A rod for their own backs

Angling is Britain's most popular participation sport and it's still growing – 1.5m rod licences were sold across England and Wales last year, a 12 per cent increase in a year and a massive rise of half a million since 2000.

That looks a healthy picture with congratulations all round due to those who have succeeded in getting more people to enjoy outdoor exercise.

But now scientists have sounded a warning. Their research has focused on commercial angling lakes which, on the plus side, offer greater access to fishing, particularly for those with mobility problems. But they say younger people will learn little from the experience.

Researchers at the Rural Economy and Land Use Programme, at Newcastle University, teamed up with colleagues from Durham and Hull Universities to carry out studies which entailed interviewing anglers on the Swale, Esk and Ure, as well as enthusiasts enjoying their sport at the many fishing lakes which have expanded greatly over the past 30 years.

Dr Liz Oughton, who is leading the research, says, "The commercial lakes have huge advantages for people who find it difficult to access rivers. They can go, buy a day ticket and fish. But they're almost like shopping trips. It doesn't require a huge commitment in learning skills, because there are so many fish in the water."

She agrees that these lakes offer great value for money and the added attraction is that they are often set in attractive countryside where people from towns get a breath of fresh air. But they are artificial environments.

"The ponds are highly managed, they're very highly stocked with fish, they contain a number of species which really are non-native.

"I think it would be very sad if they developed at the expense of the social aspects of angling and angling clubs, and the way in which people came together to fish, to learn skills, to manage rivers.

"It would be a pity to lose that through a process of a commodification of angling."

Dr Sally Eden, reader in Geography at Hull University, interviewed river anglers. "Some of them are not very keen on ponds that are very commercial," she says. "They tend to like older, still waters, perhaps old quarries that have been in-filled. I think there is a lot of worry in the river angling community about the effect of ponds and the commercialisation of the recreation.

"I liken it a bit to supermarkets. People worry about supermarkets killing off small shops because supermarkets are always available and they've got huge amounts of stocks;, you can drive your car right up to them. It's a similar argument made about ponds. I think they're concerned particularly about young people who are going to be mainly bothered about going to ponds where they can catch big fish easily.

"Those youngsters aren't going to get to know rivers in the same way. They're not going to have the patience or the skills to interact with rivers, and more and more fishing will be devoted towards ponds."

This is rejected by Richard Whiting, the owner of the Stonebridge Fishing Lakes, near Northallerton. He has set up a programme called the Stonebridge Angling Academy and Junior Club, with the intention of teaching youngsters the broader range of skills.

"Ninety-nine per cent of the juniors whos come through our fishery, fish the rivers as well. A lot of them come to us, they learn that, yes, the fishing is safe and, yes, they can catch fish. Once they've got the basic skills, they go off to the rivers."

He also rejects suggestions that still waters make fishing too easy.

"You've still got to learn how to set all your tackle up, where fish are, how to fish them, and what depths to fish them. There's still loads of skill involved.

"No matter how many fish are in the water, you've still got to catch them."

Mark Lloyd, chief executive of the Angling Trust, agrees that the lakes are good for encouraging participation, but is also critical of them.

"You don't have the range of species; it's not as complex and there isn't the variety of species that you get in a river.

"For those of us who learned on rivers, we feel that was a great education. In the dynamic environment of a river, there's a whole other dimension. Certainly when I learnt to fish, I spent hours paddling around lifting up stones finding stone loaches and bullheads and really understanding what was going on. I think that the commercialisation of angling has meant that it's become a sort of retail experience."

There are, he says, practical reasons for encouraging more anglers onto the river bank. They provide extra pairs of eyes which can spot problems with the aquatic environment and are an early-warning system.

Other experts say the growing popularity of fishing lakes is because of the poor state of our rivers.

Charles Jardine, director of the Countryside Alliance Foundation's Fishing For Schools project, says: "Our rivers have been in a dire situation for the last 50 or 60 years – not through anglers' but society's making.

"The amount of water abstraction has lowered flows and there's all manner of agricultural run-off that affects them. You've first got to look at the problem which created the commercial fisheries in the first place – and that's the decline and lack of stock in these waters.

"It's madness to assume that just because of commercial interests anglers are not fishing on the rivers. They're not doing so because there are better options."

Richard Whiting adds that the kind of fishing lake that he runs provides a good stepping stone for the young, or the inexperienced to learn.

"It's like if you were a rally driver, you'd go on a normal course of driving and then, when you were competent round the track, you'd want to go out and do it in the woods, as a challenge."

CW 27/11/10