Angling's future is in your hands

The sport’s governing body is urging anglers to help reshape the future of fishing by getting involved in a new research project.

Officials at the Angling Trust have ploughed time and resources into numerous campaigns since the outfit’s creation in 2009 but they are now giving people the chance to have their say on what issues they think should be the next focus.

An online questionnaire has been launched, with members and non-members alike being canvassed for their opinion on a range of topics. The feedback will then be analysed before it is used to help build an action-plan for the year ahead.

Trust Chief Executive Mark Lloyd is at the forefront of the investigation. He said: “It’s been five years since we launched and we believe this is the ideal time to take stock of things and see how we are performing.

“We want to know what matters to anglers and then take appropriate action to see that those issues are addressed.”

Two years ago the National Angling Survey was run in conjunction with the Environment Agency, with almost 30,000 people giving their views and Mark is confident the latest move can be a similar success story.

He added: “Poaching, predation and pollution were three of the biggest issues back then and we have worked hard since to improve the situation on all those fronts.
“We now want to reassess what matters to anglers. We can assure them that their feedback will not be swept under the carpet and ignored but will instead play an important part in planning the route ahead.”

To have your say visit www.anglingtrust.net/membershipsurvey

WHAT YOU THINK
We asked fans of the Angling Times Facebook page what they believed the biggest issues dogging the sport are:
John Hunt - Cormorants are the biggest problem by a mile.
Eric Bradford – Poaching is a massive issue.
Louise Monk - Lack of interest from younger generations and predation.
Chrissy Charles – We need more education for anglers.
Ringwood Tackle – Predation, more specifically otters.

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