Scottish Natural Heritage: Wildlife Management Survey - please give your views
SNH has commissioned Why Research to carry out a survey designed to tell SNH what members of the public and those who deal with the organisation think of the way that wildlife is managed in Scotland. It is also designed to tell SNH what people who deal with the organisation think of the level of service they provide.
It is important that they are able to gather the views of as many people as possible. The survey will be going live on 5 March 2012 and will be available to access at that time at http://www.whyresearch.org.uk/SNHwildlife/
All views and opinions are important to SNH and Why Research would appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to complete the questionnaire and give us your views.
It is important that they are able to gather the views of as many people as possible. The survey will be going live on 5 March 2012 and will be available to access at that time at http://www.whyresearch.org.uk/SNHwildlife/
All views and opinions are important to SNH and Why Research would appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to complete the questionnaire and give us your views.
Scottish Disabled Fly Fishing Association Fundraisers
SDFFA are holding 2 fundraisers in support of the SDFFA Team who are aiming for a 3rd consecutive Gold medal at Lake of Menteith in June. Full details on the events are available on this website here.
Opening Day on the River Clyde
Details of the opening day on the River Clyde are here.
SANA President
As announced to SANA members and member clubs in October, the SANA President, David Ogg, is unable to stand for re-election at the AGM on 25 March 2012. The SANA Board would be interested in hearing from SANA members or prospective members who may be interested in filling this appointment. A precis of the duties of the SANA President is here, and prospective candidates may wish to discuss the appointment with David or with the SANA Administrator, Alastair Wallace. Email contact details for David are here and for Alastair are here.
SANA MFC Response to the Proposed Aquaculture and Fisheries Bill
The SANA MFC response to the Scottish Government's proposed Aquaculture and Fisheries Bill was endorsed by the SANA Board on 1 Feb 2012 and is here.
Regional Representation
At the recent SANA Open Forum meeting there was a suggestion that SANA investigate some form of Regional focus to enhance member representation and allow issues to be brought to the Environmental Committees quickly and easily. It was agreed that this be discussed at the next Board meeting
At a meeting on 1 Feb, the Board agreed that there was merit in this idea and, to move the idea forward quickly, that SANA move to identify individuals to act as regional foci, with a view to discussing with them how the idea might work.
Any SANA individual or club member, or individual who would be be prepared to join SANA, who would wish to act as a regional focus is asked to contact the SANA Administrator or Webmaster in the first instance to discuss such issues as area of responsibility, issue reporting and contact arrangements. This is an idea in progress and will develop as the membership sees fit. Please help to make it successful.
At a meeting on 1 Feb, the Board agreed that there was merit in this idea and, to move the idea forward quickly, that SANA move to identify individuals to act as regional foci, with a view to discussing with them how the idea might work.
Any SANA individual or club member, or individual who would be be prepared to join SANA, who would wish to act as a regional focus is asked to contact the SANA Administrator or Webmaster in the first instance to discuss such issues as area of responsibility, issue reporting and contact arrangements. This is an idea in progress and will develop as the membership sees fit. Please help to make it successful.
SANA AGM - 25 March 2012
The SANA AGM will be held on 25 March 2012 as previously announced on this page. The following deadlines are reproduced from the SANA Articles of Association, which are available in full here.
SANA members may wish to note that:
- Business and motions to be brought before the meeting have to be intimated by the members 8 weeks before the meeting. This means that if a member wants to propose a motion (for example to change the Articles) then they have to submit it 8 weeks before the AGM.
- Nominations by the members for elections to the Board must be lodged with the company secretary 6 weeks before the AGM. Again, this applies if a member wants to propose a person to be a director.
- The Notice of the AGM needs to go out either 21 or 14 days before the AGM (depending on whether or not a special resolution has been proposed). The Proxy Form should also be sent out along with the Notice.
Please address any queries on these matters to the Administrator.
