The Committee's Blog

We are delighted to announce that our Season 2016 permits have been returned from printing. The treasurer and membership secretary have worked over the Christmas holiday to bundle them up and dispatch out to our retail outlets where they are now on sale.

If purchasing a River Leven or Estuary season permit please remember that two passport sized photos are required.

If purchasing a’ full membership’ or disabled membership, this needs to be done through the LLAIA. See our webpage: http://www.lochlomondangling.com/membership.html

For anglers that had already purchased their membership/permit through our website the tickets are in envelopes ready to be posted out on January 5th. as we don’t want them getting caught up in the New Year holiday period.

Once again, we apologise for the delay which was outwith our control.

Hope you all have an enjoyable Festive period and a great season 2016!

LLAIA Permit availability – Season 2016
Due to technical problems at the printers there has been a slight delay in the availability of season 2016 permits. Postal and retail outlet issue are both affected.

We hope to collect permits from the printers early next week. It will then take a few days to process full memberships tickets and post to those that have returned their renewal forms. As soon as they become available we will post them out to you. This also applies to anglers who have purchased River Leven season tickets via our website.

When the permit stock for Leven – Season, Weekly, Day and Coarse tickets have been delivered to our outlets we will update the website accordingly.

It had been anticipated that permits would be available before Christmas as usual and can only apologise for a situation beyond our control.

LLAIA Committee.

The papers relating to the proposed wild fishery review are still with the Minister. It is hoped that a formal announcement will still be made before Christmas.

Irrespective of the result and in the absence of any guidance from Government, despite repeated requests, the committee have had no had no choice but to assume a status quo – no change position – with regards to rules and regulations. We will therefore be issuing memberships and tags according to our current rules.

Should the government announce changes that impact on us we will be seeking full reimbursement for all expenses incurred to date including substantial administration costs.

We await developments next week.

LLAIA Committee.

On 7 December a meeting was held between representatives of the LLAIA and LLFT and from national fishery and scientific bodies. The meeting was candid and allowed all parties to express their views on current proposals relating to the conservation of salmon and future fishery management structures.

While there was no definitive news on the implementation or otherwise of proposed conservation measures on Friday your committee were informed that the Wild Fishery Review team were keen to make an announcement on this matter before Christmas and if possible by the end of this week.

Last week local Borders media carried a story that the government has had a change of heart and agreed to retain the current management structures on the Tweed. There is no doubt that there seems to be momentum building for a review of the proposals as they currently stand with a strong argument being put forward to postpone any changes for at least a year to allow further evidence to be gathered. This is strongly welcomed by both the LLAIA and the LLFT. However, members should be in no doubt that there are no guarantees on this issue and we shall, like several other systems that fought hard to retain their angling heritage over the last few months, have to await the outcome.

With regards to future fishery management structures (FMO’s) members should note that it will be mid 2017 at the earliest before the requisite legislative arrangements will be in place to bring these new bodies into being. The committee have already began to consider how best to respond to this issue mindful of the almost unanimous view of our members this spring who expressed a clear preference for the formation of a standalone Lomond FMO.

In order to provide you with the most up to date information available on this matter it is hoped that a representative from government will be in a position to attend our AGM in February in order to provide an account of where we are in this area as well as answer any questions members may have.

There is no doubt that the conservation proposals and the proposed introduction of new management structures have the potential to radically alter game fishing not just in the Lomond system but throughout Scotland. We would therefore ask members to make sure they keep their diaries free and attend our AGM on Saturday 6 February in order to voice their opinions on these matters. Too often AGM’s are poorly attended but given the level of change that is coming our way we would urge as many members to attend as possible so that we can have a real steer on your preferred future direction of travel on these matters.

Finally the committee would like to formally thank all those members who have taken the time to write, phone and email us offering their best wishes and thanks for the work we have been doing in fighting the proposed changes to date. This is genuinely appreciated and only strengthens our resolve to do what is right for our system no matter what the challenges we face.

LLAIA Committee.

There is no doubt whatsoever that the Loch Lomond Angling Improvement Association, like many other angling associations across Scotland, is currently at a crossroads.

The proposals contained within the September consultation document on fisheries reform, as they relate to our system, could if they are accepted as they currently stand by Scottish Government Ministers, lead to the end of the Association as we know it. We are not exaggerating when we say that out heritage as well as our very existence are in the balance.

Given the threat that we face the committee is first and foremost campaigning to have all of these proposals thrown out.

We have asked serious questions of the government agency, Marine Scotland, and despite submitting our response to their proposals in mid October are still awaiting a reply. We are not alone in this regard as other associations are also waiting for replies. The situation as it stands remains fluid and fast moving.

This week alone we have received support from two more MSPs, one of whom, Bruce Walker , has written directly to the Minister and the other, Drew Smith, has tabled two parliamentary questions in relation to our position. Other MSPs who have offered support include Jackie Baillie, Annabel Goldie, Jamie McGrigor and Ruth Davidson.

On Monday we meet with Marine Scotland. Where this will go we will have to wait and see but we can only hope that common sense will prevail. What we are sure of at this time is that there are no certainties but

members can be assured that once we have hard facts to hand we will make sure that you are fully informed.

LLAIA  Committee.