NEWS & UPDATES

This page will be used to keep you informed of news affecting wildfowling, covering such things as legislation, foul weather bans etc.

Kelmarsh in the East Midlands will be held on Sunday the 4th and Monday the 5th of April 2010. The charges will be adults £12.00, Children £4.00 (4 -14 years old) and Family tickets £31.00 Tickets can be bought in advance at £9.60 Adults, £3.20 Children (4-14 years old) and £24.80 for a Family. Free car parking and dogs are welcome.

Highclere Country Fair in Berkshire will be held on Sunday 30th and Monday 31st of May 2010. The charges will be adults £10.00, Children £4.00 (4 -14 years old) and Family tickets £27.00 Tickets can be bought in advance at £8.00 Adults, £3.20 Children (4-14 years old) and £21.60 for a Family. Free car parking and dogs are welcome.

For further details and to order your tickets online for either fair please visit www.countrymanfairs.co.uk

BASC have announced their subscription charges will rise from March 1st 2010. The age for Young Shots will be raised from 18 to 21 to help encourage more youngsters into the sport. BASC have said that the rise is to sustain the future health and vibrancy of sporting shooting. Further information can be found on the BASC website.

Would shooters please keep their eyes open for "Bramble" a 3 year old Chocolate Labrador bitch, stolen from Good Easter Essex on 03/1/10 if they are offered one for sale please contact Adam 07786583142 The owner is offering a cash reward. Further details and photograph can be seen here http://www.goodeaster.org.uk/

BASC have announced the date of the 2010 Wildfowling Conference. The conference will be held on the 20th of March 2010 at the Ramada Hotel, Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham. After registration is completed at 8.30am and a welcome and introduction by Lee Freeston, Chairman of the Liaison Committee. A diverse range of speakers will present talks and discussions. The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and Flyways Wetlands International until 10.30am then a Coffee break. The programme resumes at 11.00am with The Director of the Royal Netherlands Shooting Association talking about wildfowl management problems, at 11.30 a representative of the Scottish Government will present a talk on the goose management review and future plans north of the border. 12.00 see open discussion time and 1.00pm lunch time resuming again at 2.00pm with a talk on lead substitutes by the BASC research officer and an active Wildfowler and Sporting Gun Magazine contributor 2.30pm will see the BASC Rural Land Development Manager discussing how they can help clubs buy land. 3.00pm there is a break for tea resuming at 3.30pm with an open discussion, the WHT Auction will follow commencing at 4.00pm with the event scheduled to close from 5.00pm onwards with a summary of events. Further details and application forms can be found on the BASC website. The conference price is set at £10.00 per ticket for a day delegate with 24 hour overnight packages from £60.00 to £100.00

Natural England announce the outcome of its public consultation on ‘General Licences’ for wildlife.

‘General Licences’ enable people to carry out activities affecting bird species that would be unlawful under wildlife legislation but which are deemed necessary in order to prevent public health and safety problems, serious damage to crops or disruption to native wildlife. Reviews of General Licences are carried out periodically to ensure that the licences address emerging circumstances and conservation issues. The latest review ensures that the licence framework remains up to date and is able to target the increasing impact of non-native species - recognised as a major global conservation problem.

Among the changes announced on Wednesday 30th of September 2009, Natural England confirmed that:

Several non-native bird species that breed in the wild - including monk parakeets, ring-necked parakeets, Canada geese and Egyptian geese - will be added to licences so their numbers can be controlled

Two native gull species – the herring gull and the greater black-backed gull - will be removed from some licences due to conservation concerns about their population numbers

Announcing the decisions, Natural England Chief Executive Helen Phillips, said: “The changes we will be making in the New Year reflect our commitment to simplify the regulation of licensed activities while ensuring that our native wildlife is properly protected. Removing certain bird species from licences in order to address concerns about their declining numbers, and adding emerging problem species are absolutely vital to this goal.

“A key objective of the consultation has been to align general licences with wider national and international strategies to control exotic and non-native species. Non-native species are a major threat to global biodiversity and it is important that licences can operate as an effective tool in helping to tackle the problem”.

A spokesperson from Natural England concluded : “Licences are an important tool, used by thousands of people to responsibly manage wildlife and the changes we are making will ensure that licences can be effectively targeted at current conservation challenges and can operate without superfluous bureaucracy. We are grateful to the numerous organisations and individuals who contributed to the wide-ranging consultation that lies behind the changes we are announcing today.”