SANA Director of Coaching
SANA would like to appoint a Director of Coaching. The job specificiation is here. Please apply by email to the SANA Administrator here. Applications should be in letter format, detailing experience relating to the job specification. The closing date for applications is Sunday 19 Feb 2012. Any queries should be addressed in the first instance to the SANA Administrator.
SANA Open Forum - 15 Jan 2012
The SANA Open Forum took place on 15 Jan 2012 in Kinross. 35 SANA members and friends contributed to a very positive debate about the future of the organisation. The areas identified for action include:
The challenge of getting the SANA message across despite the plethora of information available on the website and published in the annual handbook.
Increasing membership and explaining the benefits of SANA membership. The benefits of SANA membership are identified here.
Making access to coaching for member clubs easier.
Making regular contributions to the angling press to assist in getting the SANA message across. Publishing a paper on running catch and release competitions. The Marine Scotland guide to best practice in catch and release is here.
Identifying a lead fundraiser to head a fundraising committee. Applicants may apply here.
Other fundraising ideas floated including Clubs giving consideration to levying members (say £1) in support of a specific SANA activity (e.g., Youth Team) and contacting CEOs of leading Scottish companies. Essential to treat fundraising as a major issue.
There was unanimous agreement that the appointment of a Coaching Director remained a high priority.
There was unanimous agreement that the Organisation requires a Publicity and Press officer. there was some discussion about adopting a regional structure, with regional representatives, which will be further considered by the Board. SANA is currently organised on functional lines and any change to a regional structure would be a major departure.
It was suggested that SANA could make better use of email communications with members and member clubs.
It was reiterated that SANA needed to spell out its role very clearly to members and potential members, differentiating between SANA and SANACC.
Last, but by no means least, there was pretty lengthy discussion (at different points during the meeting) on the vexed issue of Youth Team sponsorship. Many of those present voiced sincere and heart-felt opinion and it was to everyone's credit that all views were heard. It was clear that there was no outright majority on one side or other of the argument but one individual later suggested to me that the meeting seemed to be split around 60/40 in favour of the current arrangement.
The thanks of the SANA Board go to all who contributed so positively - progress updates will be reported here.
The challenge of getting the SANA message across despite the plethora of information available on the website and published in the annual handbook.
Increasing membership and explaining the benefits of SANA membership. The benefits of SANA membership are identified here.
Making access to coaching for member clubs easier.
Making regular contributions to the angling press to assist in getting the SANA message across. Publishing a paper on running catch and release competitions. The Marine Scotland guide to best practice in catch and release is here.
Identifying a lead fundraiser to head a fundraising committee. Applicants may apply here.
Other fundraising ideas floated including Clubs giving consideration to levying members (say £1) in support of a specific SANA activity (e.g., Youth Team) and contacting CEOs of leading Scottish companies. Essential to treat fundraising as a major issue.
There was unanimous agreement that the appointment of a Coaching Director remained a high priority.
There was unanimous agreement that the Organisation requires a Publicity and Press officer. there was some discussion about adopting a regional structure, with regional representatives, which will be further considered by the Board. SANA is currently organised on functional lines and any change to a regional structure would be a major departure.
It was suggested that SANA could make better use of email communications with members and member clubs.
It was reiterated that SANA needed to spell out its role very clearly to members and potential members, differentiating between SANA and SANACC.
Last, but by no means least, there was pretty lengthy discussion (at different points during the meeting) on the vexed issue of Youth Team sponsorship. Many of those present voiced sincere and heart-felt opinion and it was to everyone's credit that all views were heard. It was clear that there was no outright majority on one side or other of the argument but one individual later suggested to me that the meeting seemed to be split around 60/40 in favour of the current arrangement.
The thanks of the SANA Board go to all who contributed so positively - progress updates will be reported here.
Scottish National Fly Fishing League 2012
There are still a few places available in the 1st Division of the Scottish National Fly League 2012, details on criteria are here and interested parties can apply here.
The Dates and venues for this year's Scottish National Fly Fishing League can be found here.
The Dates and venues for this year's Scottish National Fly Fishing League can be found here.
