Rother District Council are in the process of updating their “Outdated” Bye-laws and fishing is under the spotlight. Amongst the suggested plans are:

Bexhill seashore :
1. “No person shall fish from the restricted area on any day between the 1st day of May and the 30th day of September between the hours of 9 o’clock in the morning and 6 o’clock in the evening”.
2. “No person shall fish from the seashore in such a manner as to cause danger, obstruction or annoyance to any person using the seashore”.
3. “No person shall dig for fishing bait within the restricted area”.

Camber seashore:
1. “No person shall fish from the restricted area on any day between the Thursday before Easter in any year and the 30th day of September between the hours of 9 o’clock in the morning and 6 o’clock in the evening”.
2. “No person shall fish from the seashore in such a manner as to cause danger, obstruction or annoyance to any person using the seashore”.

A lot of this is open to interpretation – I mean, who is going to judge on what constitutes “danger, obstruction or annoyance” for instance? All anglers I know, fish responsibly, don’t annoy or hinder anyone else and clear up after themslves. There are the few who ruin it for all, as there in all groups of beach users. Personally, I find the few anti-social dog owners who let their creatures off the lead and free to crap from one of the beach to the other or otherwise be a general pest to be “an annoyance” yet there is no mention of a dog ban in the proposed changes. Perhaps the councils should spend more time and resources on tackling the anti-social elements of All beach users rather than issuing blanket bans and restrictions.

Anyway, nothing has been finally decided yet but I do urge anyone with an interest in keeping our fishing freedom, to sign up on the petition and let them know how we feel. One thing I and other are sure of – if these plans are implemented, then other councils will follow suit. Before we know it, there will be restrictions along all parts of the coast.

Moves have been made by some of the guys to approach the council for clarification on any of the proposed changes.

There is a general discussions on the subject at World Sea Fishing here and a discussion on action here.

Please sign the Online petition. You can ignore the Paypal prompt at the end, your signature will still count. Even if you don’t fish the area often or at all, please take the time to sign, you never know, it might be your local council next.

You can also sign up with Sussex Sea Angling Network (SSAN), which has been set up by, quote

a group of dedicated anglers who all fish from the Sussex coast. Their objective is to convey to the appropriate agencies of marine management, the more pressing concerns that Sussex sea anglers share in regard of the security, developement and imnprovement of Sussex sea angling. These agencies, under the new Coastal Access and Marine Act, have powers to regulate recreation sea angling (RSA) and commercial fishing – and so, it is imperative that Sussex sea angling is regularly well represented by a collaborate voice.

2 Responses to “Rother – Proposed Fishing Bans”

1. Neil Smith says:

   25 March, 2011 at 17:41

   Hi Vic, thank you for posting this on your blog & more generally for your support.

   The bye-laws are badly written & ill-judged but that does not mean they won’t be passed. The challenge right now is to raise awareness & gather support. Lots is going on behind the scenes but for now, I would like to encourage as many people as possible to sign the petition. Then ask your family & friends to do the same. This affects us all. Thank you!

2. Vic says:

   29 March, 2011 at 09:11

   Hi Neil

   I agree mate, awareness and getting support is the key here before taking the fight to them. From what I’ve read, nobody at the council seems to have done their homework on this subject.