Meeting opened at 11.45 a.m.

1. WELCOME AND APOLOGIES:

Apologies received from Mark Rogers, Bill Lindfield, Rob Neale & Nick Haward
Attended – John Amery, Andy Steele, Dick Penny, Eddie Painter, Hugh Rathbone, Darren Phillips, Ian Bowell, Tony Thomas & Keith Morley.

2. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING/MATTERS ARISING –

      Because these were more than 2 years old they were not discussed and there were   
no matters arising                                  

3. CHAIRMANS REPORT – everything to be covered by the agenda, in particular the results of the survey.
4. SECRETARIES REPORT

A lot of time and effort had been put in, with John’s help, to send out a newsletter and survey in January to all past and present members. The result of which will be discussed further down the agenda. However we have experienced a further fall in members with 179 having joined, 20 of which were from past members that would no normally have re – joined. This was compared with 247 members last year. Everything else would be covered by the agenda.

5. TREASURERS REPORT

The accounts show that SAMF worth is £7713.49, an increase of £1150 from the 2007 AGM. However some of this is due to increased stock levels e.g. rods but it was an encouraging situation. Obviously the question of what events to sponsor would affect the eventual outcome this year. Andy made the point that members at the AGM had given us direction on what to sponsor but Andy felt that that was a little unfair given that an AGM is not represented by all the members. Eddie raised a question about the NILC monies and it became obvious that some organisers had not yet sent in their returns. ACTION POINT – Eddie

6. SURVEY RESULTS

John handed out survey results and we went through each item. He thanked everyone for their replies and said that we had received a good number of returns. We went on to discuss each of the subjects to consider what to do about members main concerns:
Web site – Darren had looked into this in the past and explained about the problems, especially with the costs. It was felt however that we needed a web site to promote SAMF and  to include things such as a match calendar and a forum.  
Tony explained about an angler he knew who had offered to produce and run a website for us for £5 per month. A unanimous decision was made to take up the offer. ACTION POINT - Tony Thomas.  We also went on to discuss other issues such as advertising revenue, problem with updating, commitment once a month. Individual’s access, document policy, control mechanism etc.
ACTION POINT – Everyone to e- mail bullet points of what they think should be on the website to Tony.
Darren requested a list of members e-mail addresses. ACTION POINT Andy
ACTION POINT – Everyone to set up an e-mailing database (except dick)
Sponsorship – We then went on to discuss the withdrawal of funding for events and what members actually benefited from by being a member. We discussed membership fees and whether to reduce but them, but it was felt we could not afford to do this at this moment in time. The Web Site would help people understand the benefits of being a member and the costs we have.
We had a discussion on why membership is falling and concluded there were several reasons, but we have to try and get these anglers back.
The question of funding for NILC was discussed because it was the only event, apart from the Masters, where it is a member’s only competition. Eddie explained that he expecting up to 65 entrants but if he thought funding was necessary he will ask, it was more than likely to be self funding with a £10 entry fee
Venues – We need to diversify and find different venues for Masters/NILC to get more interest. Andy explained that we had a proposal for the Master in 2009 to go to Skegness which should achieve this, and when it was the South West turn it we look for another venue other than Chesil. We went on to discuss reducing level of prize money and spreading it around i.e. in zones. Andy said that he had some ideas for the Masters which he would outline under that Agenda item.
Future format - Darren had an idea to take SAMF forward, suggesting a league incorporating all events. Andy agreed that something needed to be done but those kind of ideas were too involved to discuss at this meeting and that maybe we would need another meeting in the future to reshape SAMF in its entirety. It was also suggested that the website forum could generate good feedback for this.
Challenge matches - John explained that 62 people had responded to the survey, wanting to fish challenge matches and the world club championship, and that we now have a database to use to target applicants.
Masters – there was a 50% split on night v day matches. The committee decided that there was a need to select the right kind of venues that would produce good fishing in the daylight and possibly going into early darkness therefore giving the social element. Because we now only seem get one proposal (if that!) for the master’s venue at the AGM it was also decided that we would go to the AGM prepared with all the details of next years Masters. This would take away the voting/discussion/ arguments from the floor and give us more control of the details. This will also mean having a committee meeting prior, say an hour, to the AGM to decide on these details.
It was also decided that where there is no local organising committee at the Masters, then the Area Rep will need help from the SAMF committee with such things as pegging.
Bait Bans – A discussion took place on whether to have bait bans and the committee decided unanimously to ban white ragworms from all SAMF events because they were not freely available to all anglers and that there were environmental issues at the few places they could be collected. However it was said that we should be selecting venues that would restrict the need for specialist baits like white ragworm. Additives would not be banned because the rule was difficult to police.
Fishing methods – It was decided that we would have no restrictions on fishing methods, such as banning freeline float fishing on Chesil. There were rules already in place to protect other angler’s i.e. fair play / conducting themselves within the spirit of the sport.
Catch and release – the results showed 100% in favour of keeping the catch and release system, but there was a strong feeling that we should go back to size limits, which would only affect cod, whiting and bass. Andy suggested that if having an 18cm size limit was stopping anglers from entering competitions then we should go back to having size limits and see what affect this had on numbers. Being only on a trial basis we could return to the existing system if this failed. Hugh seconded the proposal. There was a vote whether to introduce the size limits on whiting (27) cod (35) and bass (36). It was carried 7 to 2 in favour.
It was also suggested that we needed to get strong on the need for conservation and how anglers were handling fish. For example we need to enforce the rule that anglers should have a bucket, and use it properly. We also need to educate people on conservation issues, and that we could use the website forum for this.
It was suggested that anglers should not sign for a fish unless it is carried in a bucket of fresh sea water, Andy said that  he would remind anglers of this rule in the Masters correspondence. ACTION POINT - Andy

