Who's been eating my carp?

[Steve Walker]

[Dales]

Would not a sign saying "Admission at owners discretion" not allow him to be selective on who gets to fish?

 

Or run it is a members only fishery with membership available on the day for a minimal fee "membership at owners discretion". The fee could even be refundable against your first visit. There must be lots of ways to legal control access. But then he would not be able to openly display his racist views and get a pat on the back from his true British regulars if he controlled access in a normal way.

[wotnobivvy]

Would not a sign saying "Admission at owners discretion" not allow him to be selective on who gets to fish?

 

Or run it is a members only fishery with membership available on the day for a minimal fee "membership at owners discretion". The fee could even be refundable against your first visit. There must be lots of ways to legal control access. But then he would not be able to openly display his racist views and get a pat on the back from his true British regulars if he controlled access in a normal way.

 

Spot on Dales

[kenj]

It's a problem in my area and difficult to police. My club gave up a water that was being illegally night fished, leaving fires and filleted fish remains, plus the beer cans and litter. One local brook with a good head of perch, roach, and dace was fished out by "certain people" fishing day and night with up to four cheap glass rods at a time, using gorge tactics. For them it was a way of subsidizing their benefits by putting food on their tables.

 

On the Basingstoke canal I had a couple of builders come down in their lunch break and offer to buy my net of roach and skimmers. On another canal a few years ago, I stopped to talk to another chap, who had two live bait rigs out for pike, in the water were four jack, alive on their backs with a string through their gills. When I asked about them, he held up a knife and said in broken English,he stabbed them in the brain to stop them swimming away, to keep them fresh.

 

This does go on unfortunately and proactive education is the only way to combat it.

[Anderoo]

He obviously needs to do something about the criminal activity, but banning an entire segment of the population - even if the criminals are respresentitive of that - is clearly wrong to any level headed individual. And probably illegal.

 

I certainly wouldn't dispute the assertion that some Eastern Europeans take fish to eat, either through ignorance of laws or because they choose to ignore them. But I have met quite a few perfectly law abiding Eastern European anglers in recent years, mostly lure fishing on the Thames and at the reservoirs, and the ones I've met have been not only friendly and law abiding, but absolutely red hot with a lure rod! To lump people like that into the same group as dodgy people nicking carp out of a little pond is nothing short of insulting.

[Steve Walker]

I was speaking to someone recently on one of my local waters - a committee member of another local club, though not the one I was fishing, but I guess with some insight into what goes on. I mentioned that it was difficult to target perch because of the restrictions on spinning and fish baits - he thought those restrictions were in place because they are methods favoured by Eastern European anglers. I pointed out that if people were there to steal fish, they probably wouldn't bother buying a club card, let alone reading and obeying the rules.

 

Definitely illegal to discriminate on the grounds of nationality - racial discrimination is defined in law as including "race or ethnic or national origins".

 

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2003/1626/regulation/3/made

[poledark]

Why is it that "we" have to understand that "their" culture is different? These people (whoever they are) are simple thieves, no more or less, and if they happen to come from Eastern europe then tough. I think his easiest answer is to do a bit of checking on people leaving, a few caught in the act and reported to the police might deter future thieves. Even a sign saying all anglers leaving will have their vehicles searched would help, and a few spot checks during the evening.

 

But, maybe he has tried all that, maybe he doesn't live on site,maybe he doesn't want to risk any confrontations, after all, if they are of a different culture, then he may be at serious risk of injury.

 

Simple answer is to put up a sign banning these type of people......................oh yes...............he has tried that every one is so concerned about some guy trying to protect his livelyhood, none of them seem to have similar problems, and yet he is branded racist.

 

I also wonder what sort of response he would get if he did have reason to call the police for help?

 

Den

Edited April 12, 2013 by poledark

[Steve Walker]

It is racism, and it is illegal. It doesn't matter if there is a basis in fact for thinking that people from that group are more likely to be offenders, it's against the law. You can't ban brown people from the tube or Irish people from pubs because people who blow things up are more often from those groups than from other groups because it is unjust to those who are innocent.

[RUDD]

_{The two clubs in am in were given no fish taking signs by the EA to put up.}

_{I am sure some of you will have seen them - they are quite universal.}

_{Not sure what implications the sign will have, what countries do you consider to be Eastern European as it is a generic term.}

_{His best course of action may be to have a Polcy such as: No day ticket will be issued unless a valid EA licence accompanied by a second form of photographic Id is produced.}

_{He could then keep a record of who has been fishing. A criminal is hardy going to give you their details before commiting a crime.}

[Tigger]

If the water belongs to him then imo he should be able to ban who ever he wants to. If his sign said no one from Lancashire allowed it wouldn't bother me in the slightest. The mans most likely reached the end of his tether and just decided to ban them all. When I worked on clubs etc we had the right to refuse entry to who ever we chose to and without any other reason than we didn't want them in. If you look over any pub door there will be a sign saying exactly that.