CAMPAIGN FOR THE PROTECTION OF WELSH FISHERIES
Llanelltyd
Dolgellau
Gwynedd
LL40 2HE
9th February 2018
Lesley Griffiths AM
Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs
National Assembly for Wales
Cardiff Bay
Cardiff
CF99 1NA
By email to Correspondence.Lesley.Griffiths@gov.wales (for the personal attention of the Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs)
Dear Minister,
I contacted you, along with fellow co-signatories representing anglers on the Afon Ogwen, Mawddach & Wnion, by emailed letter on 1st February to raise our concerns at the application by Natural Resources Wales to Welsh Government to introduce new byelaws re catch controls for salmon & sea trout (Letter Ref LG/00271/18).
I have spoken at some length this morning to Ceri Davies (NRW Executive Director for Evidence, Policy and Permitting) who informs me that they have now sent the papers regarding the application to your office. It would therefore be helpful if the serious concerns that we raised in our “Evidence case re NRW Stocks Assessment Technical Report” (P4 onwards) regarding the use by NRW of the Management Target, which is not an applied measure in the formal Compliance procedures for Assessing Stocksand 5 Year forward forecasts which are have declined from 41% to just 18% accuracy in the last validated periods, were considered alongside the data which has been presented by the NRW Fisheries Team.
One of the things that Ceri wanted to talk about was a joint approach by NRW and Angling Stakeholders to help tackle some of the problems associated with Agricultural Pollution. Whilst we have always been keen advocates and participants of partnership working through both our own organisations and Angling Trusts, that relationship can only break down if Welsh Government ratifies the NRW Board decision. One of my colleagues has already written to you on the 7th February (Letter Ref LG/00305/18) with a suggested way forward which would achieve a similar if not better outcome.
I would be more than happy to meet with either yourself and/or members of your team to justify the statements I have made regarding the use of data by the NRW Fisheries Team.
Yours sincerely
John Eardley
Strategy Officer: Campaign for the protection of Welsh fisheries
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