Little change in conditions  Some hail and sleet overnight.  River up and down and coloured.
Another bashing overnight and into tomorrow it seems with heavy rain and damaging winds..


Closing Statement by Andy Nicholson to the NRW enquiry. Bit long winded and repetitive nevertheless how many anglers  in Wales feel.   Huge thanks to those who pursued this enquiry to the bitter end.  Probably have the usual result   We listened but..........we know what's best for you.

Closing statement and summery NEW Feb 26th

I am absolutely passionate about Wales, the people, the valleys, the rivers and protecting the rights of all resident and visiting anglers, along with the countless associated business. I have spent the vast majority of my life, fishing, holidaying and working in Wales, so this means a great deal to me 

Time to reflect and summarise, we were never going to be on level playing field, presenting our collective evidence against a barrister and an extensive legal team and it would have been extremely interesting if the objectors had only the NRW and its team to combat against, this imbalance i hope will be recognised?  However i am convinced we have admirably and comprehensively, made a conclusive, case for the proposed by-laws to be rejected on a wholesale basis.

There is no doubt that the NRW evidence and proposed by-laws, contradict what is happening in England Scotland, Ireland and many other areas around the world, where each river system is viewed on its own merits, or problems and dealt with accordingly, rather than a wholesale blanket approach    

It is so easy to tinker and manipulate science to suit the NRW argument and to try and justify their draconian proposals, but the glaring fact is that it does not concur, especially on how effective hatcheries are in re-generating stocks.

What is glaringly obvious is the NRW,s approach to avian predation, they have managed to produce many facts and fishery science on all aspects, but have failed miserably, to actually, control, investigate, nor properly research one of the main problems, of juvenile mortality by predation of these fish eating birds, that eat thousands upon thousands of juveniles, if this one problem was addressed correctly, we would not have the problem of lack of stocks today.

Nor have they been able to address the problem, of not only water quality, but that of actually policing the rivers with effective enforcement officers, they all but non existence, it is left to the angling community and stakeholders to care, protect, police and monitor our Welsh rivers.  

With 12 days of evidence being heard, it is easy to be deflected away from the core issues’, be overwhelmed and bamboozled by such extensive evidence and incorrect rhetoric, from the NRW. The clever actions of the barrister skilfully guiding all NRW witnesses through their evidence and making even the most flimsy evidence look good, was easy for all to see. We the objectors did not have that privilege

We must and should focus on the real issues. And strip this bare. It has become very evident that the NRW, in its present state, are not fit for purpose, are inept, negligible in their duties and are incapable of looking after, maintaining, policing, protecting, renovating and re-stoking our precious resources of Welsh rivers.

Lets us be perfectly and abundantly clear, if these draconian proposals by the NRW, are allowed to go through, it will without a shadow of doubt have a catastrophic affect, on not only game fishing in Wales, but the social economic affect in Wales, there will be job losses, generations of livelihoods and business will be lost, tourism will take a big down turn, angling clubs and associations will loose large numbers of members, and some close, as proved, before the 2017 deferment took place, some never recovered.

Rivers will be at risk and laid fallow to the vagaries of poachers and lack of maintenance, as proved the NRW simply cannot police, nor make any enforcement on the rivers of Wales, it is only the likes of the stakeholders that police our rivers, pollution will not be monitored nor reported and the rivers will fall into disrepair. As confirmed by the NRW, there will be no control of avian predation, as it is only angling stakeholders that apply for control licences, those will decrease.

The NRW state licences sold will be dramatically reduced, again proved in 2018 before deferment took place and by the NRW,s admission licence sales will go down if the proposals are passed, thus reducing money available for caring for our rivers, along with the catch returns the NRW so rely on, this will have a negative and knock on effect.

The elderly and the disabled will be seriously disadvantaged; the elderly generation of Salmon worm anglers will simply be lost forever.

This entire case, is and has been flawed, from day one, from the start process right to the end of the technical case, the public and angling community’s outrage, is overwhelming, along with press and political condemnation.

Whether i like it or not, i have been in the public eye and am contacted on a continual basis by grass roots anglers, those that would like their voice heard at this enquiry, it either be by phone, e-mail, multimedia, in the street or on the river bank, all of my contact details and address are freely available.

Chris Evans MP, stated in his letter to me, he has been inundated with messages, if he has been inundated, i most certainly have been bombarded by the worries, fears, concerns, frustration and the injustice, from all spectrums of the angling world, i wish i could have bottled all of this and for the assembled here today, to witness this outrage, from the hard core grass roots angler and associated business.  My late Father an expert angler, my mentor, a wise man and an amazing Dad, said to me, Andy your family become your friends, how true, he was my best pal and angling pal, and it came to be, my children have become my best pals and angling comrades, he went on to say, that your true friends, over time become your extended family, how true that has turned out to be.

I am a lucky privileged, blessed man, for me the hands of friendship and my extended family reach out across the globe, but none more so than in Wales, i have fished, holidayed and worked extensively in Wales for the majority of my life.

These amazing folk, have embraced me, taken me into Their life’s, over these long years, shared many experiences, we have laughed and cried together and they have wholeheartedly taken me into their life’s and homes and cared for me, i have become an integral part of their community i love and care for hese special people, they are my friends and extended family.

