Sir, Contrary to Mark Whiteside’s view (“Here’s the catch”, letter, Nov 4), that by not acting on scientific advice politicians threaten a grim future for our fisheries, we are seeing early signs that new ideas may just be starting to take hold. Marine protected zones around the English coast hold promise of closing some areas to commercial fishing to enable proper management and study not only of the fish in them but also of the whole marine ecology. These, plus the new inshore fisheries and conservation authorities (replacing the 1880s-style sea fisheries committees), hold some promise of future commonsense fishery management for our inshore waters.

Recreational sea anglers, who contribute £1 billion a year to the UK economy, want a retreat from the irresponsible commercial fishing that started in 1970s and so badly damaged sea beds and fish stocks, to the detriment of commercial and recreational fishing.

We are not naive. Only constant watch and an adversarial, not a cosy, relationship with our politicians will really push through these changes.

Michael Heylin
Chairman, Angling Trust

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