SAA at Defra Sept 2006

SAA attended a meeting at Defra, this week, on new fisheries legislation and moving the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Review process forward.

It is unlikely that we will get a new Fisheries Bill quickly. It has already been five years since the review!! However Defra and the Environment Agency are exploring what changes can be brought about under existing legislation to implement as many of the recommendations made under the review as possible.

The Stakeholder working group has spent the last few months reviewing the Defra/EA proposals, in stages, and commenting on them. As a consequence the proposals have been modified and are now subject to final review before publication to the Minister.

SAA remains hopeful of legislation but it is unlikely to be announced for the next parliamentary session in the Queen’s Speech.