Minutes of Nene, Welland and Witham Forum held 7h April 2018.
Present David Hawley, Kelvin Allen, Chris Reeds, Brian Balderson, Andy Beal, Howard Neal, Ivor Stokes, John Newman, John Wadham, Hugh Bunker
Apologies, Ray Richardson, Ray Torrington, Mark Fox, Seumas Halliday, Viktor Tzikas, Barry Harbott, Andy Jackson, Simon Bonney,
.Minutes of Januarys meeting
The previous minutes were accepted as accurate and there were the following matters arising:
Actions
Tree work is still subject to an ongoing dialogue with NPT. There is a further meeting with NPT planned in the coming weeks.
Simon suggested that we should invite Geoff Gilfinnan, the Welland Project Officer, to the Consultative. David has spoken to Geoff and has agreed to attend.
David and Kelvin agreed to respond to this consultation by 26th Jan. Completed
A number of actions were agreed on Cormorant Predation
DH to speak to Howard Neal re. the current views of affected fisheries.
Members of the consultative to encourage club members to report cormorant sightings to the Angling Trust website.
John Wadham to ask Anglian Water about the Cormorant data they collect.
Regional Forum Update
Kelvin gave an update on recent activities both at national and regional level which covered the following areas:
Environmental Greener Brexit
Kelvin highlighted that a joint paper from AT and WWF is to be launched in the coming weeks laying out a six point plan on a potential replacement of the CAP. Much has been in the media and press on this recently as all sides lay out their corresponding positions.
Regional Forum
The first regional forum of 2018 is taking place in Grantham on the 2nd May. Speakers will be Anglian Water on their Pollution Watch scheme, Manfia Tang and Jake Reeds on current EA activities and John Cheyne leading a discussion on the merits of changing the close season.
To register click here.
Nenescape
Kelvin presented the 2nd quarter progress update from Nenescape, some sound progress has been made in visiting many clubs, which has highlighted the continuing lack of understanding in fisheries crime. Member’s opinions were sought on this as the consultative is to be used as a focus group on its evaluation with HLF. A drop in the number of active Voluntary Bailiffs is concerning, however a further induction day is taking place on the 12th May with a further 9 VBS attending from the Nene Valley. Why people are feeling the need to back away from the scheme is open to debate, but concerns continue to be raised on the real outcomes and support from the EA right across the region. Much discussion ensued on this subject and David agreed to write to both Mark Lloyd and the Area Manager on the levels of engagement and support.
Cormorant Predation
Following the last meeting actions the following feedback was reported:
Rutland Water seems to host around 4.7$% of the UK cormorant stock. John Wadham to look into the recording on cormorant damaged fish within the venues catch card scheme.
Wellingborough aren’t really engaged with Jake Devoile for whatever reason. They report that the bird levels are higher than ever, even with their existing licence and management techniques.
Peterborough and District have an ongoing engagement with Jake on the ways to manage birds at Ferry Meadows. This is being managed with NPT on an ongoing basis.
EA FBG Presentation
Hugh presented a paper following the deadly pollution incident on the river Witham, the event is subject to legal action, so the actual root cause and defendant can’t be named.
The paper is available Here.
Stillwater Update
John Wadham presented his report on Rutland Water. Although rainbow trout fishing had been badly affected by a gill parasite the brown trout were thriving.
Treasurer Report
Ray provided a financial update in that the balance stands at £912.07.
Catchment Update
Hugh gave a overview of the paper attached here.
An update on the Nenescape Resilent River program is attached here.
Club Updates
PDAA
John have an update on activities within the Club.
A new open match series and the annual Charity Match is being run on Ferry Meadows.
Polish anglers return for their final in September
Hosting the Div II national on the North Bank
Continuing access issues at Wandsford
Cattle Poaching at Stebbington
BDAA
Brian stated it had been a very quiet end to the season. However they have a busy match calendar planned for 2018 subject to weed growth on the river. They hosted an open meeting with the EA in which 20+ people attended last month.
WDNAC – Ivor reported that ticket sales where still strong, even with catch returns on the canal being very poor. The club is holding an event on the 23rd June to celebrate the life of their previous chairman and NWWCA member Brian Crowhurst.
Dates of Next Meetings
9th June 2018
27th Oct 2018