I have made angling films and TV programmes that have exclusively been filmed in Wales, mounted countless press trip in Wales and have spent a great deal of time promoting angling in Wales, and have contributed to increased tourism in Wales, for me personally it is heartbreaking, to now see this work by me and many others, being destroyed, along with their way of life, their way of fishing, their heritage, and the destruction of communities, loss of jobs, hardship and the economy to the angling world severely damaged and under threat, if these proposals are passed.

We the volunteers that are the life blood, custodians, protectors and guardians of our beloved Welsh rivers, and have been for generations, we have come together at our own expense in our own time, to passionately fight these draconian proposals.

This volatile, aggressive, adversarial and confrontational arena that we have entered, is for all of us completely alien, we are peaceful, passive and normally a happy group, we have made you sir and Welsh Government aware of the imbalance and injustice that we firmly believe is transpiring.

We have all worked so incredibly hard, with devotion, dedication and sacrifices and i have been blown away by the incredible professionalism and faculty correct presentation i have been privileged to witness, along with their self evident passion, my admiration for them, knows no bounds, i am so proud of them, in a bid to protect Welsh rivers.

This enquiry is the culmination,  for some of us, is years of  stoic  hard work, it has consumed us, what really breaks my heart , i see and sadly have borne witness to, and before my very eyes, to see fine good men, men that i really love and care for, un-ravelling and becoming broken men, and men too frightened to stand and bear witness,  due to the process and especially  the enquiry, the protective nature within my cannot and will not allow this to happen, i will fight with every fibre in my body and from my heart to protect my extended family, I WILL NOT BOW,  this is un-fair and unjust, the likes i have never seen before, it has descended into a toxic cauldron

The massive gulf between the two sides widens by the day, The NRW proposals are very wrong and no piece of paper thrust at me will convince me otherwise and i am resolute on that i will not be swayed.

There is a huge incorrect in-balance here, the barrister and its extensive legal team are here for financial gain, the more cases they win, the more work they will receive, so it is win at all costs, money and profit is their motive, our motive is to protect our rivers and way of life, the human and personal costs to us is huge. We on the other hand are volunteers at our own costs and expense; we are not here for personal financial gain.

In this room and all the men that have stood before you, have a vast wealth and depth an invaluable pool of knowledge and i would suggest far greater than the NRW, there is as you have seen massive experience and expertise. It will be argued that we have been engaged, this is not correct we have been played lip service to.

The likes of Rueben Woodford, John Eardely, Chris White, Mike Ashwin and so many others, have an in-depth knowledge of their respective rivers systems, this as incorrectly stated by Peter Gough, that we only really know access points and the geography, this is clearly nonsense, they have hands on practical intimate knowledge, built up over a life time on these rivers, of all aspect of the river especially the science of that river and the river life within, along with the important community that surrounds the river and others  in fact, they have forgotten more than the NRW know of those river systems.

We the assembled are an incredibly important but a microscopic representation of the wealth and depth of knowledge that is available to the NRW across Wales, there are countless   Reuben’s, Johns and Chris’s throught Wales, that know their river systems intimately that the NRW, could and should have called upon, collaborated, consulted and cooperated with, this has not happened and the very reason we are here today, this should never have happened and the gross obscene waste of money and time that we are witnessing.

It is never too late, my olive branch firmly lays upon the table, however, the metaphoric olive trees in Wales are all but bare, for many, on the point of being withdrawn, and alienation of the angling community is hanging by a thread. 

A great deal of my evidence focuses on the devastating affect the proposals will have upon the entire Welsh angling community, the public, press and political outrage and the need to recognise that mandatory catch and release, along with method restriction is not the way forward and that the voluntary, measure we impose upon our self’s is the correct and only way forward, appertaining to the needs and problems with individual rivers across Wales, which we know best. 

The inspector asked if the proposed by-laws, were necessary and proportional to protect fish stocks, the simple answer and proof of facts, presented, is they are not, nor enforceable, in fact, if implemented, will have a divisive and destructive effect on all aspects of game angling in Wales, the economics and will have a major negative impact on fish stocks in Wales, along with alienating all, the angling public and stakeholders in Wales, the proposals must be rejected.

I do not like the word labelled against us the OBJECTORS, we are in fact the guardians and custodians of the rivers in Wales, we are the eyes and ears of our beloved rivers and we actively care, police, re-generate and maintain our rivers on a daily basis. I applaud my friends and colleagues, for their sacrifices, dedication, professionalism and devotion in fighting this injustice, i am proud to have stood shoulder to shoulder and cheek by jowl and be allowed to contribute.   

Whatever the outcome, the barrister and his legal team will leave this enquiry cashing in their big cheque and move on to the next case. The NRW team will still get paid and enjoy their pensions when the time comes. We the voluntary stake holders will still be here; if the by-laws passed, we will be seriously depleted in numbers, please remember that the general public exercise the biggest democratic right, which will be to vote with their feet.

The proposals are not the answer, it is time to reject these proposals, for NRW to realise and recognise it is time to return to the negotiating table, to fully engage with all stake holders and for us all to come together, to collectively create the correct way forward, that will address all the issues, maintain the social economic situation improve the stocks and rivers of Wales and keep the anglers on the river, there is another way. For so many of us while there is breath in our bodies we will never give up on our cause and we will carry on fighting.

I started of by saying how passionate i am about Wales, now i make a passionate plea, to you Mr Inspector and to Welsh Government, to reject these proposals, there is a far better way. I thank you for your time and patience.

Andy Nicholson