Dart Angling Association Rules
(December 2023)
1. OBJECTS
The Association shall be called the Dart Angling Association and is formed to improve the fishing in the River Dart and its tributaries and acquire ownership and undertake the management or regulation of and to properly protect any Water, Fishery or Fishing Rights together with any interests in property which may further these objects.
2. MEMBERSHIP
Membership for the Association shall be of the following classes: –
(1) Ordinary members who shall be of full age (over 18) and holders of season tickets authorising them to fish either
(A) for Salmon, Migratory Trout and Brown Trout or
(B) for Migratory Trout and Brown Trout or
(C) for Brown Trout only
(2) Junior members who shall be under the age of 19 years on the 1st of February and shall hold season tickets authorising them to fish for Brown Trout only. At the discretion of the committee junior members (over 18) may continue to pay the reduced subscription if in full time education’. Junior members are not permitted to vote at an AGM and are not entitled to guest or further concessionary tickets.
(3) Life Members. The committee shall be empowered, if previously specifically authorised by a general meeting, to appoint any suitable person or persons to Life Membership of the Association and to issue season tickets to such person or persons on such terms as the committee may decide.
(4) Honorary members may be appointed by the committee and issued with season tickets free of charge in recognition of professional services rendered or benefits provided to the Association.
(5) The total number of season tickets, excluding junior members, life members and honorary members, shall not exceed 120, unless otherwise determined by the Association in General Meeting.
(6) The committee shall in their absolute discretion decide on the number of tickets to be issued for each class of membership and on the admission of new members to fill any vacancy that may arise including transfers from one class to another.
(7) Applications for membership (membership form here) shall be submitted to the Committee and each applicant shall ideally be proposed and seconded by an existing ordinary or life member of the Association. The Committee shall maintain the waiting list for membership, if that should prove necessary and shall at the committee’s discretion be empowered to require persons on the waiting list to pay a registration fee of such sum as the committee may from time to time decide, which shall not be returnable. The Committee shall also keep a record of ordinary members desirous of moving from one category of season tickets to another. No person may be included on any waiting list for classes (i)(A) and (i)(B) in paragraph (a) of this rule unless he or she is already an ordinary member (i)(C). No person may be moved into class (i)(A) unless he or she is already in class (i)(B).
(8) The price of season tickets for each class of membership shall be fixed by the committee prior to the Annual General Meeting in each year. Each season ticket shall be for one year, calculated from the first day of February in each year and all due subscriptions shall be paid to the Association by this date. Any existing member who fails to pay the due subscription by the 1st of February will be given an opportunity to make late payment, up to 1st of March of the same year, at an additional premium of 20% of the fee for their class of membership. Failure to pay by 1st of March without good reason, to be judged by the committee, will result in termination of membership.
(9) The committee may in their discretion, charge all persons becoming members of the Association for the first time or re-joining after a break in membership in addition to the price of the season ticket, an entrance fee of such sum as shall be set from time to time by the committee.
(10) Visitors’ tickets. The committee shall in their discretion decide each year to issue tickets either as daily or weekly or monthly to the general public to fish for such species and on such terms and for such parts of the season as the committee shall decide.
3. TICKETS
Any member fishing on water owned or controlled by the Association must on demand show his ticket to the appropriate River Authority Warden or to any other members of the Association.
4. CONTROL
(1) The Annual General Meeting of the Association shall be held within 3 miles of Association water within the first 14 days of December (extenuating circumstances notwithstanding) of each year, when the accounts and a report on activities for the previous season shall be presented and the president of the Association, the Honorary Secretary, the Honorary Treasurer and the Honorary Solicitor shall be elected, together with up to 7 committee members. The Honorary Secretary, the Honorary Treasurer and the Honorary Solicitor shall be ex -officio members of the committee. All committee members should reside within 10 miles of the Association water. The committee shall have power to co-opt up to two members to the committee. At least 7 days’ notice of the Annual General Meeting shall be given to all members of the Association.
(2) The members of the committee and ex officio members shall retire every year but shall be eligible for re-election. Any ordinary member of the Association may be put forward to election to the committee, if so proposed by at least two other ordinary members. Any such proposal must be received in writing by the Secretary by October 31st preceding the Annual General Meeting to be held later in the year and shall be included in the notice of such meeting.
(3) The affairs of the Association shall be managed by the committee who shall meet at least three times in every year. Five members of the committee shall form a quorum and all questions arising under the rules or the construction thereof shall be decided by them.
(4) The committee shall each year elect a Chairman and Vice-Chairman to hold office until the commencement of the first meeting of the committee following the annual general meeting. The Chairman or, in his absence, the Vice-Chairman shall take the chair at General Meetings of the Association.
