an idea to stop fish being taken by eastern europeans

[Guest long-trotter]

LT as a serving police officer I have another question for you;

 

How many times do you know of when the police were called out by anglers for reported fish thefts have they responded with their presence and was there a successful prosecution?

 

I ask because my current understanding of the situation is the police do not respond and state it is not within their remit.

 

Bob, In answer to you first question I myself have not heard of any reports. thats why I am amazed at the problems in other areas. My force area is Devon & Cornwall it is the largest territorial force in England and Wales. so you see I would not know of every crime reported in my area, so there could be a few .

 

In answer to your second question, If a club or a fishery owner makes a complaint of fish theft it would be investigated. If it's not, complain to the Chairman of the Police Authority. Theft is within our remit.

 

Bob, I am on your side mate, as I said in a previous post, What needs to be done is the clubs in the areas where they have a genuine problem with fish being removed need to approach the E.A and the Police and work with them to try and establish the extent of the problem and set up a strategy to deal with it.

Edited October 1, 2006 by long-trotter

[waterman1013]

Fisheries and Angling Conservation Trust (FACT) recently had a meeting with Defra and the EA on the subject of the much promised new fisheries bill, which the government cannot find time for in Parliament.

 

We suggested a number of ideas to the Agency regarding bylaws on licenses, buddy slots to allow a new angler to go without a licence to fish with a licensed friend on one occasion before getting his/her own licence and others. The Agency is considering putting the bylaws back on the licence or attaching copies of local and national bylaws to all licenses.

 

The Agency are currently reviewing whether they have the powers to act under The Theft Act, which power they believe is restricted to the police. They are taking fresh legal advice on whether they could add this to their armoury for enforcement.

 

"The question was whether Anglers could act as Voluntary Community Baliffs in association with the EA."

 

The Agency used to have volunteer and part time bailiffs. They disappeared with the advent of the Health and Safety culture!!

 

The Agency is now logging all calls received regarding "fish theft" and "illegal Fishing", and comparing those figures with the figures local police forces maintain. In the last twelve months the Agency claim to have only logged 27 calls on this issue, so for all the heat in the debate if you see it happening call the Agency on 0800 807060. The call is free. Ask for the log number when calling to ensure that the emergency team have logged it. Remember they deal with all pollution events, flooding etc and a vast array of environmental issues, so you will be speaking to a national call centre and probably someone who does not even know the Agency is responsible for fisheries.

 

The Government has recently cut Grant in Aid to the fisheries teams of the Agency, yet again, so you could lobby your MP to get the money re-instated on the basis that you do not believe that you are getting value for your rod licence fees and taxes.

 

The current members of FACT are:-

 

- Anglers Conservation Association - Angling Trades Association

- Association of Stillwater Game Fishery Managers - Atlantic Salmon Trust

- Professional Coarse Fisheries Association - National Federation of Anglers

- National Association of Fisheries & Angling Consultatives - National Federation of Sea Anglers

- Salmon & Trout Association - Specialist Anglers Alliance

 

I hope that helps with some understanding of the issue and what is happening at a national level to try to address it.

 

Michael

[yog]

Here in the Fens immigrants are a big problem in that they are using gill nets to catch their fish.I know this because i`ve witnessed them using them on 3 seperate occasions.The last occasion 2 EA intelligent officers visited my home.This was mainly due to me being threatened both verbally and with an iron bar.I wont go into detail or i`ll be here all night but i caught these blokes at 5 AM in the morning using these illegal nets.Beside their white transit van were 2 bin liners full of coarse fish.This is just one inccident among many here in the Fens.I explained to one of the immigrants [who ,by the way could speak very good english] that this practice is now illegal in this country.But he and the rest of the gang just didn`t seem to bother.Educating these people is completely laughable,as i can assure you they already know the law.

 

If something is not done this country in time will be like the rivers and lakes of poland...devoid of fish!.

[Bob Bradford]

Waterman wrote;

"The Agency are currently reviewing whether they have the powers to act under The Theft Act, which power they believe is restricted to the police. They are taking fresh legal advice on whether they could add this to their armoury for enforcement."

 

So what is the point of the emergency hotline? At last the EA are admitting they do not follow up fish theft complaints, it's a way of keeping the official numbers of complaints down I suppose but is not an effective deterrent is it?

