• In defining its policies and priorities for the discharge of its fisheries and other functions, the EA should take account of and be more sympathetic to the very different nature, management needs, social and economic values and National importance of Welsh Fisheries. It should also recognise the very different angling culture in Wales and note that fishing is a devolved issue with all that this entails.
• The EA should now carefully consider if the organisational structure relating to the effective discharge of statutory fisheries function and adopted throughout England & Wales is wholly appropriate for its Welsh Region. It should also consider if the remit of the EAW should be extended to encompass the whole of Wales. [See A.4.4.]
• Coarse fish species, while not native to Wales, now represent an important natural resource of significant recreational importance and value; notably in the Northeast Wales, Anglesey, Southeast Wales and in some of the recovering ‘industrial’ rivers of South Wales. Future strategies for the management, development and promotion of Welsh Fisheries should give due regard to the needs and socio-economic importance of coarse angling and coarse fishing interests should be effectively represented on the appropriate committees and consultatives at a local, regional and national level.

A.2.3.

• The Government should progress the introduction of new primary fisheries legislation for England & Wales at the earliest opportunity.
• WAG should then make the fullest possible use of its devolved powers to adapt that legislation to address the special needs of Welsh fisheries and the Welsh Nation.
• The equally important need to update, amend and consolidate many aspects of the non-fishery legislation relating to the management and protection of the aquatic environment identified in the ‘Salmon & Freshwater Fisheries Review’ must not be overlooked and action must be taken by Government in this vital respect.

• The right of fishery owners to make wider use of riparian and common law to protect their fisheries and the quality of the aquatic environment on which those fisheries depend must be more widely recognised by Government, its partners, local authorities and the promoters of all schemes to be undertaken for the benefit of others that impact directly or indirectly on the aquatic environment and its associated fisheries.

• The EAW and the CCW should consider means of streamlining and expediting the way that such applications are currently processed and, in the important context of maximising the social and economic benefits of fisheries to the Welsh community, of overcoming many of the constraints imposed on the nature, scope, timing and manner of construction that often make such works impracticable or even impossible.
• Where it has powers to do so, the CCW should be actively encouraged to enter into formal management agreements with fisheries owners in an attempt to overcome many of the seemingly unnecessary constraints imposed by the lengthy schedule of ‘Potentially Damaging Operations’ that necessitate applying for formal assent.
• The EAW and the CCW should issue formal guidance to their field staff on the nature and extent of their statutory powers and the manner in which they are to be interpreted when considering formal application for consent and assent to undertake in-river and bankside works.
• WAG should give immediate consideration to the practical merits of setting up ‘one-stop’ shop for managing all fisheries and conservation issues within coastal and inland waters, perhaps under the aegis of the EAW. This would reduce unnecessary bureaucracy and internal costs from duplication of effort and, of signal importance, help to overcome the inevitable problems of ‘compartmental thinking’ caused by the different remits and perspectives of the separate statutory agencies.

B.1.8.

B.1.10.

• The process of defining science-based Conservation Limits as a basis for the management of salmon stocks has been widely adopted by most salmon producing nations. But there is little understanding within the fishing community about the methodology employed, the robustness of the information under-pinning the science and how the stock assessments for each catchment are to be interpreted in terms of the measures required to protect and maintain individual stocks. The EA/EAW should now take positive steps to promote a wider understanding and acceptance of the basic concept, including its strengths and weaknesses, and how it is used as a practical management tool in determining if individual stocks are ‘endangered’, ‘at risk’ or ‘reasonably healthy’. Such action is of paramount importance. in promoting voluntary catch-and-release within the angling community as a means of avoiding mandatory catch-and-release to prevent a collapse in stocks.

• The EA/EAW should now produce a comprehensive and pro-active strategy for the future management & conservation of sea trout stocks while most fisheries appear to be reasonably healthy. This should include the development and implementation of a system of defining Conservation Limits (or equivalent ‘’Biological Reference Points’ more suited to the sea trout/brown trout complex) as a means of measuring stock health and status.

