[Hamish Young]

As some of you may know (sort of an 'open secret') I have recently taken on the role of Secretary/Treasurer of the RDBTIA. The RDBTIA exsists to supervise and implement the measures laid down under the Brown Trout Protection Order granted to the River Don in the early '90s. The RDBTIA is, for want of a better term, the body created to monitor the Protection Order and report on what measures are being taken to improve the access to reasonably priced Brown Trout fishing, habitat management etc etc.

There are great changes coming to the way all freshwater fisheries will be managed in the future and my role will be, in part, to facilitate that. However, the majority of my immediate work will be building on the work that has been undertaken by the RDBTIA to date. Naturally, I have my own ideas which have been well aired on this and other forums but there is a process to go through and naturally the committee has the final say.

I am very very keen to ensure that local anglers and folk with a genuine interest in preserving and improving the Don should actively participate in developments. I am also enthusiastic to hear your frank opinions on the Don as a Brown Trout fishery. In fact anything related to the Don as a fishery I would be delighted to hear from you.

This thread is not for that function however and I'd take this opportunity to thank Mike for allowing me to include this topic on the forum. Should you wish to ask any questions, or simply get in touch about the RDBTIA, I have a new email address specifically for that function. It is rdbtia@btinternet.com
I check it regularly from home and will undertake to provide a response to your questions as soon as I can. If anyone requires this assurance you can be confident that all comments/opinions I receive will be treated entirely in confidence and will not be divulged to any third party.

I will try to answer any appropriate questions that may come up in this thread, but bear with me - I'm new into the role and don't have all the answers yet

Here's looking forward, not back, to the future of the River Don.

Hamish

[Hamish Young]

The RDBTIA will shortly be looking to 'recruit' volunteer wardens to help with the River Don protection order, possibly some habitat work and possibly assisting with other functions of the RDBTIA.
If you are local to the area (need to be for warden status I'm afraid) and interested in helping with this work (not onerous at all ) please send a short summary about you, your fishing interests/club memberships/areas of the Don you are regularly on with a covering note to rdbtia@btinternet.com

I look forward to hearing from you

Hamish

[Paul Rankine]

Hi Hamish,
                Just wondered how the Association,s work is progressing ?
Paul.

[Hamish Young]

Hi Paul,

Things progress. In the main my current RDBTIA efforts is participation in the forming of a River Trust for the Don which will take on much (if not all) of the habitat and other work the RDBTIA, and indeed the Salmon Fishery Board, would like (but is unable) to undertake. The RDBTIA will continue to preserve the Protection Order, outside of River Don Trust activities one of my current projects is producing a roving ticket for some of the river (C&R only), encouraging proprietors to charge a fair price for trout fishing and also ensuring that certain beats allow access to trout fishing.

It is my hope that there will be an open day on the Don next year which will see the three principal bodies associated with the Don (Fishery Board, RDBTIA and the new River Don Trust) out and about for a few presentations about what is going on/discussions/ Q&A sessions etc.
I hope to have the Wild Trout Trust there along with some notable angling worthies demonstrating tactics etc. It's a way off yet, but I am hopeful that there'll be an announcement before seasons end as to where/when/who etc.

I would like to be spending more time on it all but, at the moment, my 'real' job must take primacy as I have rather important exams in November  Still, progress is being made, we're getting there 

Hamish 

[Paul Rankine]

Hi Hamish,
               Thanks for that . Well done . I know how much work these things take .

Paul.

[Hamish Young]

December update:

With the Trust in full swing and off to a good start - and exams behind me - I will be moving a few things forward in 2009 for the RDBTIA.
The first of the new initiatives, which I am close to securing a 'deal' on, is a rather different roving ticket on the Don.

Some may have heard me rambling on about this for a while, like all ideas it's taking time to get going but I'm reasonably confident it'll get off the ground in early 2009. The RDBTIA roving ticket will be available as a weekly or daily ticket and will allow the angler to fish a number of beats throughout the river. However, the new roving ticket will be 100% catch and release (a first for the Don) and will be for Brown Trout only. The tricky thing is getting everyone (proprietors) to agree to the terms I have in mind, very tricky

Second thing is the open day I mentioned in a previous post. This is still very much in the planning stage at the moment, but we have a venue on the Don and agreements from a variety of national organisations etc to attend for a one day event in late May. This will be a co-operative effort by the Don DSFB, River Don Trust and the RDBTIA. More on this as things move along, I am hopeful it will be a success and enable everyone to get involved with shaping the future of the river.

Thirdly there has been some disquiet from different sources about the access to fishing and the cost of fishing for Brown Trout on the Don. In part I hope to improve things with the creation of the roving ticket scheme, but there remains the thorny issue of the perceived abuse of the terms of the PO. Rest assured this is being dealt with on a case by case basis. Whilst I am loathe to see any waters removed from the PO, and am actively seeking a resolution with some parties, it remains a possibility that there could be changes next year or in 2010.

The AGM for the RDBTIA will most likely be in February, details to follow once venue confirmed. I would urge anyone interested in things Brown Trout on the Don to attend. Might not like all you hear, but you can't make an omlette without breaking a few eggs..... 

A quick reminder that if anyone has queries about the RDBTIA feel free to fire off an email to me at rdbtia@btinternet.com

Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year to one and all 

Hamish