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SANA Annual General Meeting
The SANA AGM was held on the 11th March 2007, presenting those in attendance with some ominous news.
On a dreigh Sunday in March the Annual General meeting of the Scottish Anglers National Association was held at the Green Hotel In Kinross with a turn out of around 50 individual and club members present. As the Chair, Ronnie Picken, said in his opening remarks, the previous year had been a mixed bag of highs and lows. Given the gravity of some of the issues facing game angling in the years to come he was disappointed that the turn out was not higher.
To sum up the situation Mr Picken reported that for the fourth time in a year the National Game Angling Centre at Loch Leven had been inundated with sewage from the nearby Scottish Water treatment plant making the facility unfit for human occupation. There can be few situations anywhere the headquarters of a governing body with a remit to strive to improve the aquatic environment has been inundated with doo from the the organisation charged with processing said doo. Four inundations in a year smacks of disrespect not just for SANA but for the world famous Loch Leven. Scottish Water really needs to take a look at what it is doing with excrement in Kinross before the Loch becomes a world famous cesspit.
With issues floating around its doorstep SANA has quite a few challenges to face. Some good work has been done with groups like the Freshwater Fisheries Forum, the Sea Trout Group, Angling Tourism Development Group and the Seals Forum. The Coaching Committee is working to develop a new coaching qualification developing a professional standard for fly fishing instruction in Scotland that will ensure that coaches operate to a quality standard including being fully trained in Child Protection and having undergone Disclosure, work that has to be applauded if angling is to draw youngsters into the fishing fraternity.
On the low side Mr Picken set out the concerns SANA has for the issues relating to Gs (Gyrodactylis salaris). The corporate power of the salmon farming industry, much of it owned by Norwegian companies, is so strong that the Scottish Executive is allowing the importation of salmon eggs and smolt from infected areas. Mr Picken has been informed that SERAD is investigating the acquisition of quantities of of Rotenone for use in the event that Gs arrives in Scotland.
On the issue of the spread of infection it is clear that the authorities are fully aware that Gs in an infected batch of eggs or smolts could take little more than 24 hours to be spread throughout Scotland. Batches of fish already delivered have been distributed from their receiving point to Argyll in little more than a day. With the interlinked water systems in Scotland for hydro electric schemes, interconnecting river and loch systems and canals it is obvious that once Gs arrives in infected commercial batches of fish or eggs its spread would be unimpeded by natural barriers and almost impossible to contain and eradicate.
It has been found that rainbow trout and arctic char can also act as carriers for Gs. With only 200 lochs in Scotland holding Arctic Char eradication of Gs in an infected populations could effectively eliminate this biologically unique species. As to rainbow trout, the entire business of managing fisheries in Britain is dependent on the transfer of fish for stocking purposes. Stopping the distribution of rainbow trout stock would be the only way to eliminate them as a vector for Gs.
We need to remember that the only cure for Gs infestation is to kill the patient. To the benefit of commercial interests government has been in denial with regard to the effect of salmon farming on sea trout populations due to sea lice infestation for decades. Are we about to see angling for salmonids all over the UK sacrificed completely for the sake of commercial considerations or will someone in government wake up and say enough is enough. There is no need for the globalisation of fish egg production. We can breed stock in Scotland perfectly well, why allow the risk of importing angling Armageddon for the sake of a few pounds extra profit from 'production efficiencies' for the commercial producers?
The meeting then returned to the subject of Loch Leven which, as we have heard, continues to be the victim of institutional inadequacy. Mr Picken has been informed that Scottish Natural Heritage and others are seeking funding for further research into issues of water quality on the loch. This correspondent agrees with Mr Picken that the loch would appear to have become a cash cow for researchers for decades, and it looks like this situation will prevail for years to come. We can only hope that the loch will not be just a vast dirty dub by the time researchers have the answers as to why the obvious is happening.
With regard to cormorant predation SNH reports that no properly completed application for a cull of birds has been refused in the last year. We all hope that meticulous form filling for the SNH bean counters will continue to be the norm next year.
On a positive note SANA reports that its finances are improving
with a surplus of £9,745 being recorded for the year ending 31st
October 2006. A grant of £12,000 was received from SportScotland in
2006. **
Mention was made of Argulus infestations in Scotland reported on the Lower Tay and on the Loch of Lowes near Dunkeld. Argulus are fish lice, parasites which feed by injecting digestive enzymes into the skin or gills of fish then sucking the out the fluid. This activity severely stresses fish leading, in the case of heavy infestations, to death from distress and the actual damage done by the Argulus or from secondary bacterial infection of the wounds.
SANA is clearly fighting the good fight. A group of well meaning, committed, under funded and I have to say, I hope without giving offence, aging anglers doing in their spare time what they can to advance the cause of game fishing in Scotland, winning, on the way, many battles but I fear in danger of losing the war. Multi million pound commercial interests, Scottish Water, SNH and many others with budgets totalling billions of pounds range against SANA and, by our nature, the divided angling fraternity. If SANA is to have any chance of success it needs the support of the entire angling fraternity and if that means joining SANA or joining an angling club to create a coherent pressure group that is what you need to do for the future of our sport. The following quote from Mr Picken's introduction in the SANA Annual Report sums up the level of indifference to angling at the highest level when he was informed by the Deputy Environment Minister;
'that there was no requirement in law to protect fish in Loch Leven, but there was to protect birds'
To support the work of SANA, just join up, it costs £24 a year (about as much as a 4 fish ticket in a fishery). Contact;
Alistair Wallace, National Game Angling Centre, The Pier, Loch Leven, Kinross, KY13 8UF, call 01577 861116, Email admin@sana.org.uk or log on to www.sana.org.uk to print off and application form.
**A quick look on the internet shows that over 765 grants totalling £139million have been made to fund sports facilities such as those for the National Badminton Association, the Scottish Swimming Academy and for Indoor Cricket. 240 top athletes have received £20 million in funding, 3500 awards have been made totalling £16million to elite athletes and Pumpherston Gold Course was partly funded with a £785,000 grant. Mention was also made of the importance of golf in the development of Sporting Tourism (contributing £100 million to the the economy) while walking, cycling and angling contribute £1.5 billion. Given the seriousness of the issues facing SANA in the years to come and the value of angling tourism to the economy (estimates range from £110 to £125 million per annum of which salmon fishing contributes about half) the £12,000 grant support seems somewhat understated, if not miserly.
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