Rumours of Libel

Grass-carp has heard through the grape vine that a libel action is to be raised against them, we say bring it on. We can't wait to present even more detrimental evidence against those named on here.

We would like to thank the observant person for spotting our spelling mistake (see comments), would hate to upset him or her by a simple slip of the pen so to speak. Seems they understood what we are on about and given all of what is going on is it safe to fish ???????? We would also like to thank that anon person for taking time to read our blog and keep us on the straight and narrow unlike some of the deviants involved in angling.

We were asked if a petition could be raised against U.C.A.P.A. Ltd Management by several anglers

Please let us know if you download petition to give some idea of response thank you, we are here for you the angler please support this petiton if you wish to see the 'Clyde' being mananged properly. It will need new blood to acheive this objective ARE YOU THAT NEW BLOOD?

Another example of U.C.A.P.A.Ltd encouraging others to break the law!!!

Another example of U.C.A.P.A.Ltd encouraging others to break the law!!!

Please note that in the first paragraph on this page Mr Quigley almost boasts that U.C.A.P.A.Ltd had commissioned the Clyde River Foundation to carry out electro-fishing surveys above and below the S.E.P.A. Gauging Station at their expense. What Mr Quigley failed to do was get the permission of the Nethan Valley Angling Association or the riparian owners before this survey was undertaken on their behalf which is a Legal Requirement before any such electro-fishing work is carried out. If the N.V.A.A. had wished prosecutions could have been brought against the research team from the C.R.F. Quigley seems keen to do what he wants yet from listening to what others have to say it seems he will do everything in his power to stop the N.V.A.A. from electro-fishing or trying to improve the habitat for fish. we also are lead to believe that the C.R.F. were very embarrassed over this incident. The riparian owners were none to happy either we have been told.

We would also like to draw you attention to the mention of natural barriers in the Nethan causing more problems to migratory fish than the S.E.P.A. Gauging Station. We would like to know where these natural barriers are. The Nethan has 6 weirs on it three of which have either been breached or are absolutely no problem to fish. There are no waterfalls as such, and given that salmon once spawned in the Logan Water a tributary of the upper Nethan where were these natural barriers then? have they appeared overnight? Once again U.C.A.P.A. Ltd have demonstrated their total lack of knowledge of one of their most important tributaries! We know for a fact that salmon have been getting poached from the River Nethan right up to Burnfoot near to Kirkmuirhill and the first obstacle which affects them is the S.E.P.A. Gauging Station. We have also been informed that the N.V.A.A. proved salmon juveniles in the river up to 2003 at the Hawksnest Farm, Burnfoot.

If Mr Quigley is referring to the landslide in the Nethan Gorge near Crossford we have been informed that members of the N.V.A.A. monitor this on a regular basis and have expressed no calls for concern but agree that the situation could be greatly improved so how about it U.C.A.P.A why not spend your money on clearing blockages instead of wasting it on surveys which really proved nothing except the biologists might not have been sampling the right areas. We also believe that Aberdeen University carried out I.S.A. sampling at the Hawksnest site and Ross Gardiner from Labs at Pitlochry was there he could have confirmed salmon were present at the location when sampling was done and in good numbers.

Biologists attitude to spread of salmon and total ignorance of Fish pass legislation

Confirmation Of U.C.A.P.A.Ltds supposed involvemenet at Strathclyde Loch Hydro Station

The Farce At Strathclyde Loch

Fact; North Lanarkshire Council are about to have a small Archimedes Screw Type Hydro Station built at the top out fall from Strathclyde Loch.
Fact; Until Kemp Meikle of the R.C.F.M.T.Ltd raised an objection this project was destined to go ahead.
Fact; No provision had been made for the safe passage of migratory fish in and out of the loch as is required by law.
Fact; Joe Quigley secretary of U.C.A.P.A.Ltd insisted that their 'chairman' had been involved at all stages of the planning.
Fact; The chairman of U.C.A.P.A. Ltd is a Senior Ranger with North Lanarkshire Council and as far as we are aware was advising them. How embarrasing it must have been when they found out that if the planning had gone ahead they would have broken the law.
What are U.C.A.P.A.Ltd trying to do stop the spread of salmon? the South Calder was historically a salmon spawning tributary and if all the weirs are addressed it could be one again.
One would have thought that the chairman of an association which makes thousands of pounds from salmon permit sales would want as many salmon in the system as possible and would be doing everything in their power to open up rivers. The opposite is the case here as can clearly be seen from this fiasco and that of the S.E.P.A. Gauging Station on the River Nethan. Either they do not know the legislation in relation to Fish pass and Screens or the they are showing utter contempt for the law by ignoring it.
Fact; It was after the Gauging Station on the River Nethan was raised at the meeting of the R.C.F.M.T.ltd then the objection re the Archimedes Screw on the grounds of no safe fish passage that the trouble at the R.C.F.M.T.Ltd began.
It is our belief that Kemp Miekle and Roddy Finnie were singled out because a certain 'chairman' must have got his arse booted by his employers and it all smacks of revenge now.
Fact; The Biologist for the Clyde River Foundation even stated that it should be screened top and bottom and well left alone. What kind of attitude is this, we should be doing all that we can to save this endangered species not screening them out. We will shortly post the e mails to back this post up.