7. MASTERS 2007 REPORT

Andy gave a brief run down on the 2007 Masters held at Pwlhelli. Only 61 anglers had fished what was a very successful event, with 2679 fish caught over both days. In fact in one of the zones on the first day the last person had 20lb of fish. Unfortunately we have been a victim of our own success because the large numbers of dogfish and the darkness had generated a number of, unproven, accusations of cheating. The adverse weather on day 2 proved the benefit of having a reserve venue organised. Andy thanked Shane Russell and his team of volunteers for their input into the event and the pegging of the beaches..

8. MASTERS 2008 – PEVENSEY BAY

The event, being held on the weekend of 14th, 15th and 16th November, was already in the process of being organised and John has written to Paul Parsons of the Eastbourne Angling club to use their premises for the HQ. Dick is the local organiser and Tony will be a there to use his result system. Andy will produce the Match cards. It was decided to stick with original charts/rules sheets but we needed to add turbot and brill in the unclassified section. There were 84 qualifiers at present and the qualifying period was up to the end of August, anglers can now start qualifying for the 2010 event.
Andy said that some members had suggested making the Masters an open match to promote SAMF, the committee felt this was too soon but it was something to consider for the future if we could not generate more entrants.    
The event would be run to the new rules on size limits and baits.
Andy explained that it was getting quite expensive to fish the Masters, especially if you had to pay membership, it was therefore decide to reduce the entry to £15.
As a result of the survey feedback Andy also suggested reducing the main prizes and spreading the prize fund around in the zones. This would also encourage competitors to remain for day 2 even if they had done poorly on day 1. It was decided to have a top prize of £750 and only pay the top 3 overall. The top 3 would have had to do well in the zones and would therefore have their prize boosted by the zone prizes, which will be paid down to 5th place.
We will also use the continental system of decided the zone results which will need communicating effectively to the anglers, ACTION POINT – John and Darren to provide the details to Tony
Andy suggested limiting past winners automatic entry to the last 10 years, but the committee decided we should continue with the present format to try and encourage the past winners to enter.

9. MASTERS 2009 – NORTH EAST

At the 2007 AGM George Smith made a proposal to take the 2010 masters to Skegness on the Lincolnshire coast. This was approved in principle and Andy is to contact George and ask him to put together the details for the  AGM in Pevensey Bay. ACTION POINT – Andy to contact George

10. BELGIAN CHALLENGE

Darren explained that the Belgians wanted to host the 2008 event in November/December, still with teams of 15. Darren was asked to contact them and ask for a change of date, if possible. ACTION POINT – Darren.

