Pike For The Pot

[Steve Burke]

yes its called theft ,in rivers fish tend to only be owned by the EA (strange that)

 

Almost right, Dave. Here's what I've posted about this in the past:

 

"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, or not allow fish to be removed, even to eat. 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.""

 

Where you are allowed to take fish to eat I can't see any harm in taking the occasional small or medium-sized pike, but not big ones. I've only once done so and my young son wouldn't eat it. That is until he was told it was pike or nothing. He ended up asking for seconds!

 

I have to say though I prefer both perch and zander to pike.

Edited April 4, 2011 by Steve Burke

[lutra]

Additionally, both the owner of the fishing rights and/or the Environment Agency may impose size or bag limits, or not allow fish to be removed, even to eat. As far as I'm aware there are no such national EA limits.

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homea...ing/119393.aspx

[Steve Burke]

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homea...ing/119393.aspx

 

Thanks, Brian.

 

I'd forgotten about that - my original post was made before this came into force.

[chesters1]

i suppose it depends on if a canal is a river ,they do flow but many never connect to a river so perhaps are extremely long ponds?

the basingstoke canal has a close season for "restocking"

but seemingly some of the kennet and avon is open all year

http://home.btconnect.com/kenavon/usefulinfo.pdf

 

i'm sure though canals are subject to club rules which may forbid stealing fish as i expect some do on rivers (even when the fish are wild) which you agree to on joining the club .Farnham AS has a no take policy on all their waters

Edited April 5, 2011 by chesters1

[teddy]

i suppose it depends on if a canal is a river ,they do flow but many never connect to a river so perhaps are extremely long ponds?

the basingstoke canal has a close season for "restocking"

but seemingly some of the kennet and avon is open all year

http://home.btconnect.com/kenavon/usefulinfo.pdf

 

i'm sure though canals are subject to club rules which may forbid stealing fish as i expect some do on rivers (even when the fish are wild) which you agree to on joining the club .Farnham AS has a no take policy on all their waters

 

i remeber seeing keith floyd cook pike many years ago - in fact he cocked up filleting it - the french devour pike as a delicacy.

you get a fair size fillet from a 7Lb fish - surely the odd cock fish does not hurt.

[Worms]

i remeber seeing keith floyd cook pike many years ago - in fact he cocked up filleting it - the french devour pike as a delicacy.

you get a fair size fillet from a 7Lb fish - surely the odd cock fish does not hurt.

Taking the odd jack for tea won't affect stocks. It's sustainable food and bloody good as well!

[poledark]

Oddly enough, one of the main reasons the original close seasons were created, was because of the "alarming" decrease in the pike stocks, particularly on the Thames.

 

Den

[Dick Dastardly]

I should imagine that us pike anglers ultimately kill more pike in one season in the name of sport than are killed for the pot in 10 years!

 

Nothing wrong with taking the occasional one as long as its done legally..........................but I doubt you would want to that often its not that special!

[Andy Macfarlane]

I should imagine that us pike anglers ultimately kill more pike in one season in the name of sport than are killed for the pot in 10 years.

 

Depends on how you measure it though. On my local ressie, one particularly fruitful Chinese feller was fishing for pike on a near daily basis, until he was shown 'the error of his ways'. Now he killed more pike on that water than all the pikers put together, no matter what their skill level was and that's without hesitation from me. Our 'friend' just happened to kick the arse out of it but apply that logic to a handful more waters in my area and then you assumption starts to lose ground. The types that fish for the pot are no longer the ones that just want a wee fish here and there for tea. I've seen folk of whatever denomination setting up camp with barbecues on the go and everything that comes out is eaten...minnow, perch, pike, roach....no matter.

 

That all said, I still think we should still have the right to fish for the pot.

[ColinW]

As I see it the main problem with taking "one or two five to ten pound fish" is that, in a couple of years, all you will be able to catch is small jack after small jack, because you will have removed the bigger fish that keep their numbers down. Basically you will ruin your sport, until you get bored and fish somewhere else and things eventually recover.

I've eaten pike a few times (we had a club rule that said they couldn't be put back, now long since scrapped) and to be honest they aren't anything special to eat. They are OK in fish pies, soups and stews mixed with other fish but they aren't really a fish that you would want to eat as a fillet on its own. I'm convinced that the reason people in central Europe eat freshwater fish is because they have no access to sea fish. It's not because they really like them!

If I was to make a list of descending eating quality it would read

 

wild sea fish and shellfish

farmed sea fish

wild trout

farmed trout

farmed salmon

coarse fish (of which I admit I've only tasted pike and perch, but they are meant to be the best of a bad lot)

 

I haven't put wild salmon on the list because eating them the way stocks are is irresponsible. I haven't differentiated between sea fish because in my opinion ANY sea fish, even the humble flounder if caught in the sea, tastes better than any of the fish lower in the list. I also haven't put eels on the list because when I once "took one home for the pot" and cooked it I was almost sick just looking at the slimy gelatinous result (cockneys are strange) and couldn't bring myself to try it.