The Royal Canadian Navy Anglers Association was established in 1954, and has been a part of the Amalgamated Conservation Society since it was formed from the Amalgamated Lower Island Sportsmen’s Association.
The RCNAA played a pivotal role when the ACS lobbied government to close or restrict the huge commercial net fishery in the Strait of Juan de Fuca that was destroying salmon runs. The reports that were compiled on this issue and sent to the fishery Minister in Ottawa were created by the navy chiefs that had been professionally trained in report writing and proper reporting procedures.
These reports that were sent to the Minister also suggested that a consultative approach was needed to solve the recreational fishery impacts of the net fishery. From that suggestion the Salt Water Advisory Panel was created in 1964 to address these issues. That panel is now named the Sport Fishery Advisory Board (SFAB).
For over 40 years the ACS and the BC Wildlife Association formed the nominating committee. All organizations submitted their request to join the SFAB to the nominating committee. In 1997 the nominating process was quietly dropped and the SFAB terms of reference were rewritten. The terms of reference now included the caveat that those on the board had to have regional representation, and the ACS was removed from the SFAB. The writers of these new terms of reference forgot that the ACS member organizations, including the RCNAA, had and still do have, regional representation.
The RCNAA today has members in BC, Alberta and Ontario. Membership cards have not changed in appearance since they were refined in the dockyard printing office in 1956, a reminder of the long history of this ACS member organization, and its important contributions to salmon and marine conservation.
RCNAA contacts are:
| Title | Name | Phone |
| President | Thomas Cole, Chief PO2 ret’d | 250-478-1306 |
| Secretary/Treasurer | Mike Boyd, Chief PO2 ret’d | 250-642-0520 |