• In addition to encouraging the wider adoption of voluntary catch-and release as a general precaution, the benefits of pro-active measures to promote: a) minimum size limits to protect very small fish on their first return to freshwater as immature ‘whitling’, b) maximum size limits to protect the larger multi-sea winter maiden sea trout and multiple repeat spawning fish and c) catch limits to reduce the overall rate of exploitation to within sustainable limits should now be considered as key elements of that strategy. The actual size limits and catch limits for each river system should be determined in response to the special needs of each river and the different characteristics of each stock.
• Any ban on the sale of rod caught salmon (see B.1.7.) should be extended to include the sale of rod-caught sea trout.
• Catch statistics from anglers and netsmen will remain the principle means of judging the health of our sea trout fisheries for the foreseeable future. These are likely to be considerably less accurate than those for salmon for both practical and historical reasons. The EA/EAW should review the current procedures for obtaining sea trout catch statistics and take steps to improve their reliability and usefulness as a management tool. Future catch records for sea trout should be presented to show a breakdown into appropriate size-groups of fish to allow any changes in the quality of the fishery to be detected at an early stage.
• There are many gaps in our knowledge about the biology, ecology and migratory behaviour of this enigmatic and neglected species that pose serious constraints on its efficient and effective management. These should to be addressed. [See J.2.]
• The importance of the sea trout/brown trout ‘complex’ in terms of its widespread distribution throughout Wales and its presence in the smallest tributaries and feeder streams as an indicator of ecological/water quality status within the context of the Water Framework Directive should not be overlooked by Government and its Agencies when formulating future monitoring programmes.

B.3.4.

• WAG should engage with, and actively support, the proposed European Conservation measures.

• The EAW should seek the necessary statutory powers to regulate the level of exploitation of elvers and adult eels by placing a limit on the annual number of commercial fishing licences available for issue in any season on any fishery.
• The EAW should introduce new regulations to enable it to fix the rate of exploitation of eels at a sustainable level in any river system.
• When promoting new regulations to protect eels stocks, due regard should be given to their considerable importance as a major source of food for cormorants and otters and that their long period of residence in freshwater makes them unique and invaluable as a biological indicator of historical water quality.

B.4.5.

• The absence of any detailed catch records, in a standard and comparable format, from anglers to monitor changes in the status and quality of wild stocks of brown trout in rivers and lakes on a local, regional or national basis.
• The need to manage migratory sea trout and non-migratory brown trout as a single ‘inter-breeding’ unit of stock in each river.
• The very considerable importance of male brown trout in balancing the disproportionately large proportion of female fish in any sea trout population at spawning time.
• The almost universal natural distribution of wild trout throughout Wales, particularly in the countless number of minor streams and their importance as biological indicators in that context for monitoring ‘naturalness’ and water quality in relation to implementation of the Water Framework Directive [see B.2.6. also].
• The loss of economic and social community benefits from angling tourism in those regions where brown trout populations have shown a significant decline directly attributed to the damage caused by sheep-dip pollution to the invertebrate fauna that is food for fish. [See E.3.3.]

B.5.2.

• The EAW, in partnership with its fishery stakeholders and the Grayling Society, should take steps to ensure that the future management, regulation and monitoring of grayling stocks is such that the future quality and social and economic values of their associated fisheries is maintained and further enhanced.
• The special needs of grayling should be taken into account when planning future fisheries management strategies and plans and when considering any matters relating to the conservation and protection of the aquatic environment.

