Attention will now switch to the spawning beats and tributaries for the extension on the upper river.I won't be reporting any fish from there on this site.
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Open letter sent to all concerned from RWGA to Stephen Marsh Smith
Stephen,
Regurgitating RWGA/WSA nonsense you say Stephen. Well thanks
for that but very typical of you.
We have of course been talking rubbish for years have we
not. Who was it who warned of stock collapse in the first place, Who was it who
talked of siltation/pollution from farmers and the ploughing up of riverside
land and the subsequent abstraction that took place every year for crops. Who was
it who protested at all new discharges from new developments and the crap the
utilities still churn out.
Who was it who tried to get those well paid to do a job to
actually do it. Who was it who appealed to the owners over the years to take
some action as they witnessed their river collapse. Who was it who supported
WUF initially and did some voluntary work before we were shunted out because we
dared to question you. Who lobbied to try and get the putchers off the river
and paid most of our funds when it finally happened. Who questioned
the viability of your fence and coppice exercise now in disarray, Who suffered
most with job loss when things declined – our members did. Who used to go out
at night with the bailiffs –when we had any- protecting spawning fish.
Who suffered from personal abuse, threats of legal
action,(One actually carried out by you on one of our members the way) sneering
comments, personal vilification and on one occasion use of your charity website
to get me banned from Trout and Salmon and replaced by your puppet.
Who pursued the river Tyne hatchery scheme and enabled Peter Gray to come to
Hereford to talk about it. You trashed that too. Who supported voluntarily
every initiative we thought would help the river. Who spoke up for the salmon
anglers of the Wye, said the things that needed to be said and got regularly
castigated for it by those who thought they knew better. WE did Stephen.
WE did
One the other hand who eventually took over WUF
singlehanded, wiped out all those who could have helped with the expertise they
had. Who made promises year after year which went unfulfilled. Who tried to
make everyone beleive every WUF project a major success, to the extent we are
now knee deep in salmon. Who was it whose mantra was ‘the end justifies the
means’. Who coined the Passport scheme now resulting in degradation of the
salmon fishing resource, who encourage canoeists onto the upper river spawning
beds. Who connived with WAG to make a canoe river ‘arrangement’.
. Who was it who 35 years ago said hatcheries didn’t
work, yet WUF formed one and ran another ( well in the loosest
possible sense) and risked spreading American signal crayfish throughout
the catchment. Who was it who agreed to all the reductions in methods we now
have and supported 100% C & R. Who supports back end fishing
virtually on the spawning beds. Who supported the SNR scheme and turned
their back when it was expedient for them to do so. Who was it who
virtually took over the WSFOA and with the help of a couple of cohorts turned
it into a cash cow for the Foundation and virtually neutered it since Major
General Hopkinson left.
Who built an empire which has apparently lost sight of
its initial aims and now seeks to spread its tentacles further into Wales ever
seeking funding to cover its burgeoning costs. These actions have divided the
river and for many you are now just a joke. You have no credibility
whatsoever any more in many people’s opinion and you have only yourself,
through your divisive actions, to blame. Not many now believe a word you say.
It could and should have been so different were you not so arrogant.
In my opinion the whole ethos of the Wye has being
destroyed, it’s traditions, it’s infrastructure is falling apart, its salmon
beats degraded, it’s reputation trashed. You actually represent no one any more
it seems to me. You have no mandate to make any decisions on our behalf but
then again you never did. You represent yourself.
However we do need a Rivers Trust. We now need
qualified people who can take a step back and see what has been done, why it
hasn’t work and come up with a plan B. After all 17 years is long enough to
gauge whether a project is working or not and whether it’s cost effective. The
results of those 17 years are there for all to see.
Geoff.
Actually Stephen, this doesn’t have anything to
do with you lot. You’re merely copied in as a courtesy, and because you get
named in the correspondence. This is entirely to do with the structure and
running of the WSFOA as a so called independent body. I’m not involved
with, nor have anything to do with either WSA/ RWGA, any more than I now am
with the WSFOA, so please make sure I’m removed from any further email
invitations or postal begging letters.
John
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