(5) The committee shall have the power to appoint or remove Trustees of the Association (who shall not be more than 4 in number) for the purposes of acquiring, leasing, mortgaging, charging or selling fishing rights or property of any kind on behalf of the Association and in pursuance of its objects. The Trustees shall deal with such rights and property as the committee may by a majority of members present from time to time direct and the duly authorised acts of the Trustees shall be binding on all members of the Association. A certificate purporting to be signed by the Secretary shall be conclusive evidence in favour of a subsequent purchaser, mortgagee, charge, lessor or lessee that a direction complying in all respects with this rule was given to the Trustees and that the Trustees are duly constituted Trustees of the Association. The Trustees of the Association will use their best endeavours to carry out the objects of the Association and in the unlikely event of the demise of the Association will hold its assets for the benefit of the inhabitants of the communities adjacent to the River Dart subject to the aim of improving and sustaining the fishery. The Trustees shall have full discretion and their decision will be final. The trustees are not however empowered to dispose of the assets for the benefit or profit for members of the Association.
(6) All complaints of unfair fishing, unsportsmanlike conduct or any other matter must be sent in writing to the Secretary who, on the requisition of three members of the Association shall call a Special Meeting of the committee to consider such complaint. In the event of any person being found unsuitable to continue his or her membership of the Association by conducting himself or herself in such a way as is causing annoyance to other members or to have breached the Rules of the Association or the Fishing Regulations or the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Acts or subsequent similar legislation, he or she shall forfeit his or her ticket and shall be suspended from fishing again at the discretion of the committee without refund if the committee so decides.
5. FISHING REGULATIONS
Subject to these rules, the committee has power to make bye-laws to regulate the mode and manner of fishing and for any other purpose in the regulations of the Association, including the restriction or exclusion of any part of the fishing at any time during the season as they shall from time to time deem expedient. Such Regulations, which will be supplied to members with their annual tickets shall have effect as though they are part of these rules, and the members shall be deemed to have full notice thereof.
6. VOTINGS – PROCEEDINGS AT A GENERAL MEETING
A General Meeting may be convened by the Secretary or on the requisition in writing of at least seven ordinary members or life members. No business shall be transacted at any general meeting unless a quorum of members is present. A quorum will be formed by 1/5 of the membership being present. Junior members will not count towards the quorum. At any General Meeting a resolution put to the vote of the meeting shall be decided by a show of hands unless a poll is demanded by either the chairman or at least three ordinary or life members present in person. Proxy-voting shall not be permitted. If a poll is demanded, it shall be taken in such a manner as the chairman shall decide. Unless a poll is demanded, a declaration by the chairman that a resolution has been carried or lost on the show of hands and an entry in the minute book to that effect shall be conclusive evidence of the fact without proof of the number or proportion of the votes recorded in favour of or against the resolution. Every ordinary or life member present at the General Meeting shall have one vote and in the case of an equality of votes, whether on show of hands or on a poll, the Chairman of the Meeting shall be entitled to a second or casting vote. Seven days’ notice of a General Meeting and the business to be transacted thereat shall be given to all members of the Association.
7. ALTERATION OF RULES
No new rules shall be made, or existing rules altered or rescinded in whole or in part except at the Annual General Meeting or at an Extraordinary General Meeting nor then unless notice of intention to propose such new role rules or alteration or rescission of an existing rule has been given to the Secretary 14 days at least before the date of the annual or Extraordinary General Meeting. No rule can be altered or rescinded unless approved by 3/5 of the members (excluding junior members) present and voting. It shall be competent for the Annual or Extraordinary General Meetings to amend on points of detail, propositions of which due notice has been given.
8. ADOPTED POLICIES (Agreed Dec 2023)
“1. The Association’s Policies relating to Privacy, Risk Assessment and Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable People are set out in full on the Association’s website and the terms of these said Policies are incorporated in and form part of these Rules in full.
2. The Committee is hereby empowered to formulate and agree such further Policies to promote the better administration and governance of the Association relating to Complaints, Equality and Diversity, Social Media, Marketing and Public Relations and any other matter as the Committee shall in its sole discretion think fit to accord with best practice from time to time and any such Policy once formulated and agreed by the Committee shall be henceforth deemed incorporated in and form part of these Rules in full.
3. Any Member shall be entitled to request and receive from the Committee a copy of any such Policy formulated and agreed by the Committee in accordance with Rule 8.2 above which does not appear on the Association’s website.
4. Where there is a conflict between the terms of any of the Association’s Policies referred to in Rule 8.1 and Rule 8.2 above and any other Rule of the Association the terms of the Policy in question shall prevail.”
All tickets for fishing in the Association waters shall be issued subject to these rules and the notice to that effect plainly visible on such tickets and the holder thereof shall be bound by and comply with the same.