C

FISHERIES MANAGEMENT

• The WAG should now adopt a formal policy on the issue of licences to control predation by cormorants on fish stocks in rivers similar to the more permissive and flexible approach now adopted in England. This approach should also be extended to allow the control of goosanders.
• The WAG should now review its internal practices for determining applications to control avian predators with a view to streamlining and simplifying the process.
• In determining whether or not to grant a licence, WAG should favour those applications that: a) relate to an entire catchment rather than single isolated fisheries, b) are targeted at protecting the irreplaceable and highly vulnerable smolt run - especially in its lower reaches, c) relate to those rivers (especially SAC rivers) where salmon are failing to meet their defined Conservation Limits because of depleted spawning stocks, and d) would provide additional protection to other endangered and ‘designated’ species - such as shad, smelt, eels, bullhead and lampreys.

C.2.8.

• The EAW should conduct a carefully structured programme of dialogue with the angling community at a local level to increase awareness of the problems and pitfalls of random programmes of artificial restocking. This should explain the EAW’s current policy on when stocking is necessary and desirable and when it is not.
• The EAW should work closely with those clubs that are keen to continue or initiate local small-scale programme of artificial stocking of salmon and trout and draw their attention to other low-cost/low-technology techniques for planting eggs in gravel and for rearing unfed fry in temporary bankside incubation units. These simple methods can be highly effective alternatives that avoid many of the risks associated with conventional hatcheries.
• The EAW should provide practical advice and support on private stocking programmes to ensure that the success or failure of such stocking can be monitored and evaluated properly.
• The problems experienced by coarse fishing interest throughout Wales in obtaining the required quantities of different species of coarse fish for introduction into new waters and for maintaining and improving the quality of existing waters from suitable, disease-free, sources in England should be addressed by the EAW as a matter of priority within this sector.
• The EAW should now fully implement the ‘Trout & Grayling Strategy’ and enter into local discussion on the agreed designation of ‘wild fishery protection zones’ within each catchment where any form of stocking with brown or rainbow trout will be proscribed.

C.3.5.

• Efforts to combat the spread fish diseases and parasites among fish stocks in Wales must remain high on the list of priorities of Government and the EAW

D.

FISHERY REGULATION

D.1.

D.1.8

• The EA/EAW should now enter into a candid dialogue with its fishery stakeholders to explain its current enforcement strategy. This should include a statement of the financial, legal and other constraints under which it must now operate. This would then open the door to a more constructive dialogue designed to address the special needs and priorities of Wales, the weaknesses in the current enforcement system and the ways by which anglers and fishery owners can work with the EAW to overcome those weaknesses and help to support to the EAW in the provision of a more efficient and effective level of enforcement designed to meet the special needs of Wales.
• The 0800 Emergency Hotline number for reporting poaching and pollution incidents is clearly not working in Wales. The system should be thoroughly reviewed and consideration given to providing a bi-lingual service (preferably located within Wales). Response times and feedback must be improved. The EAW should set its own criteria for determining the ‘immediate call-out’ category accorded for determining the speed of the response to a report of illegal netting.
• The EAW should review the feasibility of reconstituting the former system of recruiting a volunteer force of honorary bailiffs from within the fishery community in some suitable form that accommodates the safe-working and other legal constraints under which the EA is now obliged to operate. This force would operate under close supervision by the EAW and its main purpose would be to undertake routine surveillance, habitat monitoring and other environmental work on behalf of the EAW, the fishery owners and the CCW (on SSSI and SAC sites).
• Consideration should be given to identifying and providing the legislative framework and powers under which such a volunteer force of honorary bailiffs would operate. If it is not possible to provide such powers on a joint England & Wales basis, WAG should look to make such provision under the ‘Framework Arrangements’ for Wales.
• Every opportunity should be taken to improve enforcement in estuaries and coastal waters from pooling the manpower, equipment and other resources of the EAW and Sea Fisheries Committees whenever possible. [See D.3.]
• The EA should be required to substantiate its claim that illegal fishing for salmon is no longer a problem: a) in absolute national terms, b) in specific regional terms and c) (most importantly in view of the parlous state of many salmon stocks) in relative terms on those many rivers that are currently failing to achieve their scientifically based conservation limits.
• Future activities of EAW enforcement staff should take account of the growing problem of the theft of coarse fish from private waters. There is a significant and growing trade in ‘illegally obtained coarse fish and some large specimens (notably carp) may fetch as much as £1000 each on the black market.
• The EAW should continue to publicise the very real risks and potentially very damaging practical consequences of spreading disease and parasites between one water and another by the illegal introduction of coarse fish species.

