Nigel Williams

[greg long]

My answer to this in conservation&politics:

 

Because of actions like this, our river Inny, an important trout nursery for some of our loughs is now over-run with Chub. These non native fish will drive out many of the natural trout due to their aggressive nature, they will also feed on the trout spawn and on the young fish doing untold damage for future fish stocks. They can now also spread to other river systems including the whole of the Shannon system(about 20% of the Irish rivers). This law was brought in to stop just this type of problem happening. We already had Roach in the Corrib system, Dace in the Cork Blackwater due to live bait transport (the Dace came from the UK, and were released in a Salmon river of all places---not even where there were Pike!) If the so-called angling experts spouting in the angling media are this stupid, inconsiderate and self-serving, god help your vendace stocks in the lake district etc.

The fact that they were on their way to Ireland and were carrying fish across a national border, possibly carrying infectious deseases with them just makes it all the more worse. We are only a few short years over an outbreak of foot and mouth desease that was brought across into Ireland (Via NI) from the UK by unscrupulous livestock smugglers, so there is no excuse of "not realising the risks".

He was breaking the law in at least three ways:

 

1. It is illegal to move any live fish without a license (even within England)

 

2. They were carrying live fish across an International border without vetinary clearance certs.

 

3. They were failing to declare live animals at a border crossing.

 

Add to that they were intending to fish illegally in Ireland, we do not allow livebaiting, and they were well aware of the fact.

 

I believe the vehicles should have been impounded (It would have been over here) and a jail term was warranted. This was not a stupid mistake. It was a CRIMINAL OFFENSE

[Sam the fish]

Nigel is in the wrong for sure on this one but the thing that really gets my goat is this:

 

When the whole situation came to light some months back and he was caught transporting the live fish he gave a press release that stated this " I did not intend to use the fish as live baits , I intended to kill them before commencing fishing to ensure I was using the freshest deadbaits possible"..........

 

How stupid does he think we all are? Thats a ludicrous suggestion! It was obvious his intention was to use the baits live otherwise he would not have gone to such effort to conceal them and get them to Ireland alive and well!! What really annoys me the most is that even though he was caught red-handed he still did not have it within himself to put his hands up and admit the truth. To get caught and continue to try and lie ones way out of it in the face of the public and britains anglers is really quite sad.He's digging a hole he may have some trouble getting out of and is going to have difficulty getting back the respect he probably should'nt have had in the first place!

[Dunk Fairley]

And he couldn't even be bothered to turn up in court.

 

If you stick your head above the parapet, make sure it's covered, or you sure will get it shot off!

 

Still, I hope if there is a public castration over this, a few more of the self serving gonks who may have thouight about doing anything so stupid, may think again.

[blackwater]

One or two points in response to the Greg Long post.

The River Inny is not overrun with Chub - the Shannon Regional Fisheries board have electro fished the relevant stretches and found small numbers of chub, all of which they killed. (These are the same people who are supposed to be enforcing the new laws aimed at protecting coarse fish stocks.)

The River Inny has always been a coarse river. What numbers of trout are in the river are so negligible as to be almost irrelevant.

Chub and trout live side by side in hundreds of rivers throughout England and Wales, why do you think that it will be different in Ireland.

If Irish trout anglers hadn't been killing every fish that they caught for the last fifty years then trout stocks might be in a better position.

Every year on Lough Corrib thousands of trout are killed in competitions, yet the blame for falling stocks is laid on Roach and Bream.

Dace and Roach were introduced into the River Blackwater in the mid - 1800s. At that time it was a prolific Pike water, and was up until the 1960s, when the Fisheries Board started the systematic slaughter of pike in the river. Local people in Fermoy well remember the large quantities removed, "truckloads" as one resident told me only last year.

This Irish angling hierarchy of Salmon and Brown Trout being the only fish worth catching (and killing - to hell with the stocks), with everything else only worthy of being thrown up the bank is pathetic in this day and age. a pitiful legacy of our colonial past.

[Waveney One]

There is a 2 page interview with Nige Williams in AT today, I haven't read it all the way through yet, but one thing strikes me. He said he was "grassed up" and that he considers this to be "worse than the offence I committed. I would never, ever do that."

 

Well, I think it sums his attitude up entirely. He admits making a mistake. Whatever he says, he obviously doesn't think that the offence is too bad.

