THE biggest and most thriving angling region in England has been revealed by Environment Agency figures.
Latest sales figures reveal Yorkshire produced an income of £2,100,844 from 120,961 rod licence sales in 2017 to make it the nation’s most important region.
The next biggest EA sub-region was Staffordshire, Warwickshire & West Midlands with 109, 798 licences (£1,848,741), Kent & South London with 106,741 sales (£1,748,061) then Greater Manchester, Merseyside & Cheshire with 93,971 sales (£1,690,277).
The smallest coarse and game angling region was Devon And Cornwall with 27,678 rod licences sold (£510,100).
Latest EA enforcement figures showed Yorkshire had the second highest evasion rate with 6.04 per cent not having a rod licence after 5,970 anglers were checked and 372 issues.
The worst region for rod licence evasion was Solent & South Downs with a 6.67 per cent evasion rate. Thames region anglers were the best behaved with just a 1.8 per cent evasion rate.
Dave Rushton, vice president of giant Yorkshire association Leeds DASA, said: “I think the general perception amongst anglers is the EA are a waste of time but they have been very helpful in the dealings I have had with them.
“They have obviously been cut to the bone in terms of staffing and I think there’s now only two enforcement officers for the whole of Yorkshire.
“But they have been very proactive in stocking our local rivers with barbel and grayling and we have a healthy membership of river anglers so that helps our cause,” added Dave.
Bad news for Yorkshire
The news about Yorkshire came soon after the first The Fishing Show at Harrogate, North Yorkshire was cancelled due to poor subscription of exhibitors.
The launch of the indoor and outdoor show had noted Yorkshire wealth of anglers, but the trade did not rush to get behind the new event which had been scheduled for for June 8-9.
Show spokesperson Jenny Rose said: “It is with great regret that the organisers of The Fishing Show have cancelled the event.
“Although we have had good support from anglers, unfortunately the take up from exhibitors hasn’t been as high as needed at this stage, making the event unviable.
“We would like to sincerely thank those who made the commitment to the show.”
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