Abercorn Angling Clubs reply to draft reply regarding Water Framework Directive

Kemp Meikle sent out a draft reply to all clubs for feedback and highlighted points of interest in an attempt to make it easier for the clubs. It is obvious that the secretary of Abercorn has no time to read correspondence judging by paragraph 1 but has the time to sit and write the above. The tone of the letter is one of aggression and given the fact that this gentleman is unwilling to read documents why is he now the illegal secretary of the R.C.F.M.T.Ltd?. What Kemp had been looking for here was input from all the clubs in regards points???? Obviously Mr Ritchie was too ignorant to realise this, but he obviously has a negative attitude to it all anyway.
This is now what seems to be running the R.C.F.M.T.Ltd God help the Clyde. As each day passes more and more filth is being exposed, the Clyde is a disgrace and we blame those in authority for the current situation.
Time to stand up and be accountable gentlemen as we are now about to turn attention towards the Crown Estates Office and others as we have recieved copies of lots of corrospondence in which they have been asked to intervene yet have kept well out of it.

Don't You Find It Strange?

Since Grass-carp started publishing evidence of gross misconduct and underhanded dealings within the angling world not one of those named has even attempted to defend themselves. Is it simply the fact that we are publishing irrefutable evidence damming their underhanded tactics?.
They know of the existance of this blog page yet are not man enough to answer the questions posed. They can no longer hide behind closed doors attacking people with lies , their little power base has been exposed and please remember you the anglers ellect these people to be office bearers of your respective associations. Once again we will expose U.C.A.P.A. Ltd for miss management of the Clyde.

Our next post will once again show U.C.A.P.A. Ltds attitude in relation to the law and the spread of salmon! we have accumulated a fair bit of evidence but are working on more look out for 'The Farce at Strathclyde Loch'

The simple answers to Tom McGregors article

Tom refers to some confusion in regards to has the right to fish the Upper Avon and we note that John Limerick was quick to point out that holders of migratory permits for the Avon can fish for the lesser species. The fact is they have the right to take the lesser species i.e. if lets say a brown trout is hooked while fishing for salmon and it is within season it may be retained. Mr Limerick should check out his legislation being an ex police sergeant. Given the fact that the Avon Angling Club continually refute the fact that migratory fish are above Ferniegair Weir none of their migratory permit holders should be fishing in the upper reaches.
Tom also mentions the fact that some salmon may have been caught by anglers fishing for grayling in lower reaches of the Avon and he is sure that they were all returned we can assure you they were not.
Tom then takes a trip down memory lane and mentions how anglers were all friends and goes on about the rift in the Avon. Well Tom here is how the rift came about> The AAC had the use of Jim Bells ponds when Jim was alive and they kept their brood stock there. Sadly Jim died and Jim Tait, William Weir and John McSkimming took over the running of the pond. The AAC continued to keep their brood stock there as Jim and Willie are both long serving members of the AAC committee (we believe ex now) The lads concentrated their efforts into rearing fish for the river while the rest of the committee continued to hold their secret meetings on a Saturday at the AAC hatchery. Some bright spark decided to change the locks on the hatchery without the knowledge of Jim or Willie. Jim Tait arrived to do some work in the A.A.C. hatchery only to find that he had been locked out without being informed. As you can imagine he was very angry and the current situation is a result of the early actions of some of the A.A.C. committee.
Tom also mentions the fact that all this discontentment that is going on has come at a bad time, well Tom take a close look at the actions of the Association that you are a director with namely U.C.A.P.A.Ltd and how they have illegally brought a motion of no confidence against two men who were taking the R.C.F.M.T.Ltd forward and their slanderous attack upon the integrity of the N.V.A.A. then you might just start to realise where the discontentment is coming from.
Hope this clears up one or two points Tom and we will continue to inform the anglers of the truth. Your article must have caused some confusion to your readers too so we hope we have clarified the situation some what

More Evidence re miss management by U.C.A.P.A.Ltd

The above document is an extract from the minutes of the meeting of the Clyde Fisheries Group on the 9Th of November 2007. Please note point 12 RK being Robert Kerr of SEPA and DB is Douglas Brown of the Kelvin Angling Association (who always has something to say about others waters yet his own is being poached rotten). Also note that Robert Kerr clearly states that S.E.P.A. have a legal obligation in relation to fish passage at the structure. Yet it also appears that U.C.A.P.A.Ltd have blatantly asked S.E.P.A to break the law by requesting that the gauging station not be modified. When you read other documents on our blog page Mr Quigley of U.C.A.P.A.Ltd insists that the R.C.F.M.T.Ltd be run to the letter of the law. Clearly a case of double standards.

