April 2006

Terry's interest angling began at the age of 7 when while living near the south coast his dad would take him on his bike. That interest grew as Terry came to enjoy all aspects of angling be it pole, stick or waggler for coarse fish, or the fly for trout or salmon.

As a young man Terry joined the police force, he served with the Metropolitan Police for 31½ years before retiring as a Detective Superintendent in 1992. During this period Terry was heavily involved in the eight fisheries managed by the Metropolitan Police Angling Society

Retirement from the police however gave Terry more time for his angling activities and one of his greatest achievements was the formation of the Lee Anglers Consortium (LAC) based on managing the fishery on the River Lee from Hertford through to the East End of London. More than 50 clubs joined in partnership to re-establish the river as a serious fishery. Most of the river, canalised many years ago, had been managed by British Waterways, who attempted to run it as a fishery themselves. The LAC led by Terry eventually leased most of the Lee from Hertford to Bow and made it a successful and well managed fishery.

In 1999 Terry moved away from north London to Norfolk, where in addition to his angling activities he took to gardening and looking after his dogs, ornamental pheasants, ducks and two pigmy goats aptly named Ronnie and Reggie.

However, it was Terry's involvement with the Met. Police waters that developed his interest in fisheries management, an interest that continued to grow throughout his life. His involvement with administrative bodies is almost endless. Terry served initially on the Lee Valley Anglers' Consultative, the Thames Fisheries Consultative, and the Thames RFERAC, before moving also to the National Association of Fisheries & Angling Consultatives (NAFAC) where he became Executive Chairman in 2002.
In addition he served as an ACA Committee member, was a member of the Anglian Regional Fisheries Consultative Forum and the Lower Ouse and Fenlands Fisheries Consultative Association. Terry was also a member of the National Federation of Anglers, the Salmon and Trout Association, the Freshwater Biological Association, and was a Fellow of the Institute of Fisheries Management.
In later years Terry served on the Moran Committee and chaired the Moran Committee Joint Bird Group, (now FACT Wildlife Management Group), where he successfully campaigned for a better deal for fisheries on the cormorant predation issue.

Then following the formation of the Fisheries and Angling Conservation Trust (FACT) and representing NAFAC he continued to take a leading role on behalf of angling and fisheries interests right through to Government Ministerial level where he was as always highly regarded by all.

In late 2005 Terry was appointed by Defra as Chairman of the Anglian RFERAC a role in which he immediately gained the respect and friendship of all involved in the important work of that committee.

At an emotional meeting of the NAFAC National Council last Saturday Terry's absence following his sad untimely departure was reflected by the sombre mood of the meeting. It was agreed without question that NAFAC would continue with the progress that Terry had helped it to achieve and that NAFAC's role on the national angling and fisheries scene and with its commitment to making FACT a unified body would be a fitting tribute to the man who had made such an impact on so many lives.

One of Terry's outstanding qualities was his ability to cross boundaries and make friends with those he was seemingly in conflict with, and in doing so build relationships that would unite rather than divide the many varied interests that make up the wildlife, recreation and angling communities.

The following - a couple of sample replies to the news of his death:

"I am shocked and very much saddened by this news. Over the last few year's of my involvement with cormorants, I developed a huge amount of respect for Terry, and will miss his cheery phone calls. Whatever our differences, on one or two issues, I know that his concern and commitment to fish and the aquatic environment was total, and that he thoroughly enjoyed watching (most!) birds, whether in his garden or on the river bank."

A real loss.

Julian Hughes
Head of Species Conservation RSPB


"That is indeed awful news. Not sure what to say at the moment to be honest - this has come as quite a shock. Please keep me updated though. Once we have a bit more information, we will circulate it to REDCAFE/INTERCAFE people - Terry played a big part in our Waltham Abbey REDCAFE meeting and everyone across Europe has very fond memories of that."

Thanks again.
Dave Carss / Mariella Marzano