Stillwater International 2012
Initial details have been issued by Wales for the International Stillwater Championship 2012. The event will take place from Sunday 14th October(arrival) to Thursday 18th October(departure). Venue will be Garnffrwd Fishery, Llanelli.
Scottish National Stillwater Championship 2012
The dates, venues and application forms are now available on this website under Competition Angling, Stillwater 2012. The final this year will be at the Glen of Rothes Fishery on Sunday 8th July. Selection for the 2012 Scottish Stillwater Team to compete in Wales later in the year will be decided at the final.
Aquaculture and Fisheries Bill - Consultation
The Scottish Government has published a consultation document concerning the Aquaculture and Fisheries Bill. Please forward any comments to the webmaster.
SANA Safety Leaflet
Now available to download here
Victory for Tummel Anglers
News of a court victory for Tummel anglers here.
Osprey takes a Trout....
...much to the angler's amazement!
Link to video in YouTube
Not sure if this is news, but thought you might like it anyway!
Link to video in YouTube
Not sure if this is news, but thought you might like it anyway!
Fin and Fly
The latest issue of Fin and Fly, published by Hardy and Greys is here.
Meetings and Meetings
The SANA Migratory Fish Committee will meet on Sunday 4 December 2011 at 10.30 in the Windlestrae Hotel, Kinross. The SANA Board will meet on Thursday 8 December at 6.30pm in Stirling.
ASFB - RAFTS Newsletter
The latest Association of Salmon Fishery Boards/Rivers and Fisheries Trusts newsletter is available here.
Substance Research - Social and Community Benefits of Angling
SANA (through ADBoS) has been working with Substance Research for some time and thought that members might be interested in some of the research carried out into the Social and Community Benefits of Angling. The guys at Substance have also been doing research into angling in Assynt and the link is here to the Assynt Angling Information and Research page.
Substance will present their final report of the Social and Community Benefits of Angling project at a 1 day conference to be held in South Bank in London on 31 Jan 2012. All the details and how to register are on this page here. SANA has been invited to this conference and the Board will consider how best to be represented. Any queries should be addressed to the webmaster or to the administrator.
Substance will present their final report of the Social and Community Benefits of Angling project at a 1 day conference to be held in South Bank in London on 31 Jan 2012. All the details and how to register are on this page here. SANA has been invited to this conference and the Board will consider how best to be represented. Any queries should be addressed to the webmaster or to the administrator.
SANA and Sponsorship of the Youth Team
Statement from the SANA Board:
Many SANA members and other interested parties will be aware that there has been debate recently about SANA Youth Team Sponsorship. The matter had been raised in a very small number of letters sent directly to SANA but has now been raised in the angling press.
As the governing body for game angling in Scotland, SANA is charged with developing the sport of angling, promoting angling, promoting skills improvement and development, running elite teams, running elite competitions, running grassroots competitions, promoting angling in minority groups, promoting the angling environment, lobbying government and preserving angling, its environment and in all its incarnations for future generations. There are bound to be tensions between these different elements, indeed this great strength of the organisation may equally be its major weakness, particularly in the allocation of limited resources. Much of our activity is described in the SANA Handbook which is published every year and a link to the current version is on this page of the website. It may be pertinent to note particularly that Sport Scotland do not fund elite angling at all. Any grant from SportScotland covers (primarily) governance and coaching. SportScotland note that their recognition of a Sport Governing Body (SGB) places certain demands on that body in terms of recognised good governance which to some extent it then finances – in our case with the provision of money to pay a Secretary. As the largest of the angling SGBs, the SANA account is used to process payments to the Angling Development Board of Scotland Development Officer, who serves game, course and sea angling and has done excellent work in the last 2 years promoting angling in all its forms in schools, local authority groups and the like.
