones.

Give Welsh Fishing Clubs and Salmon and Seatrout a Chance

Prevent the excesses of catch and kill of Salmon by implementing bag limits for catch and keep on all Welsh Rivers for 4 years developed on the basis of catchment specific data in close consultation with fishing clubs.
Implement a comprehensive stocking programme of native fish on all rivers.
Tighten and enforce current legislation to eliminate the menace of farming pollution and industrial pollution.
Suspend all large scale commercial net fishing and factory ship operations around the welsh coast for a minimum period of 10 years.
Prioritise resource allocation to assist in managing catchment specific issues linked to excessive natural predation rates and barriers to fish migration.

Why is this important?

Fishing Clubs, fishing methods and therefore fishing in Wales is at imminent risk from NRWs proposed fishery byelaws 2017. Byelaws must sustain fishing aswell as fish stocks under a sustainable management of natural resources approach.

The potential knock on impacts of the proposed byelaws are likely to lead to excessive illegal fishing which could not be policed. Critical evidence - Catch Return Data - would be lost due to absenteeism of fishermen from rivers. Revised management measures must therefore be developed which do not carry the same residual risks.

Sustained and increased participation in fishing through empowerment and attention to catchment specific issues will establish a progressive means of achieving healthy fish stocks and the wellbeing of fishing clubs, contributing positively to local economies.

Harmonisation of the overall approach can only succeed where fish are protected from destruction and harm in the near coastal waters in particular. Following an integrated approach, the river environments must be optimised to receive and support adult and juvenile fish. At present there are obvious gains to be made that are being neglected due to insufficient funding and contradictory roles and responsibilities within NRW.

Wales

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Updates

2018-09-24 12:19:17 +0100

Our Petition is being discussed again Tuesday 25th Sept 2018. Please follow link below to watch live or catch up on proceedings.
http://www.senedd.tv/
A significant amount of comment and evidence has been submitted to the PC over the Summer in preparation for this meeting by a number of individuals and groups involved in the campaign. We are all really grateful for their contribution.

2018-04-01 21:27:36 +0100

We have just over a week before the governments petitions committee considers this petition. It's an easy way to make a difference, just getting those extra people to sign these petitions and show Welsh Government the bylaws pose a big risk to our angling pursuit and to our ability to manage our waters in the future.
As a fishing community we stand to be disempowered by these rules placing future partnership working with NRW out the window.
NRW haven't listened to us....we must make sure Welsh Government do.
We have comissioned an independent report into the NRWs model and evidence...that will be out soon.
In the mean time, we need to keep fighting for our right to be heard. The pan Wales...bylaws....have overstretched the mark...they are not a proportionate response to the evidence.
NRW have missed the critical fact...implementing progressive management of our fisheries through a community centric framework is the only means of ensuring our shared vision succeeds.

2018-01-09 22:44:01 +0000

The NRW Board meet on the 18th January at the University of Wales Bangor to decide on the proposed Bylaws. The Fisheries Team have made another undefined change to them . I have sent a letter to the Board asking for a balanced and fair approach to be applied to future fish stock management and for our fishing institutions to remain empowered. Others are doing the same. We all know the potential consequences of these policies. They must be stopped. A copy of this petition will be sent to the Board at the end of this week - please keep signing. The public can attend the Board meeting as observers and it seems there might be an opportunity to speak to members of the Board, if only at lunch...12.00. If you wish to attend please contact the Board secretariat:
[email protected]
Thank you for your continued support, lets keep the dream alive and keep sharing our plight; aspirations; in the name of wisdom...fairness...and fishing. Best Wishes, Reuben

2017-12-12 15:46:10 +0000

A First Submission of the petition has been made! 1066 Signatures.

Well Done everyone, your help has been invaluable! Thank You!

The petition remains open, so please keep sharing it.

The petition has been sent to Carwyn Jones MP - First Minister for Wales; Lesley Griffiths AM; Hannah Blythyn AM; George Eustice MP. It was also copied to others and sent to Jeremy Corbyn for good measure.

2017-12-08 12:41:24 +0000

A first submission of this petition will be made on the 11th December! Excellent job so far 1015 signatures. Some fishermen in my local community have done a great job gathering signatures via hard copies of the petition. The success rate is higher. There are so many people ouere who would sign, but who we are struggling to access because the internet isnt the be all and end all of communication. If you can, please gather more signatures and input them into the online petition. Im happy for you to email me scanned or typed details if that is easier for you and i will input them into the electronic petition. [email protected]
Otherwise, please keep sharing the petition with everyone online via social media and email. We have 48hrs to save fishing. We will resubmit the petion at a later date, but in 48hrs time, we have our guaranteed window of opportunity to influence Welsh Government. Together we can do this! Thank you all for your support.

2017-12-06 17:37:58 +0000

1,000 signatures reached

2017-11-20 16:24:13 +0000

Hi All,

We have reached the 600 signature mark, well done everyone and thank you for signing and sharing. I have one big concern. Last time a petition was submitted with several hundred signatures NRW claimed it was only a small proportion in comparison to the whole Welsh fishing fraternity. Im afraid when you consider general hesitance to sign a petition, the fact many people still don't have email addresses and good familiarity with computers and the internet, theres an obvious problem there. Given that, 600 signatures is probably a good number. BUT...I feel we need to surpass 1000 to make a significant noise. SO, PLEASE RE SHARE THE PETITION AND SEE IF WE CAN REACH OUT TO SOME ADDITIONAL SUPPORTERS. Time really is running out. Please do this today. Thank you for your ongoing support.

Reuben

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/give-welsh-fishing-clubs-and-salmon-and-seatrout-a-chance?source=twitter-share-button

2017-11-15 07:08:37 +0000

500 signatures reached

2017-11-10 21:40:05 +0000

100 signatures reached

2017-11-09 21:47:44 +0000

50 signatures reached

2017-11-09 20:23:01 +0000

25 signatures reached

2017-11-09 19:02:45 +0000

10 signatures reached