INSTITUTE OF FISHERIES MANAGEMENT

MINUTES of the forty-fifth Annual General Meeting of the Institute of Fisheries Management held at Maritime Museum, Liverpool on Tuesday 7 October 2014 at which 30 members were present.

The meeting was chaired by the Institute’s President Dr P.B. Spillett.

  1. APOLOGIES

Apologies for absence were received from Robert Rosell, Paul Knight, Valerie Holt and Robin Welcomme.

  1. MINUTES OF THE FORTY FOURTH AGM

The Minutes of the forty-fourth Annual General Meeting of the Institute of Fisheries Management held at City Hall, Cardiff on Tuesday 22 October 2013, having been previously posted on the Institute’s website and circulated in hard copy at the meeting were confirmed and signed by the Chairman of the meeting. Proposed by S Axford and seconded by K Hendry.

  1. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN

The Institute had a very successful year with membership up slightly, the Institute’s programmes being implemented and finances reasonably stable.

The Council and Executive meet throughout the year to manage the affairs of the Institute. Following an initiative taken at the Council workshop this time last year and followed up throughout the year, the Institute’s strategy has been reviewed. A number of areas are to be focused on which we hope will see improved and efficient management of the Institute and delivery of our services to members. I would like to thank the members of Council for their commitment and the time they give to the Institute. More on this in the coming months.

The Institute’s branch network continued to work at a local level to assist members and hosted local events. Branches such as the Yorkshire Branch held a one day workshop on the impact of endocrine disrupting chemicals on fish, Ireland Branch held a very successful workshop in partnership with IBIS on Applied Research in Fishery Management and the Scottish Branch ran their highly successful two day water bailiff training conference. While the North West Branch hosted a workshop on Eel Screening and the Eels Regulations, to wrap up the year the London and SE Branch hosted their legendary Annual Sherry Evening hearing presentations on London River & Wetlands Restoration at local and international scales.

Following the review and updating of our Certificate and Diploma training programmes, numbers attending the courses have increased, special practical weekend training courses for people enrolled on the Certificate and Diploma courses were held and positive feedback was received from participants. We have continued to provide our short training programmes which have been very well received and we have expanded the companies availing of them.

A sample of short courses include: Electro Fishing, Fish Counting and Fish Migration Workshops where the Institute joined forces with Aquatic Control Engineering (ACE) and VAKI, Smolt Tracking Workshop, with the Tweed Foundation, Melrose, and the freshwater fish ID course. We continue to develop other courses in partnership with state bodies and others.

We have, in partnership with other organisations continued to offer events forour Chartered Environmentalist members and for members undertaking Continuing Professional Development. The Training Committee led by Ian Wellby, and greatly assisted by Paul Coulson have carried out an excellent job in providing this professional service to our members and the wider fisheries management community.

The Annual Conference 2013 hosted by the Welsh Branch in Cardiff, was a great success with over 170 attending the 3 day Conference and you will note in your packs the proceedings are out. The other major Conference of the year was the IFM Lamprey Conference at the National Science Learning Centre, York. It attracted over 90 delegates from 17 different countries who attended for three days of presentations. We also through our branches took part in World Fish Migration Day which was a major success around the world.

The Institute also continues to advocate on behalf of its members for better fisheries management. Among many initiatives the Institute joined with 14 other bodies to write to the UK Prime Minister relating to the floods earlier this year and how river dredging is not the only solution to the problem. The Institute wrote to the Environment Agency to express our concerns over the impact that Government cuts will have on the fisheries service. We continue with the Scottish Branch to work with the Scottish Government on the proposed new fisheries structure for Scotland.

We have also been actively involved with the Environment Agency on discussions on their Fisheries Refresh project and have continued our involvementinthe NASCO NGO group seeking to influence and improve salmon management.