One of our challenges is to make angling under the SANA banner, whether elite, youth, ladies or disabled, affordable. At the moment it is barely affordable. The youth team has for a number of years been successful in gaining sponsorship from a number of sources, one of which is the Scottish Salmon Company. This sponsorship is solely to support that team and make the sport and the representational element slightly more affordable for the young participants and their parents. There is no question of this money belonging to, or being available to SANA or being used more widely. That being the case I am content to defend the position while still recognising that in an ideal world that this would not be a favoured source of sponsorship. I would challenge those who are unhappy with the Scottish Salmon Company providing such sponsorship to come up with an alternative, for the Youth Team, with which we would all be more comfortable.
There can be no question of Scottish Salmon buying influence here. SANA will continue to campaign unfettered as the Environmental Committees see fit. Indeed, this was an agreed initial condition when the sponsorship was originally mooted. I understand how this may be seen a conflict of interests but I disagree wholeheartedly that it is so. The Migratory Fish Committee, through its vice chairman, is currently developing a paper on aquaculture and its impact on wild stocks. We currently actively campaign for tighter controls on aquaculture wherever possible. I have fielded similar suggestions about SANA’s acceptance of the SportScotland grant leaving us in a similar position when disagreeing with the Scottish Government. This is simply not, never has been and, in my tenure as President, will never will be the case. It may be helpful to note that in the number of years that the Youth team has benefitted from this sponsorship that there has been no attempt at all by the sponsor to exert any influence over other matters.
In conclusion I would reiterate that SANA Ltd does not accept a penny of the money in question other than to defray the considerable cost falling to our young anglers. Each of our committees (Ladies, Youths and Disabled and Competitions) try to find funds where they can. It is much more important for the youths to have financial support since the other sections are in the main employed or at least adult and able to decide for themselves whether they can pay for their attendance at Internationals. In the case of the Youth team the burden inevitably falls on the parents of these youths and add to their inevitable wider commitments.
Should any other source of Youth sponsorship become available SANA Ltd would certainly be delighted to investigate but in the meantime I could not look a parent of a member of the Youth Team in the eye were the SANA Board to direct that this sponsorship is declined.
I appreciate that this issue arouses strong feelings on both sides and therefore I intend to seek further and explicit guidance from the SANA membership on this matter at our AGM in March 2012.
David Ogg
SANA President
For the Board of SANA Ltd
Many SANA members and other interested parties will be aware that there has been debate recently about SANA Youth Team Sponsorship. The matter had been raised in a very small number of letters sent directly to SANA but has now been raised in the angling press.
As the governing body for game angling in Scotland, SANA is charged with developing the sport of angling, promoting angling, promoting skills improvement and development, running elite teams, running elite competitions, running grassroots competitions, promoting angling in minority groups, promoting the angling environment, lobbying government and preserving angling, its environment and in all its incarnations for future generations. There are bound to be tensions between these different elements, indeed this great strength of the organisation may equally be its major weakness, particularly in the allocation of limited resources. Much of our activity is described in the SANA Handbook which is published every year and a link to the current version is on this page of the website. It may be pertinent to note particularly that Sport Scotland do not fund elite angling at all. Any grant from SportScotland covers (primarily) governance and coaching. SportScotland note that their recognition of a Sport Governing Body (SGB) places certain demands on that body in terms of recognised good governance which to some extent it then finances – in our case with the provision of money to pay a Secretary. As the largest of the angling SGBs, the SANA account is used to process payments to the Angling Development Board of Scotland Development Officer, who serves game, course and sea angling and has done excellent work in the last 2 years promoting angling in all its forms in schools, local authority groups and the like.
One of our challenges is to make angling under the SANA banner, whether elite, youth, ladies or disabled, affordable. At the moment it is barely affordable. The youth team has for a number of years been successful in gaining sponsorship from a number of sources, one of which is the Scottish Salmon Company. This sponsorship is solely to support that team and make the sport and the representational element slightly more affordable for the young participants and their parents. There is no question of this money belonging to, or being available to SANA or being used more widely. That being the case I am content to defend the position while still recognising that in an ideal world that this would not be a favoured source of sponsorship. I would challenge those who are unhappy with the Scottish Salmon Company providing such sponsorship to come up with an alternative, for the Youth Team, with which we would all be more comfortable.