• The statutory power to introduce a Carcass Tagging Scheme at some future date if and when needed should be incorporated into any new fishery legislation.
• In addition to its practical benefits in enforcing the statutory regulations to combat illegal fishing, any decision on whether or not to introduce such a scheme should take into account its other important and practical benefits in: - a) improving the accuracy and reliability of catch statistics, b) enforcing statutory catch limits to control the rate of lawful exploitation that might be imposed nationally for the rod and net fisheries, and c) in providing a means for private fishery owners to enforce voluntary bag limits that they choose to introduce on their individual fisheries that are more restrictive.
• It should be noted by the EA that the proposed introduction of a similar carcass tagging scheme for the recreational and commercial bass fishery might facilitate the introduction of a parallel scheme for migratory salmonids if resources were to be pooled during the development and administration of both schemes. [See D.3.3.]

D.3.4.

• The present unified system must be maintained whereby a single statutory body is responsible for the management and regulation of salmon and sea trout throughout the entire period of both the marine and freshwater phases of their life-cycles. This must continue to include responsibility for the regulation and licensing of the commercial fishery for salmon and sea trout in tidal waters.
• Every opportunity should be taken to strengthen the relevant legislation to enable all forms of commercial and recreational fishing for marine finfish species inside the headland of river estuaries to be regulated when and where salmon and sea trout are most vulnerable to illegal and inadvertent capture in those fisheries.
• WAG should note that many of the regulations proposed in the ‘BASS Report’ on the "Revised Management of the U.K Bass Fishery" could have very significant incidental benefits for the conservation of sea trout in estuaries and near coastal waters in Wales. They could also do much to simplify enforcement. [See D.2.3.]
• The CCW should be encouraged to make greater use of its powers to conserve marine ecosystems in designated SAC sites around the Welsh coast to safeguard the feeding areas and/or migration routes of protected migratory fish species in other designated SAC sites in Wales (e.g. salmon and shad,).

D.4.4.

• WAG should not support or encourage the development of finfish aquaculture located within the marine environment.

• Any obvious deficiencies in the powers provided by the existing legislation to regulate any future growth of the aquaculture industry in England & Wales should be identified and rectified in advance of any initiatives to promote the growth of the industry in Wales.
• All fish farms should be required by law to report immediately to the EA the loss into the natural environment of any cultured or retained stock from the premises of the culture unit.

D.5.6.

• Regulations imposed by the EAW to conserve adequate spawning stocks of salmon and sea trout and maintain the overall rate of exploitation at a sustainable level must be applied equally to both the rods and nets regardless of the consequences. The needs of the fish must take precedence over any other consideration.
• The existing dispensation granted to netsmen in Southwest Wales that allows them to continue fishing for sea trout during the extended close period at the start of the season when salmon fishing is prohibited should be reviewed in the context of the parallel need to protect early running sea trout in particular and to conserve sea trout stocks in general.
• The fact that it is not possible at present for the WAG to allocate a greater share of the total allowable catch to any sector of the fishing community on the basis of social and economic considerations and enhanced community benefits must be addressed in any proposals to modernise the current fisheries legislation. [See A.2.3.]
• The angling community should be made more aware of its option available for paying financial compensation to any licensed net fishermen who may choose to relinquish their right of fishing voluntarily by drawing attention to the success of recent privately funded ‘buy-out’ schemes in Wales and England in this context. The provisions of the local NLO must be amended to reflect the reduced number of nets after any such ‘buy-out’ for all time.
• The EAW should give careful consideration to the introduction of special measures to maintain the continued operation of forms of Heritage Net Fishing that are unique to Wales. [See K.1.]
• Although the EA provides rod-licence holders with periodic publications to keep them informed of new developments, it has no similar procedure for communication with the licensed salmon netsmen. The EAW should produce a periodic newsletter for commercial salmon netsmen to rectify this regrettable omission. [See F.3.2.]

