Minutes of the meeting held on Saturday 4th March 2006 at BASC Head Office, Marford Mill, Rossett, Wrexham

Committee Members Attending

Tom Wylie - Chairman
Tim Russell - Secretary
Mark Cokayne
Lee Freeston
Graham Downing
George Downing
Graham Crompton-Howe
John Graham
Darren Greaves
Michael Rae
Keith Scott
Eric Begbie

Apologies for Absence

Apologies had been received from Russell Southward, Tom McGoldrick and Alan Jarrett.

1 Welcome

The Chairman welcomed Darren Greaves and Eric Begbie as new members of the WLC and thanked George Downing for accepting the invitation to attend the meeting as an observer.

2 Operation of the WLC

It was unanimously agreed that the WLC would operate under the Chatham House Rule.

3 Minutes from the Last Meeting

The Minutes of the September 05 WLC meeting were agreed as a true and accurate record of that meeting and subsequently signed by the Chairman.

4 Matters arising

 It was stated that as the role of the WLC is to gather information from, and provide feedback to, the wildfowling clubs and that having representation on all of the Joint Councils would be desirable. With that in mind would it be possible for the Wildfowling Officer to do a gap analysis and provide information on all the wildfowling Joint Councils and highlight the Joint Councils at which we have no representation.  The aim would be to assign a member of the WLC to liaise with all Joint councils.

Bulletin Board

It was noted that the private WLC Bulletin Board had been used with limited success in the past six months.  I was agreed that it was a good communication tool, particularly if some quick feedback is required on a specific topic and that the BB should continue to be used for specific topics. An email will be sent to WLC committee members when there is a topic for discussion on the BB, the email to also state when the response is required by.

East Coast Conference

Those that attended the East Coast Conference agreed it was a very good conference, well organized and very well attended. It was warmly noted the proceeds of the East Coast Conference are being used to fund a young shots event. Congratulations were extended to the organizers.

English Nature

There are significant changes occurring within English Nature as it transforms into Natural England and these changes include a significant state of flux in English Nature staff.  It was suggested that it would be prudent to take a greater interest in EN in the foreseeable future as  ‘Natural England’ is formed and subsequently its direction communicated to the remaining staff.  Natural England should come into operation in October 2006.

Regional Conferences

Unfortunately, with the onset of AI, the regional conferences were curtailed slightly and the ones that did take place were AI orientated.

Plans for Black Powder Box

Plans for the black powder box were still outstanding.

WHT Stamp

Committee Members confirmed that they had raised the issue of the WHT stamp, its future, and it’s funding at their respective Joint Council and Club meetings.

Centenary Book

Information is still required for the BASC Centenary book; principally information on WAGBI in the period between the two wars (1913 to 1937) is scant.  Please contact Graham Downing if you can help provide this information.

5 Declaration of Interests

There were no declarations of interest in any of the forthcoming agenda items.

6 Around the Regions

Wales and the Dee: 
The season started exceptionally well with Pintail and Widgeon arriving early but unfortunately the marsh also dried out early and the birds subsequently left. The local clubs have reported a better than average season.

The Wash and Norfolk: 
The Pinkfoot geese seem to be arriving earlier and earlier however there is concern over the Sunday licensing for shooting specifically with respect to the Pinkfoot and the Greylag populations as they are causing some considerable problems for the local farmers.  The numbers of Pinkfoot geese in North Norfolk area was around 130,000 – 140,000 birds.

East Coast and Humber:
The season was good with reasonable numbers of quarry being shot.  An email was sent out to the clubs asking about their status, those that returned the communication indicated that that their membership was growing.   In general there was no negative feedback.

Scotland: 
It was noted from the minutes of the Scottish Committee that a number of clubs where actively discussing disaffiliating from BASC and it was felt that the reasons behind subscription increases could be better communicated to the clubs by BASC.    Wildfowling on the Solway was being disrupted by iIllegal cockling that is taking place on the north shore. A new license arrangement should be in operation by the beginning of next season (Sept 2006).  The BASC Scottish office is still assisting clubs with LNRs without, apparently, informing them of the potential pitfalls that the current byelaw format posed to the future of wildfowling in these areas. As the subject of LNR’s, and their pitfalls, is of a  more national interest to Wildfowling it was suggested that LNR’s could also be a future discussion topic for a WLC.

