The BRFC meeting held on 5th December at Fishmongers Hall, London, saw the retirement of Ian Epps and the election of Mike Heylin as Chairman.

The committee paid tribute to Ian who had loyally served the committee for many years having joined in December 2004 to represent freshwater fish. He was appointed as chairman following the death of his friend, Ken Ball in 2008.
His time in office saw important changes to the committee, in that he formed the freshwater sub group to look specifically at those species with a view of encouraging more anglers to claim records and for the records to be ratified whenever possible more quickly. He succeeded and an example is the Freshwater record for a Crucian Carp, caught in August 2011 and ratified at the December meeting.
Ian is succeeded by Mike Heylin who joined the committee in March 2007 to help resolve the then difficulties and bad press coverage surrounding freshwater claims. Mike needs no introduction, he is well respected within angling and has held numerous positions including being the present Chairman of the Angling Trust, the Governing Body of the sport within England that brings all the angling disciplines together, an ideal for which he has worked for many years.
Mike’s aim is to continue the work of his predecessors, to develop and help retain the credibility of the British List by keeping records that are awarded on a strict procedures basis during which every effort is made to ensure their accuracy.
The meeting notes from the 5th December meeting (which contain details of claims which were ratified by the BRFC at that meeting) are available to download HERE.