We have been asked by the minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing to assist in helping anglers to better understand the travel guidance in pursuit of sport and recreational activity from the Scottish Government. Mr FitzPatrick has said:
‘As part of that guidance we recommended that people do not travel more than 5 miles for recreation, but we left room for some discretion so that people could go further to visit family.
‘While the majority adhered to this guidance, there was some evidence of a minority not abiding by those guidelines and travelling significant distances unnecessarily. If people continue to make journeys which risk spreading the virus – we may have to put the restrictions on travel distance into law. This is something we do not want to do, but may have to if we think it is necessary for the collective safety and wellbeing of everyone.
‘We have made significant progress in tackling Covid-19 but this is not irreversible. It requires us all to be responsible and adhere to the rules that are in place.
‘If we all stick to these rules we are helping to suppress this virus. However, by travelling greater distances to undertake activities unnecessarily, we are providing a chance for the virus to spread more quickly, and to spread to different parts of the country.’
Angling Scotland Ltd recommends that anglers use their nearest suitable fishery, beat, location or mark.
If this involves a journey of slightly more than 5 miles we ask anglers to act with great thought and discretion, taking the original guidance and the above clarification into account.