E

PROTECTING THE AQUATIC ENVIRONMENT

E.1.5.

• Action to reduce the severity of floods by undoing the historical land drainage work on the uplands to improve the water storage capacity of soils is broadly welcomed as it could have important incidental fishery benefits. However, such works could also cause serious fishery damage if they deny fish access to spawning and juvenile nursery grounds or they impound sections of the river. It is important that the EAW/FRAWC should involve fishery interests at the earliest possible stage in developing future strategies or detailed schemes to minimise flooding.
• The EA should commission a fully funded pilot scheme to establish the most effective and environmentally acceptable means of reinstating deep fish holding pools on degraded sections of the main river. The results of this work would have a widespread application throughout England and Wales.
• The EA should commission a parallel pilot scheme to establish the most cost-effective means of maintaining and recreating stable sections of spawning gravel in upland sections of the main river and the tributaries.
• Consideration should be given to the installation and operation of permanent gravel-traps as a practical means of minimising the adverse effects of downstream gravel displacement on river ecology and flood defence schemes.
• One of the consequences of climate change may be to alter the pattern and timing of the runs of migratory salmonids. This may require alteration of the lawful fishing season by the EAW on some rivers.

E.2.2.

• The EAW has a good record of monitoring and enforcing compliance with licensed effluent discharge consents. More of the same magnitude must now be done to monitor and to enforce compliance with licensed consents to abstract water.
• The likely effect of climate change on decreasing the effect of river flows in diluting previously consented effluent discharges is to be noted by the EA. This is something that must be taken into account by the EAW when fixing the conditions attached to the issue of new consents on all rivers and streams in the future.

• The Governments in England & Wales must take immediate action to prevent pollution of the aquatic environment by sheep-dips. Urgent attention must be given to addressing this problem in hill farming regions – especially in central Wales.
• The financial penalties and costs of the environmental and fishery damage caused by sheep-dip pollution must be fully quantified and these costs must be offset against the economic benefits to Wales of maintaining the current use of organophosphate and synthetic pyrethroid sheep-dips. Arguments for continuing their use based solely on the higher costs of alternative means of maintaining flock health are untenable and unacceptable.
• The disposal of sheep-dips to land and the continuation of plunge-dipping are of particular concern. As a matter of urgency, the EAW must review and then amend as appropriate its current procedures. The immediate aim must be to ensure that sheep-dip does not enter any watercourse.
• The Governments in England and Wales should consider extending the provisions of existing agri-environment schemes to cover the increased costs to farmers of using acceptable alternatives to plunge-dipping and spray-dipping.
• The existing regulations on the use and disposal of sheep-dips must be consolidated, updated and strengthened. They must be effectively monitored and rigorously enforced. All literature in Wales must be bi-lingual.
• The WAG should promote a more constructive and candid dialogue between representatives from the farming industry, the fisheries community and other environmental interests on the problems caused by sheep-dip pollution.
• Siltation is now accepted as a major pollutant that smothers the stream bed, reduces habitat diversity, species biodiversity and renders gravels less suitable for incubating the eggs of spawning salmonids and grayling, The EA in concert with others should develop a national strategy for minimising the ecological and fishery problems caused by the mobilisation and deposition of silt in the aquatic environment.
• Greater emphasis must be placed on controlling bank erosion and maintaining the integrity of the riparian corridor in this context. [See E.4.2.]
• Acidification of waters remains a significant problem that adversely affects the ecology and productivity of rivers and lakes in certain parts of Wales. The EAW should continue to support, monitor and up-date ‘best-practice’ for liming schemes to neutralise the effects of acidity.
• The EAW, in partnership with others, should continue to address the problems caused by acid mine-waters and residual pollution from mining heavy metals throughout Wales.
• Planning developments and approvals for new property should not proceed without a commensurate improvement in the treatment capacity of local sewage works: especially in those areas where recurrent pollution by storm-overflows and inadequate treatment of effluents is already a cause of chronic pollution. Many of the older and smaller sewage treatment works throughout Wales are overloaded. This is particularly so in rural areas. EAW should oppose such schemes until the necessary water quality safeguards are provided.

