Fish police in warning to anglers

[Hoppy]

Fish police in warning to anglers

The fishing police are heading for Telford - and illegal anglers are warned: “There is nowhere to hide”.

Environment Agency crime specialists are moving in over the bank holiday after intelligence reports suggested there are likely to be unlicensed fishermen in the town.

And anyone caught with a rod and no licence would be facing a court appearance, a criminal record and a possible fine of up to £2,500, the agency’s crime team warned.

“We have chosen Telford because our intelligence operations tell us there are anglers who are likely to be fishing there without a rod licence,” said spokeswoman Lyn Fraley.

“Although environmental crime team officers will be targeting the area around Telford in particular this weekend, patrols by water bailiffs will take place across the Midlands, so it is no use going elsewhere. There is nowhere to hide.”

The agency says fishermen failing to buy a licence - as well as risking punishment - are cheating fellow anglers. Proceeds are used to improve fishing for others.

Al Watson, who leads one of the crime teams, said: ” Our message to rod licence cheats is clear.

“We have the technology. We know who you are and we know where to find you"

[Hoppy]

Wont do much for Salmon! Only a few spots in Telford with a rare chance of catching one!

Hoppy

[alun]

What a joke!,

i wonder if every member of this forum decides to go fishing over the bank holiday, then how many of us will bump into these so called fishing police with their so called technology, plus many of us will be fishing on some prime salmon and sewin rivers where all their efforts should be concentrated and not some pond in the middle of a field!!!

[wnion]

I don't know if it could be done ,but how about starting a thread detailing how often our licenses are checked or we see an Environment Agency bailiff on the river bank this season ?

To keep it short I suggest that we only list the name of the river fished , the date, time of day (morning, afternoon, night), and whether a bailiff was seen or not.
Could be titled "Spot The Bailiff".

This is just a suggestion, what do other members think?
The only drawback could be to alert poachers to the fact that there are no bailiffs covering some rivers.

[alun]

HI Wnion, i was thinking the same thing, maybe it would be a good idea if we do it at the end of the season, for example

number of days fished ~ ??

number of EA bailifs encountered ~ ??

number of poaching incidents etc reported ~ ??

I do not think it would be a good idea to give locations as it might be a helping hand for the poachers as you have stated

[plotter]

Ive had my licence checked twice last year, and that when i was lake fishing for carp.

[dunc]

In the last 7 years I have not once had my licence checked by a EA bailiff.

Duncan.

[highplains]

Gentlemen,

Oh dear oh dear. Surely you can't have thought the EA were serious. I think they have developed, at long last, a sense of humour.

What other explanation could there be??

[lancsflyman]

Iv'e fished for the last 25 years and only ever been checked out once in all that time.

Their should make it compulsory to anyone who buys a season ticket or day permit, SHOULD HAVE TO PRODUCE A ROD LICENSE.

[wnion]

Easy targets, and more boxes ticked ?

........................................................................................................



Environment Agency catches 14% of Telford anglers

Written By: Lyn Fraley
On Date: 31/5/2007

Without a rod licence in Bank Holiday blitz During the Bank Holiday Rod Licence Blitz, 14% of anglers checked in the Telford area proved to be rod licence cheats who were unable to produce a valid rod licence - despite warnings beforehand that the Environment Agency's Environmental Crime Team would be out and about checking licences.

Of 62 anglers checked by the team, 9 were reported for being unable to produce a rod licence. We have a policy to prosecute all anglers found to be fishing illegally.

The evasion rate of 14% in the Telford area was more than double the average of 6% found across the four Midlands towns targeted in the blitz.

At many lakes and pools, we found that most anglers had rod licences. However there were some notable hotspots where anglers clearly thought they could get away with it.

Team Leader, Al Watson, says: "We will use the statistics that our blitz and other patrols produce to lead us towards offenders. We are determined to hunt down licence cheats. Our message is, if you don't have a licence, we will find you and will prosecute you. Give yourself peace of mind when you go fishing - get a licence first."

As well as targeted activity by the Environmental Crime Team, Water Bailiffs are out and about every day checking rod licences and we won't hesitate to prosecute. A day's fishing without a rod licence could prove very expensive indeed, with a maximum possible fine of £2,500.

