TO ALL RWGA MEMBERS.

At a meeting last night a decision was taken last night to merge RWGA with WSA,   We will not be taking membership fees for next year and we urge you to join the WSA instead so we can provide a united front.
We will be having an Annual dinner in February.  You are all invited including any current members of WSA.   Further details on this will follow later.

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10,000 signatures on the Bass petition so far I understand.  If you have not signed it please consider doing so to help those to who it really matters.

Friday, December 2nd, 2016 Thank you for subscribing for e-news from the Angling Trust & Fish Legal and FishingInfo.co.uk. Have you considered becoming a member of Angling Trust? Members receive some great special offers and discounts on products and services. Annual membership costs just £29. To find out more click HERE An appeal to all anglers from the Angling Trust Please act now to to stop bass netting and get a fairer deal for sea anglers. Sign the petition and share on your Facebook page. The Angling Trust is pressing hard to secure a better outcome for threatened bass stocks at the crucial forthcoming meeting of EU fisheries ministers on December 12th. Across Northern Europe, sea bass stocks are in deep trouble because of commercial overfishing and the repeated failure of politicians and fishery managers to follow scientific advice and introduce the necessary conservation measures. The Angling Trust and Bass Anglers’ Sportfishing Society (B.A.S.S.) have pressed hard for a ban on bass netting and we fully support the EU Commission’s proposals for 2017 for a sustainable and well managed recreational and commercial hook and line only bass fishery. Last year’s disproportionate restrictions on anglers and increased commercial catch limits were bad for bass, bad for coastal businesses, bad for the tackle trade and damaging to our sport. The Commission's proposals would not only see the removal of the damaging bass nets, which also kill sea birds, porpoises, dolphins and seals, but the introduction of a more flexible monthly bag limit for anglers. This would be good news for the struggling charter boat fleet and for the fishing tackle trade as more anglers would once again go bass fishing. But there’s a real danger that the proposals will be watered down in the face of political pressure from commercial fishermen and so we need to stand up and be counted as anglers. The campaign seems to be going well and we already have over 9,000 signatures on our national petition. Lots of people have gone on to the campaign page to either sign or to send an email to their MP. However, we need to keep the pressure up and this is where YOU can help. It would be great if you could sign the petition and share on YOUR Facebook and Twitter. And don't forget to send on to friends and family, too! Click here to sign the petition If you use Facebook and/or Twitter, then please post a message along these lines (you can use the image at the top of this email): "Let's support our fellow anglers by signing the national petition to get rid of the damaging bass nets and give these wonderful fish a future. The decision will be made on December 12th so we've not got long. Click here to sign. It only takes a minute so...PLEASE SIGN AND SHARE NOW." Should you wish to know any further information, click here for our full briefing. We have a wonderful opportunity to save our bass and move to a net free fishery as, for once, the EU Commission have adopted what we anglers have been demanding for years. Your help in making this happen would be greatly appreciated. Best wishes and many thanks for your support on this and other issues. Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive Angling Trust & Fish Legal More News from the Angling Trust & Fish Legal Get ready for spring! £400,000 of rod licence money to fund 160 new angling projects Another £400,000 of rod licence money is being made available to the Angling Improvement Fund (AIF) to support around 160 new angling projects over the next four months. The Angling Trust, which administers the fund on behalf of the Environment Agency, is seeking applications by January 5th (January 13th for coaches) on the following themes: Fish protection and predation management - such as otter fencing, protection from fish-eating birds, fish refuges Project design and development, and workforce/volunteer training - including design work, disability access planning More coaches - to help get more people fishing more often with focus on women, young people and disabled coaches Winter maintenance and fishery improvements - including stages, paths, bridges, landscaping, toilets, washrooms More information and application forms available on the Angling Trust website from Friday, December 2nd. Angling Trust on Countryfile this Sunday, December 4th On Sunday, tune in to watch the Angling Trust team taking Countryfile’s Tom Heap fishing on the River Avon near Pershore to highlight the problem of agricultural pollution on one of the most popular TV shows. It was a great opportunity to showcase angling to seven million viewers and lobby for the protection of fisheries. Many thanks to Birmingham Anglers’ Association for allowing us to film on their waters. Water Minister reminded of promise to protect rivers The Angling Trust has written to the recently appointed Water Minister, Dr Thérèse Coffey MP, to urge her to fulfil promises from previous Ministers to reform the water abstraction licensing system and afford better protection to our rivers. The Angling Trust, alongside conservation and fisheries NGOs, has been calling for a reform of abstraction licensing policy for several years and the government announced last December its intention to do this, but there has been little or no progress subsequently and there are worrying indications that the promise to act is going to be broken. > Read more Take part in new online rod licence trial The Environment Agency are trialling a new method of buying a national rod licence - and need your help. If you fancy being a volunteer to test the system, they are looking for people to answer a few questions and be willing to use own information and payment card details to buy a licence (which will be valid). Not everyone that signs up for the trial will be selected, but if you are they are giving away a £10 voucher to each participant. More information and sign up HERE Salmon & sea trout anglers – your catch return is due! If you fish for salmon and sea trout, don’t forget to send in your catch return before January 1st, 2017.  