ANGLING TRADES ASSOCIATION Positivity...
Andrew Race, chairman of the Angling Trades Association, looks back at when there geninely were four million anglers...
S
peaking to colleagues over the last few days, recent events such as the
ATA chairman, Andrew Race.
Northern Angling Show, The Big One and the British Fly Fair International have been very well attended. As the weather warms up, this felt like a positive to me so, despite the met office banging on about the Beast from the East for weeks now, I am actually looking forward to the year ahead. This year will see the ATA’s biggest events calendar as we continue to celebrate 50 years of the ATA. Over the last eighteen months, ATA has been working closely with event organisers and brands, to determine what constitutes a balanced event that is actually beneficial to the industry and its long future and not just selling more gear.
What I have noticed in recent
meetings is that more attention is now being focussed on improving the diversity of show content. In the recent past, shows have been polarised towards fewer angling disciplines attracting a relatively narrow cross section of the angling community. Obviously, this trend was led by natural evolutions in the angling fraternity’s profile, but events over the last three years have shaken things up. Post pandemic, with a resurgence in appetite for angling and extensive recruitment interventions from our- selves, Angling Trust, and Canal & River Trust amongst others, we have seen a shift in angler expectations from shows and events.
Comments about lack of variety have
spurred organisers on and it is good to see developments like the purpose- built lure section at the Farnborough. I will be speaking with Joe and the Bauer team about many things including their role in promoting Take A Friend Fishing this year and I think ATA is going to be far better placed with its energy behind TAFF23. More needs to be done to attract a wider cross section of anglers and or potential anglers and it is no longer just about growth to cater for saltwater, coarse, carp and game. That growth needs to include wider age ranges and backgrounds, individuals and families, aspects that we are less accustomed
64 | Tackle & Guns | Issue: 756
to seeing at the average tackle show. Events of this type will ultimately be more robust as they will offer more content to a wider audience, and we need to see that growth in if we are to widen the appeal of angling long-term. In other news, Fish Legal is fighting
to retain the right of the public to access environmental information direct from water companies. This hard won right, a critical factor in exposing water company abuses, could be lost as Environmental Information Regulations 2004 is in danger of being scrapped as part of a Government bill currently progressing through Parliament. Without this right, privatised water companies go back to operating in relative secrecy so I would ask you that to add your name the Fish Legal petition to force a debate in parliament via this link
https://petition.parliament. uk/petitions/633609.
It is factors like this that bring home the importance of the work done by Fish Legal, ATA, Angling Trust, and others. The long-term protection of and investment in angling, is paramount so that we maintain awareness of our industry and the ability to impact the factors affecting it.
ATA T 07778 907384 E
chair@anglingtradesassociation.com W
www.anglingtradesassociation.com
www.tandgmagazine.com
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