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An online angling diary

Started by machar, February 22, 2012, 10:04:08 AM

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machar

The SFCC ( The Scottish Fisheries Cordination Centre) Angling Diary

I would like to draw your attention to the following.

Angling diaries can provide invaluable information to a fisheries manager but the usefulness of the diary very much depends on the level of information written down.

An angling diary carries a personal function – its main purpose is often to record the angling experience rather than a detailed catch but there are some anglers who fastidiously record every fish they catch including weights or lengths. See a leaflet for the diary here

http://control.riverdon.org.uk/FileLibrary/PDF%20Reports/diary.pdf

While most angling diaries provide an insight into past fishing practises such as the methods used and the sizes of fish that were killed they often lack the consistency and detail to allow a more thorough analysis.

More recently, with the advent of River and Fishery Trusts that collect Fishery data specific to their area, paper based angling logbooks have been provided to anglers to fill in their catches. The level of detail required for these logbooks varies, but typically they allow anglers to record the numbers, sizes and method used on each fishing trip.

Angling logbooks are of great benefit to the Fishery Biologist but don't provide a lasting personal record in the same way that an angling diary does. Without a strong benefit to the angler, logbooks can also be somewhat onerous and anglers may be inclined to only fill in a few records or for only one season.

The SFCC Angling Diary aims to overcome the problems of traditional paper based angling diaries and logbooks by combining them into a single online diary www.anglingdiary.org.uk.

Anglers can now permanently record their angling experiences along with the catch data normally recorded in a log book.

From the trout fishing perspective while Salmon and Sea-trout catches have been recorded by Scottish beats for up to 150 years
and there has been a legal requirement since 1952 to make returns of these catches to government, there is no such history for other fishes in Scotland.

Though the Brown-trout has been the mainstay of local angling clubs since modern angling started in the mid 19th century,
the history of this fishery is almost a blank, which is a real and damaging hindrance to its management today.

This online diary scheme now offers every trout angler in Scotland the chance to contribute to the better management of their fishery. If something like this had been operating over the last 100 years, it is self-evident that there would be a much better understanding of the trout and the fishery based on it today, better management - and better fishing.

The simple philosophy behind the site is that with the benefits of being able to record angling records on line with pictures, map display and a blog for local areas, more anglers will want to enter their catches and keep on doing so.

In turn this will improve the quality and quantity of information that fisheries managers have available to manage their fishery.


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