Presidents Report for the Annual General Meeting held on 11th April 2015 at Thornton Beach Motor Camp, Whakatane.

Dear members

I do not wish to dwell in the past but there are two very significant points that I wish to make you aware of.
1) When I took over in March 2014 we were down to about nine clubs
2) We were financially challenged.
In fact, the NZACA was in the final throes of dying. While there are many different thoughts going through different heads now, the truth is, it was and it had been happening for several years. The Executive, while dealing with funding applications, discovered issues that were not positive. These have been addressed but not entirely finalised. Much of this can be rectified by the implementation of some of the Constitutional changes/additions. From that point, the first positive was that our 2014 Nationals returned a good profit. While not as well attended as we wished, for which there were significant issues that we understood and others that disappointed us, it was comforting that a projected loss did not occur. The real positive was those who did attend.

The other positive was the clubs that stood by us, supported us and believed in our vision for the future. If it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t be sitting here. Following on, I must sincerely thank those clubs that took up my offer to have me visit and explain what we were doing and why. Without exception I was well received and listened to. Wellington was as demanding as I was expecting, but also fair. This effort was rewarding, as not only did I get to hear first hand the concerns of our membership, I also bought five of our clubs back into the fold. Two more who are re affiliating post AGM and we have two new member clubs. I have taken the time to visit in New Plymouth and am confident we will have representation from that area in the near future.
Finances. This year, apart from strengthening our membership, we consolidated our financial base. I will let Carolyn deal with the figures but we are now solid and sound. For this I must thank the entire Executive who have not uplifted all the reimbursement payments they are entitled to.
I must take a moment to thank Mr John Webby who had been our Auditor. John has been an integral part of the Association for almost 20 years and the Executive have recognised and acknowledged this by paying him his usual fee of $60 worth of grocery vouchers.
Unfortunately Mr Webby advised us that he could not process the NZ Angling & Casting Association’s books as they were not in formats that were understandable to him. I need to make it clear we are now using a very open and user friendly program called Xero. This is being used by many organisations and businesses all around NZ and is accepted as one of the easiest bookwork packages available. Any member of this Association can access it and follow all income and expenses, also from whom money came and to whom it went. This is purely to allow the Executive to be as transparent as possible. Because of this new system our books are very easy to review and these are now perused by BWR Accounting in Hastings for the cost of a nice bottle of wine.
While I am on the subject of those leaving us. Our Secretary. Carolyn has opted to resign her position. Her reasons are hers alone and we respect her choice. I must sincerely thank her for the wise counsel, the provision of direction, the S.W.A.T Analysis and the Strategic Plan. We will miss having her input into our direction.
It gives me the most pleasure to thank my right hand and support person, Karla. She is my leaning post, she has permanent ear damage from my calls but most of all she has been an absolute work horse and I would ask you all to acknowledge her tremendous efforts for the NZ Angling & Casting Association. To the others of the Executive, I know this has been a very hit and miss year. Job changes, promotions and timing have not been kind but the efforts and sincerity have been as strong as we expect. Thank you, all of you, it has not been easy but we have made it.
We have also purchased our new Hospitality Tent which we believe will help raise the profile of the Association.
This year, I have spent almost 1000 hours and travelled over 3000 km’s on behalf of the Association. Visiting Clubs, both affiliated and some that were not. I attended the NZ Sports Fishing Councils AGM and was invited to speak on our beliefs and changes. This met with humbling support. Our two organisations are once again aligned, supportive of each other and working for the same cause, our fishery and our right to fish it. I can say with all sincerity that we are treated as being on an equal footing and we are also receiving and being included in much of their activity. LegaSea, part of the NZ Sports Fishing Council, but operating separately. The entire board of this group have been very welcoming and inclusive. I have met with them in Auckland on three occasions, during which I was brought up to speed on such things as submissions, responsibility, relevance and dealing with the Government, etc. The entire LegaSea group are members of our fantastic Facebook Page. With regard to this page, it was a year ago that I was excited to have two hundred members on it. Today over 2200 fishers from all around NZ and from many clubs, organisations and representative bodies, including our own, are reading about us.
Many ask, “What does the NZACA do for us and why is it necessary to belong. Over the year, on your behalf, I have met with Government, members of Parliament, Ministry of Primary Industries, senior officials from the Fisheries Ministry including the Director Dave Turner. I have also met, as part of a group of four, with one of the Quota Holders. A huge achievement from this particular meeting is the requirement that those fishing their quota must use the new cod end that allows the juvenile Gurnard to escape. Also because of these meetings the Fisheries Ministry have started a whole new inshore fishery examination around the entire NZ coastline and have also chartered a vessel to carry out net trials that will allow small oval fish to escape. Along with these meetings, I have also raised many issues with all of them regarding our fishery. As your Executive, we have made Submissions regarding Snapper1, against the proposal to have Marlin as a commercial catch, the West Coast offshore mining and the Chatham Rise mining proposal. We have supported the NZ Sports Fishing Council/LegaSea, in their recent submissions regarding the five Rock Lobster fisheries and have made our feelings known on the lack of time for these submissions to be presented. The Blue Cod/Slot Rule submissions have only just last week been finalised. We have represented our Wellington members regarding the Shipping Channel Deepening and are having ongoing dialogue with the Regional Council and Mayor Celia Wade-Brown on this matter. We have become an integral part of the Fisheries management and are recognised once again in the eyes of the Ministry.
Whilst I will be continuing to address our unaffiliated and pursue new clubs, we cannot dwell on those who do not want to listen. Now we have stabilized the NZ Angling & Casting Assoc. over this last year, it is time to fix other things. These are all noted in our strategic plan. First up I would like to reinvigorate the three Regional Casting Competitions and make them worthy events. We have fixed our three venues and we will be finalising the running of the first two. The third is already in place and will be hosted by the Bethels Surfcasting Club on the 10th October.
Records, Trophies, Application Forms, Membership Cards are all on the agenda to be overhauled. Our Data Base is all up and running.
The Executive are actively pursuing a Public Liability coverage that will be available to all our member clubs at a very reasonable rate. This will be available for those interested in the very near future.
Finally may I say? As your President, I acknowledge there are things that have not been perfect. It has been our aim to achieve those goals I have spoken of and we have done that. The 2015/16 year will be even better. Thank you all for your continued support and thank you for being here. My promise was to reinvigorate the NZ Angling & Casting Assoc. As your leader I believe your Executive have done that and have achieved much. It can only keep getting bigger and better.
Jim Yeoman
President NZACA