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RULES

NAME (1)

1.1 The name of the club shall be the National Mullet Club.

OBJECTIVES (2)

2.1 The objectives of the club shall be to promote interest and efficiency in catching and the conservation of grey mullet of the three common species existing in Northern European waters, namely; Chelon labrosus (thick-lipped grey mullet), Chelon ramada (thin-lipped grey mullet) and Chelon aurata (golden-grey mullet).

GENERAL MEETINGS (3)

3.1 A General Meeting of members shall be the only body empowered to make or amend rules of the club.

3.2 A General Meeting shall be held annually, with the date notified at least three months in advance.

3.3 Notice of any resolution to be moved at the Annual General Meeting, unless recommended by the Committee, shall be submitted in writing to the Secretary at least 6 weeks before the meeting and signed by the proposer and seconder. Any such resolution, unless otherwise withdrawn, shall be included in the business of the meeting and notice of it shall be sent to each member of the Club at least 3 weeks before the date of the meeting.

3.4 An Extraordinary General Meeting shall be called by the Secretary at the request of any member with two other supporting members; at least three weeks written notice of an Extraordinary General Meeting shall be given to all members.

OFFICERS (4)

4.1 There shall be seven officers of the club; the Chairman, the Vice-Chairman, the Secretary, the Treasurer, the Membership Officer, the Journal Editor and the Conservation Officer.

4.2 The Officers shall be allowed to co-opt members to perform specific tasks as and when necessary.

4.3 The Officers shall be elected or re-elected at each Annual General Meeting.

4.4 The officers shall be empowered to run the club, and to represent the club within the framework of these rules.

YEAR (5)

5.1 The Club's Year for its Accounts shall run from 1st November to 31st October the following year.

5.2 The Club's Year for Competitions and Certificates shall run from 1st January to 31st December the same year.

5.3 The Club's Year for Membership Subscriptions shall run flexibly as specified in Rule 6.1

ELIGIBILITY FOR MEMBERSHIP (6A)

6A.1 Subject to review of exceptional circumstances by the Officers, persons engaged in commercial fishing on either a professional or casual basis are not normally eligible for membership. The definition of commercial fishing will be deemed to include occasional sale of rod-caught fish by sports anglers.

SUBSCRIPTION (6B)

6B.1 An Annual Subscription shall be due on a date specified to each member by the Membership Officer. For members who joined the Club prior to 1st November 2005, this date shall be 1st November. For members who join the Club on or after 1st November 2005 this date shall be the anniversary of the 1st of the month after their joining date.

6B.2 Juniors of 18 years or under and Registered Disabled Persons shall pay one half of the Annual Subscription.

6B.3 An Annual Subscription shall include that member’s family. A family shall be deemed to include one or two parents / guardians and any number of their children of 18 years or under.

BANK ACCOUNT (7)

7.1 A Bank Account shall be opened in the name of the Club, and shall be operated by any two signatures of the six elected officers. Any income shall be paid into such bank account.

7.2 A PayPal Account shall be opened in the name of the Club and shall be used for the temporary holding of payments made electronically prior to their transfer to the Bank Account.

7.3 There shall be a ring-fenced amount within the bank account to be agreed at each AGM to be known as the Conservation Fund and to be used exclusively for Conservation Projects.

7.4 Donations to the Club will normally be allocated to the Conservation Fund.

EXPENDITURE (8)

8.1 With the exception of routine Expenditure on postage, stationery etc, all Expenditure shall be approved by all six club officers in advance.

ACCOUNTS AND AUDITING (9)

9.1 A statement of the club’s accounts for the previous year, duly audited, shall be submitted to the Annual General Meeting, having been duly circulated prior to such meeting.

9.2 Auditing shall be conducted by lay members of the club who shall be nominated at the Annual General Meeting.

EXPULSION OF A MEMBER (10)

10.1 Any member of the club may be Suspended or Expelled from membership by a unanimous decision of the officers. The member proposed for Suspension or Expulsion shall be informed by fourteen days in writing of such proposal, and shall have the right to attend the meeting of the officers at which the resolution for his or her Suspension or Expulsion shall be proposed, and may make any statement which he or she may desire at such meeting before such resolution is put to the vote. The officers shall give reason for their decision at their discretion. A member who has been Suspended or Expelled shall not, unless the officers otherwise determine, be entitled to have his or her subscription for the then current year refunded. Expelled members are not eligible for membership at a future date. The decision of the officers is liable to confirmation at the next Annual General Meeting.

10.2 In the case of a member found to have engaged in the sale of fish that they have caught, proceedings under Rule 10.1 will lead to Expulsion from the Club.

TROPHIES, DONATIONS ETC (11)

11.1 All Trophies and Donations presented to the club shall become and remain the property of the club.

11.2 Only paid-up members shall be eligible for trophies.

TROPHY COMPETITIONS (12)

12.1 The club shall award the following Trophies annually by the methods stated:

(i) Thicklip, Thinlip, Golden-grey;

For the heaviest specimen of the appropriate species caught anywhere.