Not only does a prosecution prove costly and leave the offender with a criminal record, it also marks an angler out as someone who cheats his fellow anglers. Rod licence money is used to help fund our work managing fisheries and to improve the sport for everyone.

-ends-

[highplains]

Dear Mr Environment Agency Wales,

May I enquire how a 14% success rate, even after you publicised your "blitz" squares with your idea that poaching is not a problem.

Oh no, licence evasion is not poaching is it?

I think the results achieved by your over worked and under resourced staff when they are allowed so to do, does them credit and makes makes a mockery of your assertions.

You are presiding over the rape of our waters!

Hang your head in shame!

[greyduster]

The greatest crime is the attempt by the Ea to make its bailiffs Look more impressive in title than they actually are both in stature and in title.
The present Fishery legislation... SFFA 1975 calls for warranted officers to be called water bailiffs, and the fact that they are now " Environment Crime officers" is a mockery of the real situation in which some former bailiffs are required to chase Bin Bag dumpers and deal with them without any powers to detain or arrest.
Waste enforcement managers in the Ea openly admit they will ask a bailiff to watch people covertly as there isn't any trained Environment protection officers to do the dirty work.....
Why don't all the anglers and angling bodies DEMAND that the waste enforcement and water Quality officers (wasters) be fully trained to do their own dirty work which will in turn free up the real bailiffs to get on with the most important job as we anglers see it.
Its a dirty job chasing bin bag dumpers, visiting scrap yards etc we all must agree but the EA is getting that job done on the cheap and they know it only too well I'm sure, so why do the fishery officer do It Could it be that refusal and the present PRP (performance related pay scheme) may have something to do with it.. refusal offends as we know!
I for one am totally bemused and angered at this redirection of valuable manpower and resources and its about time the EA were very more open and transparent in their own favourite phrase and tell the truth about the amount of manhours expended in tasks engaged in other than fisheries enforcement.
If the truth become completely exposed it may be a complete pile of crap ( nice way of saying another statement) and what would hit the fan thereafter politically with the new Minister I wonder.

[highplains]

Please watch this space a new initiative is about to be put before you that will, we hope, give greater weight to the current campaign to have our waters properly protected.

We hope it will be the start of something a lot bigger.

(We is those of us putting it together, not the royal we!!)

[beanzy]

Can anyone get figures for the number of 'on river' days achieved by the EA?
Surely we would be entitled to this if an MP tabled a question at PM Qs?
Then we just divide by the number of employees in the EA and their total licence income.
That should tell us how many 'baliff days' are bought by each licence pound collected.
It will also tell us how many poachers, license dodgers etc are caught by how many bailiffs.
Compare them year on year and we can produce an EA efficiency monitoring score every year.
If we speak in their language of targets and figures we're more likely to get the results we want.

[taxidermyjohn]

Im 39 years old......started fishing properly at about 10 years old......I have never once in my life been asked to produce a fishing license by the EA or what was then the N.R.A.....

[greyduster]

Beanzy
I'm told that the EA in its efforts to be totally accountable to both Parliament and the Welsh Asembly that it has a very structured reporting system that enables it to answer such questions very quickly to the above mentioned august locations.
We the layman are left with having to make such queries via the Freedom of Information Act which may or may not tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
I was told that everything a fishery officer does is computer coded and stored to show his efforts as with all other staff in the Agency therefore it is possible to enquire to the exact individual as to his or her output and performance is in dealing with fishery offenders.
I doubt very much if the EA would divulge a league table of officers performance but theres nothing to say they would dare refuse a Ministers request or that of an MP for such information so maybe this could be another tool in the debate and get to the bottom of who is worthy of their post and who's just d**n lazy..... lets not forget every organisation has its slackers and the EA will not be exempt from the condition.

Anyone feel like asking for results in South and North Wales over the period since the inception of the EA.....
This could be a startling revelation to all concerned !!!

[beanzy]

I'll e-mail Dan Rogerson for North Cornwall and see if he can table a PMQ. Back when I get a result. If it works here then maybe we can spread it by region and collate the results.