Angling Trust CEO Jamie Cook has released a passionate and fierce response to the Barbel Society, who recently claimed both the Trust and Environment Agency had "failed anglers" with their efforts to save the UK's rivers from sewage pollution.
In an article posted on their website, Jamie Cook said he needed to highlight “a few home truths to put the record straight”, in relation to the Trust's work on this and many other threats to angling.
His response began by highlighting one of the Barbel Society's long held complaints against the Trust - a lack of action over otter predation.
"I see that once again we’ve been treated to one of Steve Pope’s embittered and fact-free rants against the Angling Trust – an organisation of which he has never personally been a member and from which the Barbel Society resigned because we refused to back their ill-judged, doomed and damaging call for a national otter cull," Cook said.
He went on to highlight the work of the Trust on pollution, providing a long list of examples, including most notably...
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Securing millions of pounds in damages for member clubs.
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Lobbying all political parties for increased water industry regulation.
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Campaigning for better protections for chalkstreams.
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Engaging in the angling community with celebrity backed projects like the Anglers Against Pollution Campaign.
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Launch of the Water Quality Monitoring Network with sponsorship from Orvis.
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Collection of 'citizen science' data to highlight breaches.
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Becoming a leading member of the End Sewage Coalition of sporting bodies.
Cook then went on to question Barbel Society cooperation and support of such projects, suggesting their members "deserve better."
"It goes without saying that the Barbel Society has failed to join the Water Quality Monitoring Network nor make any representations on behalf of its members to the consultation on the Water Resource Management Plans," he said.
"The Barbel Society are not even supporters of the Anglers Against Pollution campaign which I find quite staggering."
Cook was also keen to dismiss allegations suggesting the Angling Trust were failing to hold the Environment Agency to account over a "conflict of interest."
"Their allegation is palpably false," Cook says, whilst showcasing examples.
"A cursory glance at our websites shows that hardly a week goes past without us highlighting pollution incidents, failure of regulation and enforcement or challenging the government to take meaningful action. Our Fish Legal solicitors inform me that it is rare that in any of our legal actions against polluters the EA are not either listed as a defendant or an interested party."
His response ends by highlighting how Trust funds are spent and where their interests lie.
"This is anglers’ money, and we ensure that as much of it as possible is ploughed back into angling," he says.
"These EA contracts are secured through a competitive open tender process and in no way inhibit any organisation from going about their core business.
"Indeed, it would be strange if, as the national representative body for angling, we didn’t bid for these funds where we feel we can help make a difference."
Will the Trust's response be enough to satisfy the doubters? Only time will tell. The only thing that is certain, is river pollution remains the number 1 priority for many in our sport.
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