E.4.1.

The investment of external funding from the Objective 1 & 2 Schemes has helped start to repair a long history of degradation of the aquatic environment in Wales and the extent and quality of the different habitats suitable for fish. But a great deal more needs to be done.

• WAG/EAW and other Statutory Agencies should continue to seek the highest possible level of external investment funding to ensure that the existing momentum and commitment to undertaking essential habitat improvement work can continue into the foreseeable future.

E.5.3.

BLOCKAGES & OBSTRUCTIONS:

• The current programme to provide improved fish passage facilities over major obstructions should continue.
• Greater emphasis should now be placed on removing the very many minor obstructions associated with poorly designed spillways and culverts and by natural log-jams which prevent access to the myriad of smaller streams that are so important as spawning and nursery streams for salmon, and, particularly, sea trout and brown trout. Such low-cost, small-scale projects can provide a very high rate of return on investment.
• The EAW should actively encourage and support the formation of a ‘task force’ of volunteers drawn from within the local angling community to walk the tributaries on an annual basis to report blockages and new log-jams and to monitor the utilisation of spawning sites within the headwaters. These volunteer groups should be encourage and supported to take part in activities to mitigate the effects of these blockages.

F.4.7.

• The EAW should actively engage with representatives from within the angling community to explore ways of improving two-way communication and feedback between the Agency and the angler-on-the-bank.
• There is a need for the EA/EAW to do more to increase awareness of the many positive and fundamentally important benefits derived by the angling community from the work of its other departments in safeguarding the aquatic environment and its associated fisheries, (e.g. Water Resources, Pollution Control, the National Fisheries Centres for coarse fish and game fish).
• Until such time when the angling community in Wales has become more unified and cohesive at a local and district level (see F.2.) and the Angling National Governing Bodies have become more truly representative of the angling community, it is difficult to see how the FERAC can be made to become more effectively representative of all sectors, groups and divisions of angling in Wales. However: -
• The EAW should endeavour to make the Local Fishery Groups into a more effective forum for two-way communication, discussion and feedback within each geographical district. They should be restructured with standard terms of reference, regularly convened and properly resourced and administered.
• The EAW/WAG should reinstate the production of a comprehensive ‘Annual Report on the Fisheries of Wales’. This publication ceased with the formation of the NRA in 1989/1990 and much useful back-ground information has been lost: either because it is no longer generated or because it is subsumed into an ‘all England & Wales’ format.
• WAG/EAW should promote and an annual "All Wales Fisheries Forum" to provide a platform for two-way communication and feedback between Government, its agencies and all fisheries stakeholders on developments and issues of national interest and concern. A similar arrangement in Scotland appears to work well.
• Likewise, the WAG/EAW should also consider the practical merits of promoting a similar ‘All Wales Forum on the Aquatic Environment’ to draw together and promote closer working partnership amongst the many NGOs, voluntary bodies and other stakeholders with a common interest in protecting the aquatic environment and its associated flora and fauna.. [See F.1.]

