AT a recent meeting in London Chaired by NFA President Mr Ken Ball President, and attended by Ted Tuckerman of the NFSA; Marsh Prately & Phil Smith of SAA, Malcolm Hanson of the S&TA,  and scientific advisers Nigel Hewlett of the Environment Agency and Oliver Crimmen of the Natural History Museum, the following decisions were reached and records ratified.

Mr Ball Chaired the Meeting due to the non availability of Bob Page and the retirement of Colin Scull who had represented the National Federation of Anglers on the Committee for 11 years.

The Committee announce the retirement of Alwyne Wheeler as its scientific adviser. Alwyne had faithfully served the Committee for over 23 years first joining in November 1975 and his diligence over those years has resulted in a reputation for his work that will probably never be equalled. The Committee and the world of angling owes Alwyne so much for his a work and wishes him well in his retirement and as a mark of respect has awarded him life membership of the BRFC Committee.

Following his retirement, the committee is pleased to announce the appointment of Nigel Hewlett and Oliver Crimmen as its scientific advisers and they will work together with the Committee to ensure that the credibility of the British Record List is maintained.

Mr Hewlett is the Senior Fisheries Scientist for the Environment Agency based at Brampton in Cambridgeshire and he will lead on all freshwater fish and draw upon his long experience working within the EA Fisheries Laboratory.

 Mr Oliver Crimmen is Chief Curator of Fishes at the Tetrapod and Fish Division at the Natural History Museum in London, an appointment that he has held for 30 years and he will lead on sea fish species.  Oliver previously worked with Alwyne Wheeler, has knowledge of and is an admirer of his methods and procedures for the identification of fish, a science which relies not only on scientific data but also on practical experience.

The Committee are indeed very fortunate to have secured the services of these well respected advisors and thank them for their commitment to the British Record Committee.

It is with this in mind that an information sheet has been produced and adopted by the Committee as providing sound advice on the photographing of fish for future claim purposes and this is attached to this release for further information.

It is confirmed that electronic coloured photographs of sufficient quality to enable identification will be accepted by the committee but they will have to be printed and forwarded in hard copy format.  The committee will not be responsible for accepting photographs electronically.