South Coast: 
The first couple of weeks of the season were relatively quiet however the shooting got better in October with a good number of birds arriving, there was however some notable exceptions; Langston Harbour appears to be undergoing massive ecological changes and it was suggested that, as the effluent is now being pumped 5 miles outside of the harbour, the flight lines of the duck have changed.  Overall the wildfowling proved to be good over Christmas and January but tailed off in February.

North East: 
The number of Wigeon slightly increased, especially inland, but the most noticeable increase was in the number of Pintail.   Greylag geese numbers were on the increase, including wild Greylag, as are the Pinkfoot geese.

Regarding the club status it was noted, unfortunately, that Northumberland & Durham have lost over 20 members over the season and there does not appear to be a significant number of juniors coming through – although a recruitment process is underway at the present time.

South East:
The Blackwater club has found the marshes heavily used and have hence reduced its membership, now capping the membership cap at 75 (previously it was 100). 

The numbers of teal in November were excellent with the birds on the coast tending to stay there due to the lack of inland water.  There were an increasing number of pinks moving down the Norfolk coast.
 
It was noted that the issue of D&O liability insurance was under discussion at Essex Joint Council, hopefully if a few clubs sign up this would help keep the cost down.

A Bill Bailey course, which is held for young wildfowlers, recently took place.  There were 17 participants including one girl, all from the Essex or London area and aged around 15-16 years old.  Most of them were novices and had never shot before or had any hands-on practical wildfowling.
 
There is still concern surrounding the proposals for the wind farm at Tillingham that is still at the pre-planning stage.

West and South West: 
There was a disappointing drop in numbers of Whitefront geese on the Severn Estuary and very few Whitefront Geese are now coming into the Slimbridge area. 
 
Darren Greaves offered to approach the South West forum to attend on behalf of the WLC.

7 Non-Toxic Shot:  An Update

It was noted that there has been an increased international interest in Tungsten as a potential toxic material; research on this topic is in its infancy and the Research Department where keeping this situation, and the other newer types of Tungsten based shot, under constant review.

It was noted that the raw material costs of Tungsten, Bismuth and Lead are rising sharply and this increased cost is expected to be passed onto the consumers.  Obviously a concern could be that this increase in non-toxic cartridge prices may potentially persuade some wildfowlers to return to the use of lead cartridges.  Obviously this would be non-compliance with the Lead Regulations and therefore illegal but also it could be an additional folly in that DEFRA will be undertaking compliance survey of the environmental legislation relating to lead shot in England and Wales in the coming season, therefore, being caught using lead for waterfowl in England and Lead could also have a detrimental consequence on a more national, than personal, level. 

It was suggested that the resultant effect of any non-compliance with the regulations, especially the aforementioned trial by DEFRA, was also taken up with the game shooting committee as any duck in England and Wales handed to a game dealer could, under the new FSA scheme, enable full traceability to where the bird was shot.  It was also noted that one of the codicils of the single farm payment is an adherence to the lead rule and there could be occasions where payment is withheld if lead use is proven.

It was noted that the law, as it stands, applies to the use of lead shot and not the possession of it, however it was noted that some wildfowling clubs now make it a ‘club offence’ to be caught with lead on the foreshore.

8 Defra and Avian Flu:  the current situation

The Wildfowling Officer outlined the restrictions that could be used if there was an outbreak in wild birds.  It was stated that the European directive is changing daily and possible national movement restrictions on commercial poultry are imminent. 

It was said that Defra have made it clear that they want to address each outbreak on a case by case basis, but if an outbreak occurs in wild birds, they will potentially ban the shooting of “wild birds” within that locality.  As Pigeons are classed as a wild birds clarification was being sought from Defra on the definition of "wild birds". 

Defra have stated that they don't want to “shut down the countryside” but if they ban “wild bird” hunting then this is actually what they will be doing with respect to wildfowling in the affected locality.  There are meetings taking place in Brussels and Strasbourg in two weeks time, at the European Parliament, to discuss this issue (amongst others).

The subject of clubs twinning was discussed.  It was said that, if possible, a club in one locality could agree with a club in another part of the country a reciprocal arrangement to allow the members of a club affected by AI restrictions, to shoot at the other club's marsh.  Such an arrangement could potentially keep a club membership shooting through adverse times until the reopening of their marsh.