11. COMBINED SERVICES CHALLENGE

The proposed event was to be on Kent beaches with the Burstin Hotel as the HQ with late October, November having been suggested as the dates. Once again Darren was asked to contact them about a possible change of date. ACTION POINT - Darren

12. NATIONAL SEA LEAGUE

Keith explained about the event planned for Blackpool on the weekend of the 1st November. It will be run to SAMF rules, with a ban on whites, and measure and return to the size limits. The matches will now start at 10.00 a.m. and the reason to move the dates because of accommodation problems. The event could not be put back any further to allow fishing into darkness because it would then be just before the Masters. The HQ is the Norbreck Castle.
The 2009 final will be in the South East  and Samphire Hoe was suggested as the venue, also, with this venue it would be the ideal opportunity to have a bait supplied competition i.e. ragworm and fish only. There would be a reserve venue at Deal or Princes Parade.
Keith asked about the competitors having third party public liability insurance. The committee decided that if they were not already a member of SAMF, the NFSA or could provide proof of their own insurance the he would have to levy a £5 temporary membership. Andy can provide a list of existing members to Keith. ACTION POINT – Andy & Keith.
Keith also told the committee that this would be his last time as organiser and that he would be standing down after the Blackpool event. A volunteer to be requested at the Finals meeting.  ACTION POINT – Keith & John.

13.  NIGEL ROBINSON MEMORIAL MATCH

Ian ran the event this year in conjunction with the Suffolk county match raising     £40 for the fund. Darren volunteered to run the 2009 match on Samphire Hoe, further details to follow. ACTION POINT – Darren.

14. DAIWA PAIRS

Nick sent a report to say that 60 pairs have already entered, this was slower than usual and that he could accommodate more entries. Only 3 cottages were available. The strength of the Euro could cause a levy to be raised at the registration. There will be a new venue tried this year, Bana Strand. He has asked Andy to promote the event in the next newsletter to try and get the numbers up.
The committee also decided that, similar to the National Sea League, to ensure that every angler is insured all entrants must either be a SAMF member, NFSA member or have their own third party public liability insurance. If not then a £5 temporary membership should be levied. Andy can provide Nick with a list of members. ACTION POINT – Nick and Andy

15. INDIVIDUAL LEAGUE

      Eddie reported that 2008 final would be held at Eastbourne on 18th/19th October.   
As previously reported he was expecting 64 to fish the final, and with entry monies
totalling £1920 he felt that he could put together a decent prize list. It was left to
Eddie to ask for sponsorship if he felt he needed it. It was brought up that no   
official reply had been received from Eastbourne re using the headquarters.
ACTION POINT – John to contact Paul Parsons, Eastbourne Angling    
Association.

16. ALF

Nothing to report, exactly the same situation as last time, still inactive.

17. WORLD CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS

No SAMF team, or English team, attended this year’s event because we did not have enough applicants, if SAMF wants to support it again we would have to select a team and apply to the NFSA. Next years event is in The Baltic, Germany. in late September.

18. ANGLING UNITY

John gave a report on Angling Unity. See document previously circulated.

19. RULE CHANGES

None

20. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Ian Bowell asked what cover there was within our insurance for organisers. Andy said he would check with the NFSAS. ACTION POINT – Andy.
I have done this and Wayne Harriman has stated that as long as you are a member then that covers you as an organiser also. However the limit is £2 million for public liability, therefore, and like last time in Felixstowe, we would have to apply and pay for an increase to £5 million if this was necessary.
It was suggested that we should introduce a direct debit system to prevent people from forgetting to renew their subscriptions. Ian said he would look into this because his local club already did this. ACTION POINT  - Ian.
Dick Penny announced his retirement from area representative and vice chairman from next year.
John finished the meeting for thanking both Dick and Keith for their services to SAMF.

MEETING FINISHED AT 16.45 p.m.