(ii) English East Coast,  Sussex,  Hampshire,  Christchurch,  Dorset,  Westcountry,  Wales,  North West England / Isle of Man / Scotland,  Ireland.

Best Regional Specimen based on a percentage of gold certificate weight of the appropriate species (see table 2).

(iii) 15 and Under;   *age at the time of capture

Best Specimen based on a percentage of gold certificate weight of the appropriate species.

(iv) Top Ten;

Largest Aggregate Weight of the ten heaviest specimens of any of the three species above the stated minimum weights (see table 1) reported by an individual member subject to counting not more than four fish from any one region.

(v) Venue Top Ten;

Largest Aggregate Weight of the ten heaviest specimens of any of the three species above the stated minimum weights (see table 1) reported by any individual member subject to counting not more than four fish from any one venue within one region. The definition of 'venue' shall be as decided by the Officers and published from time to time.

(vi) Tri-Species;

Largest Aggregate Weight of the best specimen of each of the three species, Thicklip, Thin Lip and Golden Grey above the stated minimum weights (see table 1) reported by any individual member.

(vii) Fish-in Thicklip, Fish-in Thinlip, Golden Grey;

Heaviest Specimen of each species caught at a fish-in organised by the Club other than the National Rover fish-in.

(viii) National Rover Fish-in:

Best specimen based on the gold certificate weight caught as part of the National Rover fish-in organised annually.

(ix) Overseas:

Best specimen based on the gold certificate weight, of four species - Thicklip, Thinlip, Golden Grey and also Flathead Grey Mullet (Mugil cephalus).

12.2 Only fish above the Minimum Competition Weight (Table 1) and returned alive to the water shall be eligible for the award of Trophies, except in the case of serious unintentional damage to the fish.

12.3 All Trophies of the club awarded to members shall be returned to the Secretary as requested, for engraving. All winners of club Trophies shall be required to sign an undertaking that they will return the Trophy to the club in the same condition as it was handed to them.

12.4 In the case of a 'tie' for a club Trophy, each member winning such Trophy shall hold it for an equal period during the year.

12.5 Any member winning the same Trophy for three consecutive years shall qualify for a Special Permanent Award.

CERTIFICATES (13)

13.1 The club shall award Certificates for notable fish and for notable achievement in the Top Ten Trophy Competitions and Tri-Species Competition (see table 2).

13.2 Certificates shall be awarded annually. Each member’s fish meeting the qualifying standards shall be included on a single Bronze, single Silver, single Gold and single Platinum certificate (if appropriate), with the exception that the best specimen shall be certificated separately.

13.3 Only fish returned alive to the water shall be eligible for the award of Certificates, except in the cases of serious unintentional damage to the fish.

13.4 The officers reserve the right to request to inspect the weighing scales, or a current weights and measures certificate thereof.

CATCH REPORTS (14)

14.1 All Catch Report Sheets shall be sent to the designated Catch Recorder (or to the Secretary if there is no Catch Recorder) by the seventh of January following the closure of the competition year or bear postmark relating to the same in order to qualify for club Trophies and Certificates. Only catch reports from paid-up members shall be eligible for Trophies and Certificates.

FISH-INS (15)

15.1 Members shall be required to return alive all mullet caught at fish-ins organised by the club, except in cases of serious unintentional damage to the fish.

15.2 For the purposes of insurance and the award of fish-in trophies (see Rule 12.1(vii)), fish-ins shall be deemed to start and end each day at the times published in the Club's journal and/or newsletter.

15.3 Fish shall be eligible for the award of fish-in trophies (see rule 12.1(vii)) if reported to the fish-in organiser not more than 24 hours after the end-of-day meeting and reported on the member's monthly catch report form as required by Rule 14.1.

DISSOLUTION (16)

16.1 No resolution for the dissolution of the club shall be valid unless it shall have been carried at an Extraordinary General Meeting of the club by a minimum of three-quarters majority of the votes cast by the members present, and shall have been confirmed at a subsequent Extraordinary General Meeting held not less than one month nor more than three months thereafter. On the confirmation of the passing of such a resolution, the officers shall proceed to realise and dispose of the assets of the club in accordance with these rules and when the debts and demands upon the club’s funds shall have been met and liquidated the officers shall hand over the balance in accordance with a resolution authorising such disposal which has been duly proposed and carried at such meeting and duly confirmed and upon the completion of such instructions the club shall then be declared Dissolved.

Table 1 (Minimum Competition Weights)

Table 2 (Certificate Weights)

* Flathead Grey Mullet (Mugil cephalus) are only eligible for the award of the Overseas Trophy; see 12.1(ix) above

CONSERVATION STATEMENT

The National Mullet Club was founded in 1975, and has always taken a firm stand on conservation. NMC encourages its members to return mullet alive at all times. The live return of mullet is required at fish-ins and for eligibility for NMC competitions and certificates. Except in historical contexts, photographs of dead mullet are not published in the NMC magazine.

As commercial stocks of more saleable species become difficult and expensive to harvest, the grey mullet is and will become a more attractive target for commercial fishermen. This slow growing fish may well suffer a severe reduction in stocks that will take countless years to restore, if ever. Accordingly members are: