an idea to stop fish being taken by eastern europeans

[dogfish]

Can we just clarify one point:

 

IT IS NOT ILLEGAL TO TAKE COARSE FISH FOR THE TABLE (or for bait).

 

It is illegal to fish without a rod licence whether you are from Poland, Pakistan or Birmingham.

 

It may be against SOME club rules but , as far as the EA rules are concerned, you are allowed to take a number of fish providing to stick to various size and bag limits.

 

If the club rules ban it then it is up to them to take action.

 

Most of my clubs allow fish to be taken.

Edited September 28, 2006 by dogfish

[chavender]

Richard Capper,i did the very same thing,the EA actually advertised for part time bailiffs once and i applied as i've loads of free time a central location and own transport and good knowledge of local rivers ect even offored to do it for free ,but got the same reply! and yet all you here is how understaffed and low on resourses they are.

[carpstar]

I wouldn't take fish for the pot,i know i can if i want but why? I would rather catch that fish again or at least give someone else the chance to catch it!

 

If i fancy something to eat then i'll go to the shop!!!

[gozzer]

I've enquired myself, and the same thing. I think it has to do with the fact that they must vet any applicants, there would have to be training and insurance, as I said in an earlier post, the attitudes expressed by some anglers on here, make me wonder what sort of people we would have patrolling the banks. You know that a little power goes to some peoples heads, just look at some car park attendants as an example.

[gozzer]

I wouldn't take fish for the pot,i know i can if i want but why? I would rather catch that fish again or at least give someone else the chance to catch it!

 

If i fancy something to eat then i'll go to the shop!!!

 

That's your prerogative carpstar, I'll respect it, can you respect mine?

 

By the way, weren't you the one in an earlier post complaining about going over the same ground and coming to the same conclusions. This thread is not about the rights and wrongs of eating fish, it's about ways to uphold the rules and regs of angling. (unless I'm mistaken).

[Dick Dastardly]

Remembering the dealings Ive had in the past with "Honourey Baillifs" it would seem that they werent actually anglers themselves.Maybe the EA doesnt actually want anglers policing anglers?

[dogfish]

I wouldn't take fish for the pot,i know i can if i want but why? I would rather catch that fish again or at least give someone else the chance to catch it!

 

If i fancy something to eat then i'll go to the shop!!!

That is your choice.

 

However, people are referring to the illegality of taking fish.

 

I am simply pointing out that it is not illegal if someone holds a licence and the person is fishing within the club rules.

 

...there are plenty of indigenous british anglers who fish illegally.

 

Why do these threads focus on immigrants?

Edited September 28, 2006 by dogfish

[ColinW]

I agree with the rest of what you said, but I can't quite agree with that one. I'd rate perch, pike and eel up with the best sea fish. Certainly above, say, whiting.

 

It just goes to show, because I would put whiting right near the top of my list

I've eaten pike and perch out of Scottish lochs and they did nothing for me. I tried to cook an eel once but having fought for ten minutes to get its skin off I was nearly sick when I started poaching it and a load of white goo started coming out of the flesh. I'll leave them to the cockneys!

I remember once as a kid catching a roach close to two pounds from a pond in a British Rail yard. One of their staff saw it and said "Give us that. I'll have it for me tea" I said "You can't eat roach"

"I'll have a damned good try!" he replied. Unfortunately I dropped it back in the water as I was handing it to him!

[Steve Burke]

Can we just clarify one point:

 

IT IS NOT ILLEGAL TO TAKE COARSE FISH FOR THE TABLE (or for bait).

 

It is illegal to fish without a rod licence whether you are from Poland, Pakistan or Birmingham.

 

It may be against SOME club rules but , as far as the EA rules are concerned, you are allowed to take a number of fish providing to stick to various size and bag limits.

 

If the club rules ban it then it is up to them to take action.

 

Most of my clubs allow fish to be taken.

 

Not so, I'm afraid.

 

Here's what I posted on a previous topic:

 

"In England and Wales it is illegal to take any fish from any stillwater not connected to a river without the express permission of the owner of the fishing rights. To do so is a criminal offence under the Theft Act. Indeed, even fishing such a stillwater without permission of the owner is considered theft as you'd be "stealing" his fishing rights.

 

River and canal fish are considered wild creatures and therefore don't belong to anyone. Thus they can't strictly speaking be stolen. Having said that you can still steal the owner's fishing rights and therefore be prosecuted under the Theft Act if you fish such waters without permission, whether you take any fish or not. However these laws don't apply to tidal rivers or the extremely few waters that are designated public fisheries. So on non-tidal rivers and canals, or on stillwaters connected to a river, it's still illegal to take any fish from any water without the express permission of the owner of the fishing rights, unless the venue is designated a public fishery.

 

Additionally, both the owner of the fishing rights and/or the Environment Agency may impose size or bag limits. As far as I'm aware there are no such national EA limits. However there are local limits, especially for game fish. In each case it is a criminal offence to break any of these regulations, and in the case of breaking the owner's rules it's again treated as theft.

 

One final point. Whether or not there's a sign saying the fishery is private is irrelevant. With the very rare exception all non-tidal waters in England and Wales are private.

 

For further details see the excellent book "Angler's Law in England and Wales" by R.I.Millichamp.""

Edited September 28, 2006 by Steve Burke

[kleinboet]

What's needed is the PCSO type of person to patrol the waters!

Or alternately a freephone "cheat line" where you can mobile them while at the water and give full descriptions, car numbers (where available) etc. And the angler be willing to go to court as a witness to them breaking the law!!