Mike, an Angling Trust director and the organisation’s out-going chairman, has been involved in sea angling and marine conservation and politics for over 40 years and brings an immense amount of experience and knowledge from his years sea angling and fighting for better management of our marine fish stocks.

Mike said, “The loss of sea stocks was what brought me into angling politics, it directly affected my fishing, and if we can only get some sensible management back we might one day see our seas full of fish as they were when I was learning about fishing as a child. The problem is worldwide and needs to be tackled at every level of resource and fishery management even including the United Nations. The fish need us to fight for them, no one else will.”

Mike’s appointment gives members of the Angling Trust confidence that, along with the appointment of Jo Hyde earlier this year, there is now another director on the Angling Trust board representing the interests of sea anglers. 

David Mitchell, the Angling Trust’s Marine Environmental Campaigns Manager and current secretary of the EAA sea sub-group said, “While we fight the battles at home in England the war is being waged in Europe. The more resources we have to steer Europe’s policies and directives in the right direction, the less chance sea anglers will be subjected to unnecessary regulation. I am looking forward to working with Mike to ensure that the Angling Trust plays a role in the restoration of Europe’s fish stocks. Angling Trust members help us achieve this directly by providing the resources needed to work at a European level where, like it or not, many of the decisions affecting sea anglers take place.”

Mike takes over from John Crudden who chaired the Sea Sub-Group for the last nine years before deciding to step down earlier this year.

Notes to Editors

The EAA represents 14 member organizations with nearly 3.5 million anglers across Europe. EAA defends and promotes the recreational angling interests at the European level and internationally. EAA represents both fresh and sea water anglers and acts to secure and expand their access to all relevant fishing waters. EAA promotes and works pro-actively for sustainable exploitation of fish stocks and conservation of the aquatic environment. EAA was founded in 1997 and has its headquarters in Brussels