Even if you didn’t catch anything, your return is really important to help assess the state of stocks and it’s a legal requirement of having a migratory fish licence. We’re continuing to campaign to Save Our Salmon by putting pressure on the government to take action to tackle pollution, netting, unsustainable predation, abstraction, barriers to migration and a host of other threats impacting on fish stocks. Please do your bit by submitting your catch return promptly. > You can do it online here Great benefits for Fisheries and Riparian Owners Just a reminder that we have updated our Fishery and Riparian Owner membership categories to offer some great benefits that will meet the needs of those that own fishing. The annual membership now joins you to both the Angling Trust and Fish Legal as standard and includes key benefits such as liability insurance to £10m, fish stock cover on turnovers up to £75k, free legal advice and action from the Fish Legal team, and campaigning to protect your fish and fishing. To find out more, please visit our website HERE. Job Vacancy: Fund Administrator (Fixed Term), full-time, £18k per annum An exciting opportunity has arisen for a motivated and committed person to work for the Angling Trust to assist in administering the Angling Improvement Fund. The Fund, launched in 2015, seeks to funnel a significant share of income from Rod Licence sales in England into projects that address areas of angling ‘need’ which, once completed, will return real benefits for anglers. > Click here for further information, job description and application form All the info you need ... on one angling website With weather conditions so unpredictable, it's essential you check out the latest river levels to ensure you have a hassle-free angling trip. Fishinginfo includes the information you need - from finding somewhere new to fish to locating a tackle shop for your tackle and bait! Visit www.fishinginfo.co.uk now. News from Fish Legal You can read more Fish Legal news HERE Fish Legal success will help restore wild trout fishery Fish Legal has helped the Inler Angling Club in Northern Ireland to start the process of restoring a purely wild trout fishery using compensation money obtained following a 2013 pollution. The club leases the brown trout and sea trout fishing on the River Inler in County Down, which was devastated by a major spill of vegetable waste from a processing plant belonging to MASH Direct, resulting in the death of over 5,000 fish, in August 2013. > Read more News from our Participation Team Our Let's Go Family Fishing, Get Back Into Angling and Family Fishing events have something for everyone – whether you are a regular angler who wants to introduce a friend or family member, or even if you just know someone who hasn’t been for a couple of years and needs a hand getting to grips with the latest kit and methods. Check out the events at www.getfishing.org.uk Come fishing for free at www.getfishing.org.uk We're running FREE sessions for anyone who hasn’t been pike, perch or zander fishing for a while - perfect for the winter months. If you know someone who needs a bit of encouragement to get back on the banks please forward this email so they can come and learn the latest methods, tackle and fish-handling tips. Events like these plus more for families and kids too are at www.getfishing.org.uk - keep checking back as more events are added each week. The Hunt is ON! Sign up for the sea angling Species Hunt and the chance to win prizes from TronixPro. The Hunt is FREE to enter with prizes for most species, largest fish and fish of the month. > Click here for more info and free entry News from our Competition Team Read all the latest Angling Trust Competition news HERE Bick crowned RiverFest 2016 Champion! Paul Bick has been crowned this year’s RiverFest champion with a winning catch of 55-2-0 on the River Wye at Hereford landing him a cheque for £12,000. Runner-up Paul Downes with 44-15-0 picked up £6,000 and in third spot, winning £3,000, was Nick West with 42-4-0. A total of £34,000 was paid out in prize money, the biggest river fishing prize pot in the world. > Read more Silver lining for Shore Angling Team England Men’s Shore Angling Team landed the silver medal after a nail-biting final day at the FIPS-M World Shore Angling Championship in Wexford, Ireland. They were pipped to first place by Ireland. Saul Page was England's top individual finishing in 8th spot. > Read more New England Rivers’ team manager appointed Jeremy Lucas has been appointed manager of England Fly Fishing Rivers' team. Jeremy has a wealth of experience at the highest level and has represented England on 17 occasions, 11 of which have been in IFFA Internationals and on six occasions in FIPS Mouche World and European Championships > Read more News from our Coaching Team Are you interested in becoming an angling coach? We are now accepting applications for our 2017 Coaching Courses. More information and dates for Level 1 (beginners) courses can be found here. More information and dates for Level 2 (experienced) courses can be found here. If there’s currently not any courses in your area, you can sign up to our mailing list and we will contact you to let you know when there are courses in your area. You can sign up here. Great Offers for new Angling Trust Members Angling Trust members get lots of great special offers and discounts. Check out all our membership benefits on the Angling Trust website. To access these offers you will need a membership number so please join and support our campaigns for fish and fishing. Perfect for Christmas! 20% discount on all books Merlin Unwin Books offer Angling Trust members 20% discount on all their books - ideal for giving as presents this Christmas! Check out the brilliant range of country, natural history, countryside classics, rural memoirs, country skills, farming, fishing, flytying, shooting, game cookery, foraging and self-sufficiency books. > Find our more 15% off for members at Cotswold Outdoor Angling Trust members get 15% off when shopping at any of the Cotswold Outdoor stores throughout the UK, online or by mail order. Check out the Cotswold Outdoor website to see the range of clothing and equipment on offer then find out how you can claim your discount on the Angling Trust's Membership Benefits section. Social Media - Follow us! Find Us Online Our Blogs: www.anglingtrust.net/blogs Facebook: www.facebook.com/anglingtrust Twitter: www.twitter.com/anglingtrust YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/anglingtrust Try fishinginfo.co.uk - our website that allows you to find fishing venues, tackle shops, coaches and clubs near you and save them as your favourites: www.fishinginfo.co.uk     Forward this email to a friend: here Read this email in your web browser: here Not an Angling Trust member and been forwarded this email by a friend? Then please subscribe to our e-newsletters: here Thinking of becoming a member? Take a look at our great membership benefits: here This email was sent to uskside1@tiscali.co.uk, to unsubscribe that email address click here The Angling Trust, Eastwood House, Rainbow Street, HR6 8DQ. Registered Business Number: 05320350. The Angling Trust is the national representative and governing body for angling in England. It is united in a collaborative relationship with Fish Legal, a separate membership association using the law to protect fish stocks and the rights of its members throughout the UK. Joint membership packages with Fish Legal are available for individuals, clubs, fisheries and other categories.