IoW Angling Trust

Welcome to the Isle of Wight Angling Trust Marine Region Website

The costs of running this website have so far been met by Antony Stanyon out of his own pocket and for that we should all be very grateful. After it is switched off during June 2021, we are currently unable to predict a means of providing a source of information specifically for IW based sea anglers. Alan Deeming can, however, be contacted via the new Bembridge Angling Club website www.bembridge-angling-club.co.uk.

25-2-2020: John Rackett had arranged for an AGM of the IW division for Tuesday 21st April 2020 but this is now postponed due to current government restrictions. A new date will be advised once circumstances allow.

The Isle of Wight Angling Trust Marine region Committee welcomes you to our website which it hopes will keep you better informed about local issues as well as giving you a chance to give us your feedback and opinions.

You do not have to register on this site to view most of the content but you do need to register if you wish to post on the forum section.

Anyone can register on the site, it is not a requirement that you have to be a member of the Angling Trust.

All you have to do is simply click on the "sign up" text at the bottom of the Site Login box on the left hand side of this page to start the registration process.

Please note that registration on this site does not get you Angling Trust membership.

WHAT IS AN ANGLING TRUST 'MARINE REGION'? Marine Regions help clubs and organisations in their area run Family Fishing days, organise competitions, liaise with local Inshore Fishery & Conservation Authorities, advise the Angling Trust on sea angling policies, and much more. There are four active Marine regions: Wyvern (Devon & Severn), Wessex (Dorset & Hampshire), the Isle of Wight, and Sussex but we plan to cover the whole of England as soon as possible.

As an existing personal member, if you refer a friend, both you & they can renew "for free" * this year!

* Based on receipt of voucher with face value £29

Firstly - a huge thank you to personal members for your continued support - it's people like you who have helped fish and fishing so much in the last 10 years.

We want to do more for fishing and more for you as a member! To mark our 10 year anniversary we are offering you a £29 voucher for Fishing Megastore when you successfully refer a friend to join the Angling Trust and Fish Legal.

You will receive your £29 voucher when you renew and your friend will get the same offer when they join and quote your membership number - so you can both effectively be members for a year for free!

It's so easy - we've included everything you need to get started below.

How it works...

Simply cut & paste this into an email & forward to as many people as you like.
They sign up online or over the phone using your membership number as the offer code.
Your mates each get a £29 voucher when they join.
We give you a £29 voucher when your renewal is processed.

5. You are also entered into our prize draw to win £200 to spend on Daiwa tackle.

Tell as many people as possible!

Your offer code: 31618

GET OFFER & JOIN NOW

Click 'Get Offer & Join Now' for full terms and conditions. Please note that there is a limit of 1 x £29 Fishing Megastore voucher per member but there is no limit to the number of prize draw entries.

Member only prize draw to win £200 to spend on Daiwa tackle!

For every successful referral we'll give you an entry into our prize draw to win £200 to spend on Daiwa tackle. There's no limit to the draw so recommend as many people as you like

reasons to renew and for your friends to join! :-

Combatting poaching, fish theft and other criminal activity

We’ve recruited and coordinate an army of nearly 500 volunteer bailiffs and developed stronger ties with police, in addition to educating migrant anglers on fishing rules and regulations via the Building Bridges project.

Making polluters pay

From rogue farmers to multinational corporations - Fish Legal win pollution cases against companies large and small - allowing compensation to be put where it is most needed - to the angling clubs and fishery owners affected, so that they can restore their waters.

Investing in coaching and introducing new anglers

In the last two years alone we have run over 1,700 events across the country, introducing 47,000 adults and 30,000 juniors to the sport.

Campaigning for sea angling

We've got sea angling up the political agenda, lobbied the IFCAs to ban estuary and inshore netting and fought to restore anglers’ rights to take bass home to eat.

Investing in our sport

From new fish stocks, to better facilities and disabled access, the Trust continues to secure vital support via the Angling Improvement Fund – approximately £2m from the Environment Agency in the last 4 years.

IW DIV HISTORY

The IW Marine Committee of the Angling Trust is, in effect, a derivative of the old Isle of Wight Division of the National Federation of Sea Anglers (NFSA). When the NFSA disbanded, the IW division realigned itself under the Angling Trust. We are authorised to remain as an autonomous area, thus we are not amalgamated within the Wessex division of the Angling Trust. We maintain a separate list of Island records which is restricted to fish caught within 12 miles of the island shoreline.

IW Angling trust marine committe AGM

held on 16^th APRIL 2018

Minutes (DRAFT)

At 7.30 pm, President, Richard Russell, convened the AGM with Alan Deeming taking notes.

1. Attendance See attendance list.

2. Apologies received from Andrew Wenden.

3. Minutes of the 2017 Meeting were read out, approved by attendees & signed by Richard Russell.

4. Matters Arising: None raised

5. Treasurer George Bernowicz issued the audited Statement of Accounts for the period from the 2017 AGM and pointed out that they were £85.99 down but still in good financial health as shown. Mike Richardson had audited the paperwork to confirm. There had been no income at all, bearing in mind that the only source of income for the period between 2014 & the 2017 AGM had been the profit from one open competition & no such competition had been run during the remainder of 2017.