Not only anglers but the Scottish Executive and Crown Estates office must ask the reasoning behind U.C.A.P.A.Ltds thinking, why are they trying to prevent the spread of salmon throughout more of the catchment? As salmon lease holders they are the ones who should have been pressurising S.E.P.A. to do something about the gauging station and not the N.V.A.A. who have no salmon interests at all. The difference is the N.V.A.A. feel that they have a duty of care towards the river improving it for all species.

We have it on good authority that the N.V.A.A. not only instigated the move to address the gauging station but also constructed a working scale model of one section of the structure and installed a baffle and lift pool system set up to scale, then critically tested the model filming every stage of the tests. They then produced a DVD which was sent to S.E.P.A. for them to examine, this DVD can be viewed on a visit to the N.V.A.A. hatchery.

Reply To Metting of R.C.F.M.T.Ltd 11.12.07

Nethan Valley Angling Association Hatchery/Education

We have just been given a great privilege, having been invited by the Nethan Valley Angling Association to visit their hatchery and wildlife education unit at Lesmahagow.
We attended on Sunday 6th of January. When we arrived the lads were busy repairing the hatchery roof under adverse weather conditions.
We were treated with openness and there was a friendly atmosphere, a hot mug of coffee being the first order of the day. We were then treated to the grand tour and boy were we impressed, the lads proudly showed us inside the hatchery where we saw thousands of trout alivins and eggs. We were told that there were around 75,000 eggs stripped this winter but that the hatchery was running way below capacity. When asked the reason we were told that was all that were required for this years research and development, and that there is no point in raising fish just for the sake of it.
Next to the hatchery is their research hut and on first sight it looks just like a little garden shed, but on opening the door the amount of equipment. eg microscopes, computer. tv, microfiche and preserved samples cast in resin was unbelievable. It is like the Tardis inside and there is a wealth of educational material to be seen. The lads told us that school children visit and take samples from ponds and view them under the various microscopes. Then we were treated to dvds of fish pass models the lads have very professionally constructed and tested. They have information on just about everything they have ever done recorded on a second computer which is housed within the education unit. Basically there is too much to see in one visit. In total they have one large pond where they keep their excellent quality brood stock brown trout, and 5 smaller wildlife ponds one of which has pain strikingly been made predator proof.
To say that we were impressed is a total understatement, these lads are the true hero's of the system, everything they do is done by volunteers who often subscribe to buying large bags of peanuts and wild bird seed . We were told that around 11am a regular visitor would appear for his breakfast from the bird table and true to form just before 11 a beautiful Great Spotted Woodpecker landed on the table just outside the window and is he a handsome specimen. It was a rare treat for us as we had never seen one up close before he has been affectionately named 'Woody' by the guys.
How is it that these hard working dedicated people can do so much with little or no funding is beyond us. One lad told us that he is out of pocket to the tune of over a thousand pounds a year
in fuel and other materials. He has often footed the electric bill as have some of the others. When we hear what U.C.A.P.A. Ltd have tried to do to prevent these dedicated and very knowledgeable people from doing it makes our blood boil. Consider this 'Quigley' gets around the same for sitting on his fat backside stirring it up as one hatchery lad from the N.V.A.A. spends from his own pocket to keep this wonderful facility going. When asked why they do it we were asked "Have you enjoyed your visit"? we answered of course we have. We were then asked " have you learned anything?" again we replied yes, we were then told" that is why we do it, to educate and give pleasure to all who love the countryside and her rivers". Gentlemen and Ladies of the Nethan Valley Angling Association we salute you.
Please do not take our word for what goes on up there you will be made welcome and you will be treated like Royalty. It is well worth a visit just for the excellent coffee they make and visits can be arranged by contacting James Delaney tel 01698 321558 or alternatively through any of the links on www.nethan-valley.co.uk Which is an excellent web page full of very interesting information for young and old alike, however the web page does not do the actual facilty at Lesmahagow justice it is a must see and with changes taking place almost weekly it is always worth a revisit.
The United Clyde Angling Protective Association Ltd (we use the words united and protective lightly as they are doing neither) should hang their heads in shame at their slanderous attacks upon this little association. It is now blatantly obvious to us that this is all generated through sheer jealousy of what the N.V.A.A. have achieved.