£23m cash injection from rod licence windfall

The future of fishing is looking brighter than ever after the Environment Agency revealed it sold more than one million rod licences in the 2017/18 season – generating a whopping £23,132,885 for our sport.

The figures were showcased in an annual EA report which highlighted where the money was spent during that year; with habitat improvement, fisheries enforcement and stocking programmes ranking highly on the authority’s priority list.

In a double delight, the EA’s account also revealed that it had planned for a profit of £22.2million in 2017/18, but sales of rod licences were so good that more than £23million was generated – with all money being put back into fishing and the environment.

Kevin Austin, who is the Deputy Director for Fisheries at the Environment Agency, said: “Income from fishing licence sales is used to fund our work to protect and improve fish stocks and fisheries. 

“Fishing rod licence income is vital for so much of the work we do including fisheries enforcement, fish rescues, restocking, improving habitats for fish and facilities for anglers as well as working with partners to encourage people to give fishing a go.

“To ensure we could provide the investment needed to deliver the services for angling we increased the price of the licences for the first time in 7 years. 

“The cost of a standard coarse and trout fish licence rose by £3 from £27 to £30 and a full salmon fishing licence from £72 to £82. 

“This wasn’t a decision we took lightly and it comes with a guarantee that we won’t raise prices again until at least 2020.

“The additional money generated in 2017 to 2018 was invested in fisheries improvements and you can read about examples of these projects in our report.”