At a meeting held in London on December 14^th, Chaired by Mr Ken Ball, and attended by Ian Epps of the NFA; Marsh Pratley of SAA, scientific advisers Nigel Hewlett of the Environment Agency and Oliver Crimmen of the Natural History Museum and secretary, the following decisions were reached and records ratified.

The New BRFC Certificate was agreed by the committee and these will be available and sent to all successful claimants within ten days of the meeting. In addition a new booklet has been prepared and will be with the printers in the new year and available by the next meeting in February.

Frank discussions took place with respect to the processing of potential British Records and a number of measures were put in place to encourage and assist anglers when making a claim.

These include a new Scales Testing Form to assist claimants when they take their scales to be checked by either the Trading Standards Authority or any other scale testing agent. On the form procedure 5 will be highlighted which explains the procedure of the weighing a fish and requests that the scales used must be tested at the weight of capture.

A dedicated telephone line and answerphone has been established to ensure that claimants can phone in details of their potential record claim and to receive advice as to how to proceed. A copy of the procedures are available from the NFSA Office on request or electronically on the web site at www.nfsa.org.uk  

The new contact telephone No is 01364-644489 email address dr@nfsa.org.uk.

The decision was made to reform the Freshwater sub group consisting of Chairman Ken Ball, Ian Epps and Marsh Pratley to keep a watching brief on the freshwater claims to ensure that any potential claim is notified to the Secretary and that the claimants are encouraged to carry out the procedures which will enable them to successfully claim a record. 

The committee examined the situation in respect of the Wells Catfish (Silurus glanis) and after careful consideration agreed that the circumstances which led to the removal of the Wells Catfish from the Record Fish List in October 2000 had not changed, and therefore reaffirmed its earlier decision to close the British List for this species and not to accept any further claims.

The members considered the development and public perception of the BRFC and agreed to invite the Angling Press to attend the next meeting to be held in February with a view of establishing a better understanding of the work of the committee, and the care and deliberations that are necessary to retain the credibility of the British Record List.