Dorset club tells members: It's OK to cull pike

P.A.C NEWS RELEASE

The Pike Anglers Club is writing to a Dorset angling club which has just reminded its members they're OK to kill pike - as long as they're discreet about it.

Sturminster and Hinton Angling Association's Christmas Newsletter included the following advice to anyone think of fishing the stretches of the Upper Stour it controls for pike:

"On the subject of pike, members are reminded that culling of pike under 10lbs in weight is allowed, should the captor so wish, but this should be carried out in a humane fashion and the carcass disposed of discretely (or, better still, eaten…)"

A PAC spokesman said: "The Dorset Stour is potentially one of the finest pike fisheries in Wessex and we are disappointed that a club trumpets its achievements in the field of conservation should encourage its members to kill pike.

"It is well-documented that pike culls achieve nothing other than upset the natural balance.

"We are also aware that there are members of the club who enjoy pike fishing and are very upset at this."

The PAC has enclosed a copy of its Pike in Your Waters booklet, which offers advice for clubs and riparian owners on the role the pike plays in a balanced fishery, with its letter to the Sturminster club's committee.