An elver fisherman from Bridgwater has been fined and ordered to pay costs of £2,729 after he was caught using an illegal net on the tidal River Parrett near Huntworth.
Dean Chappell of York Road, Bridgwater, was found guilty of two offences by Bridgwater Magistrates today and also had his net confiscated by the Environment Agency.
Fisheries bailiffs were on routine patrol on the tidal River Parrett near Bridgwater on April 15, 2007 when they saw Chappell, using an illegal elver net slightly upstream of Bridgwater.
The net was used in conjunction with a float and rope, which was tethered to the bank. Also, the net handle was fixed into the riverbank by a stake. When the net is fished in this manner it becomes a fixed engine.
The net was seized but Chappell refused to accept a seizure receipt for the net and other items as he claimed the equipment did not belong to him.
‘The use of a net fixed in this way gives fishermen an unfair advantage and enables them to catch additional elvers thereby reducing the number of young eels escaping upstream and depriving natural predators of a valuable source of food. In this case the net was tied to the bank with a rope and staked to the riverbank,’ said Richard Dearnley for the Environment Agency
As the government body responsible for enforcing and regulating fisheries, the Environment Agency regularly inspects sites where elver fishing takes place. It is also responsible for issuing licences which cost £65 per year.
Appearing before Bridgwater magistrates, Dean Chappell was fined a total of £750 and ordered to pay £1,962 costs after being found guilty of two offences including fishing for elvers with a prohibited instrument in contravention of the National Eel Fishery Byelaws 2004 and two offences of using an unauthorised fixed engine in breach of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975.
