Boat comments AAA Eastern zone

Hi, thanks for your comments. This was raised last year and we posted a response based on discussions we had with the Assynt Angling Association. I'll re-post those notes below. I need to stress that we are not speaking on behalf of the AAA but reflecting on what we have found during the research.

The bottom line is that to have more than one outlet would be both logisitcally difficult and would mean more expensive fishing for anglers (and costs haven't increased in well over a decade).

In addition to what we said last year I would also like to point out that from our research, *most* anglers using the boats stay in Assynt (visitors and locals) and as such for the majority of anglers, the Inchnadamph is actually a more convenient location than the Alt was.

Thanks for all comments on this and the fishing - keep them coming!

Adam

Last year's comments were:

With regard to availability, The Alt Hotel did the AAG boat permits and engines for the East Zone up until 2010. However, the AAG had to switch this as the Alt could no longer do them. The Inchnadamph is about the nearest place they have who could take them on.

There are also a number of issues that need to be balanced here in terms of boat suppliers specifically as it's not just a case of creating more outlets. These include:
*Selling the permits isn't really an 'earner' for those doing it and it is an added extra to the workload of people who have their own businesses to run.
*People who do take it on need to be available most of the time and certainly all morning (to give keys/engines out) and evenings (to take them back in). As such getting people to do this can be difficult. This is partly why hotels tend to be key outlets - and there aren't that many.
* Coordinating more than one outlet and to guard against double booking requires effort and organisation, which would make it harder still for the outlets that do exist. In the case of engines, it would almost certainly require angling groups to have more engines (+maintenance etc.).
* It needs to be remembered that nobody is employed to organise angling in Assynt, certainly in relation to the trout fishing. There's a hell of a lot of voluntary input just to keep it all going (not just permits but getting boats out and in; engine maintenance; doing the publicity and info leaflets; providing loads of free ad hoc advice; doing the books etc.). Commercial rainbow trout fisheries usually have someone employed on site (and sites tend to be a little less dispersed than Assynt!).

More boat outlets, engines etc. are potentially achievable, but they would cost money and that would mean much steeper charges and permits. Although permit prices haven't increased in years, would anglers want that? Do let us know your thoughts...