On the media front Fish magazine, ably edited by Lawrence Talks, continued to develop and be well received. Earlier this year we issued the proceedings of our conference“International Fish Screening Techniques”which was also well received. Work continued to develop our internet presence through our Website, Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Our work to enhance and develop partnerships with other organisations moved on apace including the issuing of joint statements, recently we have finalised discussions with Countryside Link/Blueprint for Waterto support their campaign on river basin management in England and Wales. We are also supporting a campaign by the Salmon and Trout Association and others opposed to the promotion of open pen salmonid farming off the coast of S West England by CEFAS.

Supporting fisheries and angling NGOs in England and Wales in drawing Government attention to the need for better salmon conservation and also with our long standing friends the American Fisheries Society we concluded an arrangement to exchange students at our annual meetings, More on this in the coming month

This is my second year as Chair of the Institute and I continue to be surprised at the commitment of those actively involved in the delivering of the work of the Institute. I would like to thank all of them for their continued work on behalf of the Institute.

In particular I wish to thank President Peter Spillett for his work and guidance, John Gregory Hon Secretary and Exec Officer for his support, advice and keeping us all on the straight and narrow, Ian Dolben (Membership Secretary), Stephen Axford who is always there to help and advise and Richard Noble (Treasurer) whose vital job in keeping our finances in order is very much appreciated andPaul Coulson our Development Officer who I feel has done an outstanding job.

There is much more we would like to do and with stable finances and an active membership we can look forward another successful year in 2015.

I would like to finish with my call to you all to get more actively involved in the Institute, there are jobs there to be done and to encourage you to recommend IFM to your colleagues.

  1. FINANCIAL REPORT FOR 2013

The Hon Treasurer presented the audited accounts account for the financial year to 31st December 2013. A subsequent written report is appended to these minutes.

The Hon Treasurer extended his thanks to Mike Axford, the Institute’s auditor for his help and guidance in preparing the accounts before answering questions from the floor.

Jim Lyons asked about the last audit of stock held by the Institute. RH replied that an audit had last been undertaken in 2011 since when the online shop had enabled improved tracking of such stock which formed only a small component of both our income and assets.

The report was proposed by S Leonard and seconded by L Talksand accepted unanimously.

  1. ELECTION OF OFFICERS AND COUNCIL

President Dr P.B. Spillett.

Proposed by K Hendry and seconded by M Aprahamian. All were in agreement.

Vice Presidents Dr D. Cragg-Hine, A. Neville Jones, V. Holt Dr R.L. Welcomme

Proposed by L Talks, seconded by S Axford. All were in agreement.

For Council vacancies:

to retire in 2016 - Dr K Hendry, P Johnston, N Teague ,S Leonard, E Cusack

Proposed by B Knights, seconded by P Knight. All were in agreement.

To retire in 2015 – Ian Wellby. Proposed by R Noble, seconded by P Coulson. All were in agreement.

  1. SUBSCRIPTIONS

Council proposed an increase of £5 in all individual categories except Student, and an increase of £10 in each of the Corporate categories to take effect from 1 January 2015. Ian Dolben spoke to the proposal which was seconded by S Leonard pointing out that subscriptions had remained unchanged since 2010. The resolution was accepted unanimously.

Subscription rates will therefore be as follows –

Registered Member£70

Associate Member£60

Affiliate Member£35

Student Member£10

Subscriber Member£35

Corporate Member£90 to £170 depending on category

  1. APPOINTMENT OF AUDITOR

It was proposed by R Noble and seconded by S Leonard that Michael Axford be appointed as auditor to the Institute. This was accepted unanimously.

The meeting closed at 5:45 pm.

INSTITUTE OF FISHERIES MANAGEMENT

TREASURER’S REPORT TO AGM 2014

This report summarises the accounts for the 2013 IFM financial year, up to 31st December 2013. Copies of the audited accounts have been published on the website and were also distributed to those attending the AGM. The accounts, my records and governance of the Institution were audited by Mike Axford (CPFA) who has indicated his willingness to continue to act as auditor for the 2014 financial year. I would like to thank him for completing this task in good time and agreeing to continue in the role. I want to draw attention to the restructuring of the accounts in 2013 whereby the recording of training activities and conferencing/events have been rationalised and been placed directly into the Training Account and Conferencing Account respectively. This is aimed to give both a fairer reflection of the activities of the IFM Training Team and all the conferences and events that we run.