There can be no question of Scottish Salmon buying influence here. SANA will continue to campaign unfettered as the Environmental Committees see fit. Indeed, this was an agreed initial condition when the sponsorship was originally mooted. I understand how this may be seen a conflict of interests but I disagree wholeheartedly that it is so. The Migratory Fish Committee, through its vice chairman, is currently developing a paper on aquaculture and its impact on wild stocks. We currently actively campaign for tighter controls on aquaculture wherever possible. I have fielded similar suggestions about SANA’s acceptance of the SportScotland grant leaving us in a similar position when disagreeing with the Scottish Government. This is simply not, never has been and, in my tenure as President, will never will be the case. It may be helpful to note that in the number of years that the Youth team has benefitted from this sponsorship that there has been no attempt at all by the sponsor to exert any influence over other matters.
In conclusion I would reiterate that SANA Ltd does not accept a penny of the money in question other than to defray the considerable cost falling to our young anglers. Each of our committees (Ladies, Youths and Disabled and Competitions) try to find funds where they can. It is much more important for the youths to have financial support since the other sections are in the main employed or at least adult and able to decide for themselves whether they can pay for their attendance at Internationals. In the case of the Youth team the burden inevitably falls on the parents of these youths and add to their inevitable wider commitments.
Should any other source of Youth sponsorship become available SANA Ltd would certainly be delighted to investigate but in the meantime I could not look a parent of a member of the Youth Team in the eye were the SANA Board to direct that this sponsorship is declined.
I appreciate that this issue arouses strong feelings on both sides and therefore I intend to seek further and explicit guidance from the SANA membership on this matter at our AGM in March 2012.
David Ogg
SANA President
For the Board of SANA Ltd
SANA Email
Email to the SANA Administrator (admin@sana.org.uk) has now been restored. Enquiries about the website should be directed to the webmaster.
Your New SANA Website
Welcome to the new version of the SANA website. Many SANA members have observed in recent months that the previous website was not meeting fully the needs of the organisation. Furthermore, its maintenance was proving to be very costly. The SANA Board approved the development of this version of the website at the August Board meeting. This website is simpler in format and has been designed to reflect SANA's current organisation. Furthermore, it is quick and easy to update to reflect news items, the wishes of the membership and any change in SANA's organisation. Documents can be made available to download from the website, links can be placed to other websites or to important news stories, and pictures and videos may be displayed easily. While it does not currently have search facility, a note to the webmaster or the nominated contact in any of the SANA committees areas should be answer any content queries.
While the webmaster and committee members will make every to maintain the currency of the website, much of the responsibility to ensure that happens must rest with the membership. Please email the webmaster with links to any stories you think may be of interest to SANA members and he will do the rest, as appropriate.
Please note that where links are provided to external sources, the content of the sources may not reflect the views of SANA Ltd.
While the webmaster and committee members will make every to maintain the currency of the website, much of the responsibility to ensure that happens must rest with the membership. Please email the webmaster with links to any stories you think may be of interest to SANA members and he will do the rest, as appropriate.
Please note that where links are provided to external sources, the content of the sources may not reflect the views of SANA Ltd.
Youth National at Lake of Menteith - 29 and 30 Oct 2011
The Scottish Youth Team at the
Lake of Menteith in July 2011
The Youth National Final took place at Lake of Menteith on 29 and 30th Oct. The results will be posted as soon as they are available.
Picture and all the details I have are here
Picture and all the details I have are here
AGM Date Set - Sunday 25 March 2012
The SANA AGM will be held on Sunday 25 March 2012 in the MacMillan Suite of the Windlestrae Hotel in Kinross. Details will be published in the New Year.
Large Brownie Caught at Chew
Huge brown trout, out of season, caught at Chew. The link, with a picture is here
Scotland wins the Stillwater Bank International in Ireland
Fish Dumping
Don't dump fish - story here.