Alan Deeming asked if paying the annual membership fee for Solent Forum remained acceptable & the meeting agreed that it was.

Proposed by Alan Deeming & seconded by Cliff Williams that the accounts be formally adopted. Approved by all present.

George requested approval to continue with Mike Richardson as accounts auditor & this was agreed.

6. Records Officer George Bernowicz reported that one new record claim had been approved:

Gilt Head Bream (Boat) 5lbs 0½ ozs Will Merwood

7. Competitions. In the absence of the competition secretary, it was reported that no IW divisional open competition had been organised during 2017. Alan Deeming asked if it was likely that any affiliated Island club would be interested in running an IW div of AT open beach comp, possibly in conjunction with one of their own. Those present felt that, given the diminishing interest in club competitions, it was unlikely that any club would be interested.

8. Propositions: Chairman/Secretary, John Rackett, advised that no propositions had been received & he further advised that adequate notice had been provided to affiliated clubs on the IW

9. Election of Officers

President: George Bernowicz proposed Richard Russell for president & this was seconded by Alan Deeming. Carried unanimously.

Richard Russell observed that there were no eligible attendees other than the officers who had been elected at the previous AGM & he therefore suggested that all be elected again en bloc.

Alan Deeming advised that Andrew Wenden had informed him that he was no longer able to take any official role on the committee.

Alan also advised that he had no knowledge as to if Kevin Basham wished to remain as competition secretary. The attendees felt that there was no point in electing a competition secretary if no divisional competition was envisaged.

With the above exceptions, the attendees approved the en bloc re-election of officers as follows:-
Chairman: John Rackett See contact us page

Secretary: John Rackett See contact us page

Treasurer: George Bernowicz See contact us page

Records Officer: George Bernowicz See contact us page

Competition Secretary: Not appointed (Volunteer to organise a comp very welcome.)

Publicity Officer/AT Web links: Antony Stanyon See contact us page

Delegates to national committees & other bodies: Alan Deeming See contact us page

10. Alan Deeming gave briefing on his various involvements on behalf of IW anglers plus various matters of interest including Bass restrictions, Brexit, inshore netting, loss of angling access to East Cowes sea front, closure of only practical public slipway in East Cowes & ongoing possible threat to local wrasse stocks. (For full details please see under "Our Work" "Other")

President, Richard Russell thanked Alan for his efforts & asked if Alan knew if anyone from the Wessex div was equally active. Alan responded that the Angling Liaison group set up by Southern IFCA that he attends has several representatives from the Wessex div.

11. A.O.B.

George Bernowicz queried if Southern IFCA officers regularly patrol the Island & if they paid particular attention to illegal taking of undersized Bass such as from Ryde pier. Alan responded that they do indeed patrol the Island but they direct their limited resources according to a risk based plan. They do not supply a “blue light” service but any reports of suspected illegal activity should be reported to their office. Such reports allow them to get a picture of trends in illegal activities & allows them to make plans to address such activities if they are deemed to be significant

Ray Gough, representing VBFC, said that there were no notices on Ryde pier showing fish minimum size limits nor were there any relating to Bass restrictions. He also queried where the boundaries are for the area of Ryde sands where bait collection is prohibited. Alan deeming responded with a verbal description of where the late Tony Williams had obtained a concession allowing bait collection immediately in front of the hovercraft terminal. Alan also undertook to convey to Southern IFCA officers the other points raised.

Post meeting note: A chart of the restricted bait gathering area on Ryde sands was subsequently forwarded by Alan Deeming to the president of VBFC, Tim Wakely. Alan also received a response from SIFCA saying that they would note the information supplied & would be hoping to provide suitable notices on Ryde pier. They also intended visiting the local tackle shop in Ryde plus would look to arrange for an officer to meet with VBFC.

Cliff Williams reported a rumour that AT was intending to reduce support for RSA & asked if Alan Deeming had any information on this. Alan responded that he had no knowledge of this but would investigate through his AT official contacts.

Post meeting note: Alan Deeming received a categorical denial from the AT chief campaigns co-ordinator plus a similar denial from an AT board member, of any intention to reduce support for RSA. Indeed, they pointed out that support has increased recently as the result of the appointment of an additional AT employee. It should be borne in mind that the freshwater side of AT receives significant funding, above that derived from AT membership fees, resulting from the revenue from rod licences which all freshwater anglers are required to have. Sea anglers pay no such licence so AT funding for RSA, beyond membership fees is somewhat limited & susceptible to possible fluctuation. The AT head of marine suggested that possible issues regarding future funding for training across the entire range of angling (not just RSA) may be the root source of the rumour.

AGM Meeting declared closed at 8.15 pm

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As a result of this website being terminated by the end of June 2021, no further work will be done on it. We thank Antony Stanyon for his kind support in hosting it over the years.