 

Well Nige, I've grassed you up as well now mate. I am glad the last few month's have been the worst of your life - you deserve it and a lot more than you appear to be getting.

 

Yes, his car should have been impounded and turned into scrap metal. He should now be in prison.

[DaveG]

Greg, which species of coarse fish are indigenous to ireland, only every post i read seems to inply that only trout & salmon were ever fished for. If coarse fish were introduced in the 1800s you can hardly blame pikers, as i imagine anyone rich enough to go to ireland to fish & take his bait would be fishing for the salmon probably as a guest of the local landowner.

[Waveney One]

The more I read of the interview in Angling Times issue out today, the more convinced I am that Williams has done this loads of times before. The quotes are straight from the Angling Times and I presume Williams has agreed to have them included in the AT. I don't think he is very intelligent either.

 

Another quote "I was aware that livebaiting is banned in Ireland, so I was going to kill what I planned to take over and use them as fresh bait. I know people will say that's b*llocks, but that's what I am sticking to. I have to don't I?" Says it all Williams.

 

On the one hand you say you have held your hands up and pleaded guilty on the other it seems as though you are just sticking to a story. I could go further but presume there are legalities involved.

 

By the way, if your solicitor really said you could fight it and probably get away with it, then I suggest you get yourself a new one quickly!

 

The final quote that I will make here shows the intelligence of the guy.

"It's unrealistic to expect pikers to stop livebaiting. All I'd say is if you're going to do it illegally, use baits that have been health checked"

 

How Nige? Take them along to the EA and say that I am going to illegally use these roach as livebaits I would like them health checked" If you get a fish movement order and you weren't going to use them in the lake district or abroad then it wouldn't be illegal. It may be against some fishery rules and reg's but certainly not illegal.

 

In fact I use fish livebaits myself. Both at sea and for pike and perch. I catch them from the waters I fish and use them the same day. PArt of the day out for me. I believe that to ban the use of fish livebaits would be a very bad thing. Fish livebaits first, them perhaps worms (earth and saltwater) and maggots?

 

Thanks Willliams for bringing such bad publicity to the sport and perhaps even putting the future of this great sport of ours under more pressure. I certainly will never buy another copy the Angler's Mail or Masterline product.

[ColinW]

The only thing Nige Williams has done which many other pike anglers haven't done is to get caught.

Before slating him and calling for his public castration I ask

"Do you always obey the speed limits?"

No, so why not? Because it seems they are often imposed for no good reason, by people who seem to have a pathological hatred of you just for being a motorist. And so it is for pike anglers. As long as I can remember amost all clubs and waters have had idiotic rules apparently there for no other reason than to hinder pike angling. So pike anglers have always had an attitude similar to car drivers, obeying the rules they think are reasonable and disregarding the rest.

Who speeds more than anyone else? People whose livelihoods depend on it.

[BoozleBear]

The only thing Nige Williams has done which many other pike anglers haven't done is to get caught.

Before slating him and calling for his public castration I ask

"Do you always obey the speed limits?"

No, so why not? Because it seems they are often imposed for no good reason, by people who seem to have a pathological hatred of you just for being a motorist. And so it is for pike anglers. As long as I can remember amost all clubs and waters have had idiotic rules apparently there for no other reason than to hinder pike angling. So pike anglers have always had an attitude similar to car drivers, obeying the rules they think are reasonable and disregarding the rest.

Who speeds more than anyone else? People whose livelihoods depend on it.

 

I can't believe I just read that!

 

"The only thing Nige Williams has done which many other pike anglers haven't done is to get caught."

 

Let's put a voting thread on here to see how many of us smuggle live fish in order to use them as live bait!

 

I pike fish on a regular basis and have had no problems what so ever obeying the rules and still catching pike, and I can say the same for the many other pike anglers I know too.

 

Posting such comments is almost as irresponsible as smuggling fish itself. If an angling sceptic, or even somebody new to angling and thinking they will give it a try, reads your comment they could go away (IF they were stupid enough) thinking that we all go about smuggling and fishing illegaly all the time.

 

Well you may (Note I said MAY, not do), do that kind of thing but if you do you are in the VAST MINORITY.

 

I won't even go into the driving comparison as that's ridiculous too.

Edited November 21, 2006 by BoozleBear

[Houseplant]

Well, as far as I can see there are some very compelling reasons to stop people transporting fish from one country to another illegally.