Members of the public have helped Environment Agency officers foil four separate attempts to fish illegally in Kent in the last two weeks.
At Hadlow on the River Bourne, an eagle eyed lecturer from Hadlow College spotted four crayfish traps under the A26 roadbridge. The lecturer contacted the Environment Agency and Fisheries Technical Officer Ben Lord visited the site. He checked the traps and discovered that they were unlicensed. Ben seized the traps and left a receipt for the owner saying where they had been taken.
The use of Crayfish traps is licensed to protect the native white clawed crayfish, whose numbers are dropping rapidly.
On the Isle of Sheppey, an Environment Agency officer spotted two men acting suspiciously while he was out doing a water vole survey. The men were next to a pool beneath the old sheppey bridge. They were casting a net out into a pond and then tying it to the river bank with rope. When Tim Erskine and John Smith from the fisheries team went to the site, they found that the trap didn’t have a licence. It was baited and clearly set to trap eels. The Fisheries Officers seized the net and will hold it as evidence.
There are many concerns about eel stocks in the UK and Europe. The Environment Agency is working with the Eel fishing industry, angling and conservation interests and with the Government to help fight the decline in European Eel stocks. The Environment Agency’s National Eel Management Strategy can be found at www.environment-agency.gov.uk.
At Nickolls Quarry in Palmarsh, the fishery manager spotted a rope tied to the bank in a reed bed. When he pulled the rope he found it was attached to a Fyke net. The net contained several eels and roach. They were still alive and the fishery manager released them back into the lake. He called the Environment Agency’s 24hr incident hotline. Steve Smith and Tim Erskine from the Environment Agency’s Fisheries Technical team visited the site where they took details of vehicles seen at the lake and searched the area. No further nets were found but the lake will be monitored to make sure no further illegal nets are set.
At a popular fishing lake in Kemsley, keen-eyed locals spotted people setting unlicensed nets to catch fish owned by Swale Borough Council. Local Fisheries Officers attended and searched the lake to make sure there were no more nets.
Jon Whitmore, Fisheries Team Leader for the Environment Agency in Kent Area said:
“These are four examples of people using unlicensed or illegal methods to try and catch fish. All the fish species targeted in these incidents, are valuable either from a recreation or conservation point of view. This sort of illegal activity can irreparably damage valuable, local fish stocks and I would ask people to be vigilant and if they see anything suspicious to give us a ring immediately.
“Our officers undertake regular patrols in an effort to detect this sort of activity. We are also very reliant on members of the public reporting anything suspicious to us. Because of the quick actions of the public, our colleagues and a fisheries manager, we were able to respond quickly to these incidents and limit the damage to eel, crayfish and other freshwater fish species numbers, in the areas concerned.”
If you see anything suspicious, please report it to the Environment Agency on our 24 hour incident hotline freephone 0800 80 70 60.