Summary of Decisions and Changes to be implemented in 2010

1. Ring-necked, monk parakeets, Canada geese and Egyptian geese will be added to the licence for conserving wild birds.

2. Ring-necked and monk parakeet will be added to the licence for preventing serious damage to crops.

3. Monk parakeet will be added to the licence for preserving public health or public safety.

4. Great black-backed gull will, in future, only be listed on the air safety licence, while the Herring Gull will be listed on the air safety licence and, for egg and nest destruction only, on the public health and public safety licence.

5. The trapping and release of house sparrow, starling, robin and blackbird will be included on a new public health and public safety licence available to food production and handling premises.

6. Licences will include additional guidance referring statutory bodies to their obligations in respect to protected sites.

7. The licensing regime will operate in line with the GB Non-native Species Framework Strategy, which will include adopting a presumption to support or facilitate the control of non-native species.

8. Licences for the sale of live and dead birds will be consolidated so that there is only one licence each. Ringing requirements will remain unchanged at present.

9. We have reduced the number of species for which individual sales licences must be sought. We have concluded that, in most cases, simply regulating sales of legally held captive-bred specimens will not help us address the problems caused by invasive non-native species.

10. We have decided against changing the rules on sales of dead barnacle goose and white-fronted goose (Greenland race): individual licences will continue to be needed.

11. Natural England will provide explicit guidance on what constitutes ‘documentary evidence’ in respect to sales of wild birds.

12. A number of measures are proposed to improve user awareness of terms and conditions of licences, and;

13. In response to suggestions from stakeholders a number of additional changes are to be made to the licences now, while other suggestions merit consideration in a future review of licences.

Natural England has published a summary of the responses together with its decisions. Draft versions of the revised licences, which will come into force on 1 January 2010, have been published on the Natural England website to allow licence users time to familiarise themselves with the changes.

Shooters with smaller calibre rifles will now be able to hunt Chinese water deer and Muntjac without getting a variation on their certificates (NB it is illegal to shoot these deer or any other with shotguns except in special circumstances). Changes to the 1991 Deer Act permits some of the traditional fox calibres to be used for some of the smaller species of deer. Permission must have been granted by the landowner or the person having the shooting right and the rifle must meet the legal requirements as outlined below. Chinese Water Deer are now subject to a season (bucks and does) which runs from 1st of November to 31st March inclusive

Any rifle used for Chinese Water Deer or Muntjac must meet the following criteria Calibre :- not less than .220" Muzzle energy :- not less than 1.356 joules (1,000 ft/lbs) Bullet Weight :- Bullets must be soft nosed or hollow nosed and not less than 3.24 grammes (50 grains) This covers most of the .22 centre fire rifles except the .22 Hornet.

VIOLENT CRIME REDUCTION

Under the Violent Crime Reduction Act legislation has been passed that effectively bans the sale of airguns by dealers by mail order, as from October 1st 2007 airguns can only be sold face to face. Several retailers amongst them Uttings and J.S. Ramsbottom who formerly carried on mail order business for the purpose of selling airguns have announced they will no longer sell airguns but will carry on selling accessories and other items for them. The new laws are outlined below

Sections 31, 32 & 33

If you wish to continue selling air weapons by way of trade or business you must:

· Be registered as a Registered Firearms Dealer by October 1st 2007.

· From October 1st all air weapon sales and transfers by a Registered Firearms Dealer must be entered into a Statutory Firearms Register.

· From October 1st air weapon sales by way of trade or business must be completed face to face (this means that mail order sales will be banned).

· From October 1st it will be an offence for anybody under 18 to purchase or hire an air weapon or ammunition for an air weapon.

· From October 1st it will be an offence to sell or let on hire an air weapon or ammunition for an air weapon to a person under the age of 18.

A Revision of the outdated Game Laws has lead to the scrapping of the Game Licence in England and Wales from the beginning of the 2007/2008 season, amendments will be made to the Game Act 1831, the Game Licenses Act 1860 and the Deer Act 1991. The proposed Order will also remove the requirement to hold a game licence to take or kill game; remove the requirement for a local authority licence and an excise licence in order to deal in game; and remove the restriction on dealing in game birds and venison during the close season, permitting sale all year round provided the game was lawfully killed.

Initial firearms certificate - £50 ... Initial shotgun certificate - £50 ... Co-terminous initial certificate - £60 (£50 - Firearm & £10 Shotgun) ... Renewal firearm certificate - £40 ... Renewal shotgun certificate - £40 .... Please also note that co-terminous renewal is £50 (£40 firearm & 10 Shotgun) ... If an applicant applied late for renewal they are charged the Grant fee.

GENERAL LICENCES NOW ISSUED BY NATURAL ENGLAND