coarse fishing laws

[s_mac]

I am going to count myself as a novice to the fishing laws....there has been another good thread regarding fish taking.

 

i would like to clarify what the law is on an ordinary EA rod license.

 

as regards the catching and taking of fish from UK waters.

 

as i have seen one guy fish and take a bream from my local canal, but he bolted before i could ask what he was doing. that was two weeks ago.

 

last week the same guy was fishing, with 2 rods, no landing net. he caught nothing that day.

 

i know he is bound to be there for the third week running and have my video cam ready.

 

i ask for your advice on the law, and best coarse of actiom.

 

many thanks.. s_mac

Edited August 31, 2006 by s_mac

[Bob Bradford]

You need to find out what your local by-laws state, the taking of coarse fish for the pot is perfectly legal in England the amount you are allowed to take at any one time varies from county to county, the angler you mentioned must not take coarse fish and relocate them live elsewhere though, he is not obliged to kill the fish , but most anglers fishing for the pot do the humane thing. You may think this is morally wrong, but the angler has the law on his side, provided he does not take more than the county limit.

[Leon Roskilly]

On stillwaters the fish are the property of whoever owns or controls the fishery and fish cannot be removed without the express permission of the owner, otherwise it is theft.

 

On rivers nobody owns the fish, but there are often local byelaws governing what can be taken and under what circumstances.

[Steve Burke]

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. 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.

Edited September 6, 2006 by Steve Burke

[RobStubbs]

I would suggest you could do worse than phone the EA and ask them for advice.

 

Rob.

[Steve Burke]

The following questions and answers relating to fishing in the House of Commons on November 15th 2005 may be of interest:

 

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the Government's policy is on the use of fixed bolt rigs in lakes in England. [27134]

 

Mr. Bradshaw: The use of fixed bolt rigs is legal if used in conjunction with a licensed rod and line and in accordance with fishery byelaws.

 

To encourage anglers to take a responsible approach to their sport, the National Angling Alliance has produced a Code of Conduct for Coarse Anglers. This has been endorsed by the Environment Agency. This code includes advice on how bolt rigs should be used to minimise the risk to fish.

 

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the Government's policy is on whether fishing lakes and rivers should have a closed season. [27135]

 

Mr. Bradshaw: Fishing close seasons in England and Wales are specified in the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act, 1975, and byelaws made under that Act. The rationale for the statutory close seasons is to protect fisheries from the impacts of angling during the spawning season. Coarse fish are returned alive to fisheries and therefore a close season for these species may no longer be justified on all waters.

 

The close season for coarse fish runs from 15 March to 15 June inclusive on all rivers, the Norfolk Broads and on some stillwater Sites of Special Scientific Interest. It also applies to several canals which have multiple connections with neighbouring rivers.

 

The statutory coarse fish close season has been removed on canals and on all other stillwaters.

 

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps the Government is taking to stop the poaching of (a) carp, ( bream, © pike and (d) tench in lakes in England. [27137]

 

Mr. Bradshaw: "Poaching", whether for these or other fish species, generally refers to taking fish using illegal methods, and/or taking fish without the owner's permission, i.e. theft. It cuts across the roles and responsibilities of the fishery owner, the Environment Agency and the Police.

 

The Environment Agency is responsible for regulating fishing methods, under the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act, 1975. Individual fishery owners and the police are responsible for enforcing the Theft Act, 1968.

 

The Environment Agency does not have the powers to prosecute under the Theft Act, but will work with the police to bring prosecutions where both theft and illegal fishing offences are committed.

 

The Environment Agency takes an intelligence-led approach to programming enforcement and offence detection. It will respond to reports of illegal fishing in line with its customer charter. When it detects an offence and can gather sufficient evidence, it will take further action in line with its enforcement and prosecution policy.

 

The Environment Agency and the police support local "fishwatch" schemes, whereby fishery owners share information on suspicious activity.