As this situation changes daily, Committee Members were asked to feed back to members that they visit the BASC website to get the most up to date information.

It was stressed that, in addition to providing information and guidance, BASC must also act to neutralise any attempt by DEFRA to impose unjustified restrictions upon wildfowling in the event of an AI outbreak in this country.

N.B. At the moment, nothing has been clarified as far as Deer management is concerned.

9 Proposal to Develop a Wildfowling Defense Plan

The chairman thanked Eric Begbie for the effort he had put into the drafting of the presented paper.  The extent of the previous discussion and distribution of this paper was noted and welcomed.  The Committee noted that these threats have been around for many years and the vast majority of these threats are nothing new to the wildfowling community, however that should not make us complacent.  The Director of Conservation wanted to reassure the WLC Committee members that the issues raised in the paper were dealt with on a regular, as the need arises, basis. 

It was noted that the paper stated threats are as they perceived by the membership and potentially one of the key problems is not what BASC are doing but in the perception of what BASC are doing.  As this perception is, in part, formed through our communications with the Wildfowling Clubs, predominately thought S&C, it was asked how we could improve the communication to the members, is this something we could use the Wildfowling magazine for?

It was noted therefore that the 5-year plan would be the most appropriate placeholder for any long-term defense work that the WLC recommends to BASC council.

The discussion moved on to risk assessment of wildfowling and discussed some of the risks in the presented paper.  It was asked do we have a list of the potential issues?  Have we got a definitive list?   It was agreed that in order to set the objectives to be achieved for proactive defense of wildfowling all the current threats need to be known first.

It was agreed that each member would canvas opinion from their membership on the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats that currently face wildfowling.  The SWOT analysis is to be completed before the end of March 06 and the committee would use the WLC bulletin board to communicate on this topic.

This work will help further define some recommended work requests to be incorporated in the 5-year plan in order to proactively placate these threats. 

It was noted that a similar exercise is underway with respect to Game by BASC council and this work is producing a good outcome.

Subsequently the Director of Conservation and the Chairman will discuss the output with the intent that the Chairman will produce a SWOT table to be re-issued back to the committee for future action.

It was suggested that the staffing of the BASC might need to be augmented to deal adequately with these forecoming matters. The Director of Conservation assured the committee that, if additional staff was required as an result of the SWOT output, he would advise the WLC according and seek their support in obtaining such staff.

10 Wildfowling Magazine – its future and improvement

Various options on the future of ‘Wildfowling’ magazine were discussed including incorporation with S&C, however the majority of committee members stated that, after canvassing their members, the majority of those members do not want the magazine to stop; however they thought that the last issue was a little “thin”.

It was stated that this is a bi-annual magazine, currently gets very little input and in order to make the magazine a success the editorial team needs to have help with its content.  It was suggested that there are many wildfowlers out there with a wealth of experience and could the WLC committee pro-actively seek article contributors.  It was noted that a future method of reducing the amount of advertising would be to produce the magazine in house and this may make it a smaller but more cost effective magazine; that said, content would still be required hence it would be prudent to take one step at a time. 

11 Wildfowling Conference

The Conference is due to take place at Barnsdale Hall Hotel, Rutland on Friday 13th and Saturday 14th October 2006.  Suggested agenda items and copy, ( via the WLC committee members, for the Conference to be given to the Wildfowling Officer, at latest, by 1st July 2006.

A copy of the agenda for the Welsh Wildfowling Conference, which takes place on 19th March 2006, was shown to the Committee.

12 CLA

This year the CLA is being held at Broadlands on the south coast between the 28th and 30th of July 2006.  The Wildfowling Officer has informed the committee that the South Coast Wildfowling clubs will supply display material for the Wildfowling Tent/Displays.

13 AOB

The changes that have been made to the Defra High Level Stewardship scheme were brought to the committees’ attention in particular sections HK9 and HK10 for there are management issues in both these schedules have some anomalies as according to Defra clubs that have acquired land which pertain to these sections are able to manage the grass for winter maintenance but are unable to shoot over it! 

WHT Update

It was noted that BASC supports the ethos of what WHT stands for.

It was stated that there would be some angst amongst certain wildfowling clubs if the WHT was set adrift from BASC, however that it may be better if it concentrated on Wetlands especially if it wanted further support from within the Wildfowling community.