 

The laws are clear but getting an organisation (any organisation) to uphold them is impossible.....hence the current spate of illegal fishing methods and fish thefts, it IS going on up and down the Country and up and down the Country anglers have and do phone the EA hotline, I phoned them once and was told that non existent Mink and Otters were the culprits, I invited the EA down to show me ANY evidence of their existence......I am still waiting.

 

LT the police do not get involved with fish thefts from our rivers .....period, the truth is our Natural fish stocks remain unprotected .

Edited October 1, 2006 by Bob Bradford

[dogfish]

Threads like this really get some hysterical over reactions.

 

If something is not done this country in time will be like the rivers and lakes of poland...devoid of fish!.

 

Seems like not everybody agrees with you:

 

 

http://polishpoland.com/fish.htm

 

Keep things in perspective.

[GrahamHD]

Threads like this really get some hysterical over reactions.

Seems like not everybody agrees with you:

http://polishpoland.com/fish.htm

 

Keep things in perspective.

 

I do think it's quite in perspective. Knowing several people who've witnessed it happening it is worrying. Nothing hysterical about it in my opinion, it's here, it's happening.

[gozzer]

Is it any wonder that people like dogfish and myself think that it is blown out of proportion, when, (if you have read the past threads on the subject) the reactions and accusations that are posted when someone admits that they take a fish for the pot quite legally, are so hysterical and IMO ridiculous. This seems to me like a giant game of 'Chinese whispers'. I have no doubt that somewhere people have witnessed fish being taken illegally, on what scale I don't know. The number of reported incidents to the EA would suggest not many. But in a stereotypical angling way these are getting exaggerated, the the angling press and some nationals are picking up on it and using it in the way the press do everything, sensationally. This in turn fuels more speculation, accusations, and more alleged incidents, but strangely no more reports to the EA. This suggests to me that nothing short of hysteria is being fueled by a few genuine incidents, the motives for which I'll leave you to decide on for yourselves. I personally have not witnessed, or even heard first hand of any incidents. I have just heard 'a friend of a friend was told that someone heard about....' type of thing. I have seen reported that a member of staff from AT said something about shot guns being brandished by anglers at 'poachers', with shots fired overhead, and that it won't be long before the aim gets lower. The person alleged to have said this came on AN to deny it, but I have not seen a retraction from the papers that printed it yet. There are many things that threaten angling, mostly they are a by product of todays way of life. The Eastern European 'threat' is a nice visible easy target, that can be used by those that have a genuine concern and have witnessed incidents, but also by those with a hidden agenda. Be careful not to get one mixed up with the other.

[ColinW]

Threads like this really get some hysterical over reactions.

Seems like not everybody agrees with you:

http://polishpoland.com/fish.htm

 

Keep things in perspective.

 

To quote from the link

 

Poland is a largely undiscovered fishing and anglers paradise. With countless lakes, rivers and streams, Poland is an ideal angling country.

 

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for England. That is the whole point. There may well be countless fish stocks in Eastern Europe, that can support fishing for consumption by their relatively sparse populations. The fish stocks here were capable of the same back in Isaak Walton's day, when this country had a population of four million people. The difference is that we now have a population of nearly sixty million. This problem is neither "perceived", "exaggerated" nor "racist", it is real. If the immigrants were pulling their gill nets through the Dee at Balmoral instead of Fenland drains you can bet that the authorities would do something about it!

[dogfish]

To quote from the link

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for England. That is the whole point. There may well be countless fish stocks in Eastern Europe, that can support fishing for consumption by their relatively sparse populations. The fish stocks here were capable of the same back in Isaak Walton's day, when this country had a population of four million people. The difference is that we now have a population of nearly sixty million. This problem is neither "perceived", "exaggerated" nor "racist", it is real. If the immigrants were pulling their gill nets through the Dee at Balmoral instead of Fenland drains you can bet that the authorities would do something about it!

A few posts back someone was saying that Poland's rivers are devoid of fish stocks because fish are taken for the table.

Seems that they are not after all.

 

Who are we supposed to believe?...I suppose the anti immigrants need to be a bit more consistent rather than all these conflicting 'reports' and supposed 'evidence' they produce.

[yog]

Polands rivers are devoid of fish................I KNOW BECAUSE I`VE FISHED THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

The trouble with us Brits is we never seem to do anything about anything until its to late.