• Angling clubs must be encouraged to operate as a business in order to survive. They need to invest more in the provision of a higher standard of services and facilities provided to their local and visiting customers (see G.2.1.) to attract and retain new members and they need to become more active and vigilant in safeguarding their individual and collective interests.
• Angling clubs should be encouraged and supported in developing ‘business management plans’ that actively seek to increase the social and economic benefits derived by the local community from their sections of fishing in ways that do not disadvantage their local membership (see H.1.3.).
• All owners should be encouraged and supported in taking steps to collect and maintain accurate and detailed catch records from their individual fisheries as basis for calculating the value of the fishery and the quantum of any claim for damages and compensation against a third party, protecting their assets and properly managing their fisheries.
• The owners of individual fisheries on every salmon and sea trout river should be encouraged and supported in developing a ‘stock conservation strategy’ for the whole river system that is based on the adoption of standard set of agreed fishery rules & regulations to be applied on each and every separate fishery within the catchment. [H.3.2.]
• The EAW should progress the development of a standard ‘Office Administration Package’ designed to reduce the routine and often excessive workload of club secretaries and enable them to process and generate information in a standard format for internal and external purposes (e.g. membership details, newsletters, catch-returns).
• The EAW should investigate the feasibility and cost of providing clubs with the necessary IT equipment and training to operate effectively in a modern world.
• The significant practical benefit of encouraging clubs to merge to become stronger, more representative and better resourced to carry out their business more efficiently and effectively is to be noted. Practical support should be provided to any clubs wishing to do so subject to certain defined criteria.

G.1.12

• The current policy of not promoting the salmon fisheries of Wales should be maintained until such time as the impoverished stocks of most rivers have recovered to levels of abundance capable of sustaining an increase in angling pressure and exploitation.
• The marketing momentum gained by the current campaign should be continued, but the risks of overselling and marketing angling products that are of poor or indifferent quality must be avoided.

G.2.3.

• There is a clear need to continue to encourage and support the provision of a higher standard of ‘after sales services’ and a funding scheme should be maintained for the provision of improved angler infra-structure and bankside facilities at a number of carefully selected ‘flag-ship’ fisheries each year.
• There is also need for a parallel funding scheme to provide ‘angler-friendly accommodation’ in general and linked to ‘flag-ship’ fisheries in particular.
• The EAW should continue to explore with others the development of a basic training programme designed to provide a supply of ‘ghillies’ and ‘fishing friends’ recruited from within the local angling community. There role would be to introduce anglers to new venues and to make them feel comfortable on the fishing and welcome within the community. This scheme should not include the provision of angling instructors.

• The WTB/EAW should create a special grant scheme to encourage and fund the exploration and development of ‘good ideas’ that originate from within the local angling and angling tourism sectors which, if implemented, would serve to increase the economic benefits of angling tourism at a local or national level. Such a scheme would foster a closer working relationship with the local community and promote a more positive view of and active engagement with the overall objectives of the current Fishing Wales Strategy. This scheme should also be developed in a similar format, with funding from other appropriate sources, to cover both social aims and other fisheries management aims. [See H.2.]
• Local angling organisations and the providers of angling accommodation should be encouraged to do more to make information about their fisheries and facilities more available to the public by providing information about their products to the WTB and local tourism outlets.
• The WTB should work with the local angling community, local authorities and private sponsors to encourage and support the provision of ‘Angler Information’ notice-boards adjacent to road bridges and at other strategic location to assist the general public in finding out about the availability of fishing within the immediate area.
• The success of the ‘Angling Passport Scheme’ on the Usk and Wye catchments in creating new angling opportunities for visitors and providing a new or increased source of income to the owners of small sections of fishing is to be noted. Opportunities to extend this scheme to other parts of Wales should be encouraged and actively promoted by the WTB/EAW where this would not be detrimental to the conservation of local fish stocks

G.4.3.

• The number of anglers coming to Wales each year to fish and the contribution they make to the Welsh economy. Ideally this should be broken down by angling sector and geographical region.
• The annual rate of return (and rate of attrition) of anglers who visited Wales to fish in previous years.
• The annual rate of return on sector investment.

H

INVESTING IN THE FUTURE

• Every effort must be made to sustain and further increase the social and economic benefits to Wales from past and future external and internal investment in Welsh fisheries.
• There is a pressing need for the angling community to do more to help maximise the economic benefit of existing and future investment in their fisheries.
• The EAW should do more to reassure clubs that this need