April 1982 Newsletter Highlights
Brian Tudor is still the secretary and the headquarters is on The Quay in Looe.
The newsletter opened by referring to the sad news that the Founder President, Brigadier J.A.L. Caunter (Briggy) had passed away last Easter after many years in hospital. It was noted that older members would remember him for his enthusiasm and interest in all the clubs activities, including stalwart work at the weighing in site at headquarters.
In February this year Mike (Bushy) Faulkner who, with his brother in law Roger Davies, were tragically lost at sea whilst fishing on his boat “Claire”. There had been a distress fund set up and members who wished to contribute were requested to do so direct to the headquarters or via Barclays Bank. Mikes body was found at sea.
The previous season had been a poor one with regard to quantity with only 160 sharks out of Looe which compared to 478 in 1980. The quality was however reported as better. Porbeagles catches had improved and other ports had experienced a slight increase in membership with South Wales (Swansea) entering the picture in mid season.
Fingers were crossed that this season would improve, and a warmer Gulf Stream would entice the Blues to return.
The Annual Dinner continued to be successful although the decision had been taken to dispense with the disco and return to a band…. Ticket were now forecast at £11 per head with accommodation at the Hannafore Point Hotel being available for £12 per person per night.
Financially it was good news as the Balance Sheet was able to show that the club were “in the black” with all loan accounts repaid and no overdraft.
The “103 Club” was introduced, for members only, to assist with club finances. During 1981 the VHF radio, “Sharkhead” had been “resuscitated“and this was proving to be very helpful in running the weighing site.
New Record holders were congratulated. Anne Holmes of Shoreham had a 17lbs 10oz Bluefish which she had caught off Puerto Rico, in the Grand Canaries. Marie Potier had caught a 236lbs Porbeagle on 80lbs line class tackle off Padstow. Ian Bunney had taken 1st place in the 6th IGFA Fishing Contest with a 300lbs Porbeagle off Padstow which had also earned him the record for 30lbs line class.
One of the clubs Dutch members, Cimmander Manders, had written concerning the scarcity of Blues in recent years. He put it down to the commercial long-liners operating off the European seaboard.
John Maddock had sent the club an interesting cutting from a Russian newspaper showing a very large shark (1750kgs) which was probably a Great White
Treasurers Report – As forecast the club had now reached the turning point and cleared their original loan commitment and overdraft. This was largely due to the popularity of a gaming machine in the Caunter Room coupled with its increasing popularity as a “watering hole”. It was also the first year where the club had paid full Wages Council rates together with holiday entitlement and the committee had insisted that this policy be maintained going forward.
Annual General Meeting – Mr Miller opened the meeting by welcoming all and extended a special welcome to Mr Peter Wright, a Life Member from New Zealand.
He spoke of Brigadier Caunters passing away but in view of the length of time lapses between that and the meeting he didn’t ask members to stand for two minutes silence. He said that he would always be remembered with affection and self-esteem.
He went on to say that the season had started a few days ago in respect of Porbeagles and stated it was unfortunate that the first sharks caught had been both small and displayed to the public. He said he wished to emphasise the point very strongly that the committee had gone to some lengths to make rules to reassure the public that the club was doing its best to preserve the species but this was to little avail when such incidents occurred.
He said he would like the Committee to take very serious steps to see that skippers who caught sharks of commercial value but which were too small to display should be requested to cover them up and not bring them on to the quay. He went on to say that the club had made a ruling whereby sharks of 50lbs or less no longer qualified for associate membership. However, he pointed out that sharks less than 50lbs were still being weighed on occasion.
He stressed that he was disgusted by the display of small sharks which he had witnessed.
Chairmans report – Mr Kingerlee said that last year had been slightly more successful. Last year out of Looe, 478 sharks had been caught which compared with 119 in 1978 and 314 in 1979. The record of weighed sharks at Looe wasn’t good with 102 as compared to 143 in 1979.
In terms of new members, he confirmed that Looe membership had reduced by 23 but new members at other ports had totalled 36. This was the first time that other ports had delivered a larger membership than Looe and as the Shark Angling Club was a national organisation this could only be encouraging.
Accounts – Brian Tudor said that last year was mot one which he could be proud of, the figures reflecting things beyond his control but that this had now been out right. Regarding the Headquarters numbers he confirmed these were up on the previous year.
With regard to the Caunter Room the bar profit had reduced by 2% over the previous year which was due to the beer subsidy being removed by the Committee. In spite of this the Caunter Room was now very healthy. He referred to the gaming machines, both of which had done very well and bringing in good returns.
In terms of bar profits, he was pleased to report that the Club was being used more this year over last which was due to the increase imposed in the Budget which had generally benefited Clubs to the detriment of public houses.
There were no questions, but Mr Pillar observed that the Caunter Room expenses had increased by £1600 and income by £1060.
The “103 Club”
This was essentially a lottery to be run for the benefit of the club
Tickets were available for £5 each. There were 5 draws per year and a maximum of two tickets per member. The prizes were as follows:
5 monthly winners at £50
5 monthly seconds at £25