Operating an unauthorised fixed net on the River Tywi Estuary at Ferryside on 24 April 2006 cost a Ferryside man £1,150 in fines and costs at Carmarthen Magistrate’s Court on Febuary 20th.
David Laughton Sandbrook Cole of Brigstocke Terrace, Ferryside was fined £400 and also ordered to pay costs of £750 in a prosecution brought by Environment Agency Wales.
He had pleaded guilty to using an unauthorised net in the estuary. The net was confiscated by the Agency.
The Court was told that on 24 April 2006 Agency Enforcement Officers found a stake net set on the left bank of the river downstream of Ferryside Railway Station. The net appeared to have been recently cleaned and no fish were present.
Byelaws issued by the South Wales Sea Fisheries Committee (SWSFC) restrict the height of stake nets in the Tywi estuary to 1.25 metres, however the net being used on this occasion was capable of exceeding this height. Lawful nets are effective for catching bottom dwelling fish such as flat fish, but migratory fish can swim over them safely.
Cole admitted that the net was his but argued that the nature of the tides was such that the height of the net would not have exceeded the height restriction.
In response to this the Agency carried further investigations of the river which demonstrated that the net would have exceeded the limit. The argument became unnecessary as the Court ruled that the Agency need only establish that a net had the capacity to exceed the height restriction.
As a result of that ruling the defendant amended his original pleas of not guilty to guilty although it was stressed on his behalf that it had not been his intention to catch migratory fish.
Following the case Stephen Williams, Senior Environmental Crime Officer said: “These byelaws are aimed at conserving fish stocks and specifically protecting salmon and sea trout. Stake nets are designed to catch bottom-feeding species such as flat fish and are therefore allowed in suitable areas. Nets that are allowed to float with the rising tide are however far less discriminatory and hence banned from most estuaries. We must protect vulnerable fish stocks from exploitation and salmon and sea trout are in serious decline on the River Tywi. Our enforcement officers make regular patrols to ensure that rules and regulations are being observed, and this will continue.”
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