BDAA SEA FISHING

Hi
It might be just me not looking in the correct place but why can i not find a Sea fishing venue that is approved by the British Disabled Angling Association (BDAA).

As i understand this, the BDAA grade fishing locations and audit that location for the suitability, but i can only find course and game fishing locations.

Billy

Billyfishing wrote:Hi
It might be just me not looking in the correct place but why can i not find a Sea fishing venue that is approved by the British Disabled Angling Association (BDAA).

As i understand this, the BDAA grade fishing locations and audit that location for the suitability, but i can only find course and game fishing locations.

Billy

dont know the answer to that one billy but i will look into it ask some questions and let you know

I have been told that currently the bdaa British disabled anglers association currently only have coarse and trout fishing sites as approved suitable for the disabled fisherman could anyone on this site
tell me if this is true and if so why ?
I know all of our coast have disabled friendly marks but the bdaa don't seem to want to know.
they so i have been told will at the moment inspect and approve only coarse and trout venues.
if it is true it isn't helping wheelchair uses and people like myself with other disability's with better access as places approved by the bdaa usually improve their facility's in order to keep the approved status for example piers,and local councils
the one thing everyone on this and other sites have in common is that we are fishermen and all deserve the right to fish
so if anyone knows of a a way to make the bdaa listen i would be pleased to here from you all help would be appreciated thanks

I have posted this on other sites mate and if we find out for sure I will be organising a pettition to send to the bdaa

Well said i would have thought that the sea fishing locations would of been of a high priority due to the safety involved in sea fishing.
Even able bodied persons have to think about safety when going sea fishing more that going fresh water fishing as most of the sea fishing could be done in the depth of winter i can not understand the logic behind this.
May be we need to recommend some that would full fill the requirements of the BDAA to start the ball rolling.

i have today left the BDAA a message asking all of our questions to be answered and invited them to come on our site and explain why they dont include sea fishing marks in their approval system
after all we are fishermen too

me and you may need to eat our words mate a member of bdaa has joined our site and will give the answer to our question shortly

Thank you for your email,
I have registered on the forum and awaiting authorisation, in the meantime I will answer your forum members questions.

BDAA is a National registered non funded charity of 26,000 members including Coarse, Sea & Game anglers both disabled and non disabled of varying disabilities and age ranges.

We were formed in 1996 to help improve angling in the UK by provision of access information and promotion of angling as a recreational activity, during the years we have actively been campaigning for improved access and facilities for disabled people who have an interest in fishing.

As with all campaigns there is an element of red tape, ours is insurance: for this purpose we had to put forward a number of volunteers who undertook an "Access Audit" course, this is a requirement of assessing as to whether a fishery would be suitable for use by disabled people for the purpose of fishing, initially concentrating on inland waters with the Environment Agency who commissioned the audits and then by local authorities in various regions who requested an audit.

BDAA is restricted on the information it can provide, in all BDAA has to physically carry out an audit and health & safety review on any fishery, Mark or swim that it endorses as fit for use by all impairment groups, as you can appreciate providing general information based on third party information could easily land us with a legal issue of which the charity could not afford to defend, hence the reason as to why we only endorse fisheries etc that our Access officers have physically visited and compiled information on, with recommendations for improvement.

BDAA fully supports sea angling and disabled people who participate in the activity, during Feb 2008 we are conducting a recruiting day where we will be inviting people to join the team and increase the volume of fisheries including sea fishing marks that can be considered as of use to disabled people, we extend this invite to members of the forum who may wish to help us in the crusade of changing the environment for the benefit of All rather than the few.

BDAA volunteers are not paid for their time, but do receive expenses such as travel.

I hope this answers your concerns and can realise the implications of just endorsing any fishery without full knowledge of whether it can support people with sensory, physical & learning impairments of all ages safely.

Once again many thanks for allowing me to put our position forward.

Yours sincerely
Terry Moseley
President BDAA
Disability Projects Manager
Access Officer

hi terry,nice to have you aboard,

Hi fishypaul,
Thanks for the welcome.

We felt we had to respond to the posts in order to re assure the forum members that we do try in all areas, the MV Freedom Weymouth that is advertised is also a partner of BDAA with Peter Target as skipper our sea angling representative.

Look forward to reading the replies, if in the meantime you have any questions please feel free to ask us.

Terry

thats great trerry thanks for you quick responce