Overall Balance sheet

The bottom line of the 2013 accounts shows a small increase in assets of £2,715.96. This is a marked improvement on previous years (a deficit of around £5K in 2012). This was made up of a deficit on the General account of £14,021.10 and surpluses on the Training account and Stock account of £16,388.56 and £348.50 respectively. This small surplus should (accounting for the re-entry into the conference account over-provisions for previous conference proceedings) be viewed as the Institute breaking even in the 2013 financial year. This is a significant positive step forward in our strategy for the Institute and our investment in the salary of the Development Officer. The aim of this investment was that the DO would eventually become self-sustaining. However, despite this positive step forward the outlook for 2014 is probably similar to that of 2012 and as such it is likely that the Institute will if needed operate on a deficit budget, using our investments to support the Institute’s activities and our services to members.

The investment bond is shown as £190,500, identical to the previous year, since during 2013 we have not had to draw down more investments to support the budget in 2013. The value of the investment performed well in 2013 and had a valuation of £502,261.00 (up from £416247.59 at the same time in 2012). I have the sad duty to inform you all that our financial advisor, Paul Fairbrother of St James Place Investment, passed away in 2013. Paul had been our advisor for many years and with his help the Institute has established a significant investment to secure the future of the Institute. Our investment is now being handled by Mr Richard Thompson, a St James Place Partner.

General Account

The deficit on the General Account was mainly due to salary costs, office and travelling expenses. This reflects the Institute’s strategy to invest in the Development Officer, the other officers and the work and expenses of the volunteers who run it. It was noted by Council that the costs of running the Institute (honoraria and expenses) have increased in recent years and that the cost of running the Institute (excluding the DO salary) are in excess of the subscriptions we charge for membership. Our membership subscription rates have not gone up for a number of years and in this context we have proposed that subscription rates should be increased in 2014. This increase would be below the rate of inflation.

As always the specialist conference, the annual conference and the training courses we run represent key areas of income alongside subscriptions for funding the activities of the IFM and development of services to its members. I would like to thank all those who were involved in making these conferences and training courses a success both financially and technically.

Training account

The training account again shows a healthy surplus, and we should thank Ian Wellby, Paul Coulson, Scott West, Pete Turner and the rest of the IFM Training Team for their continued efforts with delivering and developing the certificate and diploma courses. In 2013 the training provision received a significant overhaul; in fact the certificate course was re-launched following an overhaul. In addition to income from the traditional correspondence courses (surplus of £6,035.97 in 2013) the Training account now incorporates the income/expenditure of our short courses. These short courses generated a surplus of £9,638.59 in 2013 which was around a 50% increase on the previous year. This is enabling the IFM Training Team to invest in new training opportunities and increasing the professional delivery of our existing courses.

Conference Account

The 2013 conference in Cardiff was a great success and the conference turned over a small surplus, reflecting the desire to reduce the cost of the annual conference to members whilst maintaining financial stability. Thanks must go to the Welsh Branch and Paul Coulson for organising such a successful event. You will note that all our conferences and workshop events are listed under the Conferencing account, with the overall surplus of £39,569.67 added as income to the General account. Our specialist conferences are therefore no longer listed as independent items in the General Account. The specialist conference and the Eel Conference were both very successful and represent the core Institute activities and our desire to provide high quality events and services for our members.

Stock account

The stock account mostly represented sales of the new advisory booklet on creation and management of Stillwater fisheries, generating a surplus of £348.50. The stock account represents a very small component of our income; however the advisory booklets that we produce are of high value and very popular with members.

2014 Outlook

2013 marked an important year for the IFM in terms of developing the training provision and the services we offer to members and was a significant step forward to the post of the DO becoming self-sustaining. The financial forecast for 2014 is still positive in terms of income and our sustainability although we are likely to run a deficit budget and our activities will be supported from our investments.

Dr Richard Noble MIFM CEnv

Honorary Treasurer