A West Yorkshire man was yesterday (Wednesday) fined £108 after pleading guilty to illegally netting fish while on holiday in Northumberland.
Brian Carl Renner, of Elsham Meadows, Earlsheaton, Dewsbury, was also ordered to pay costs of £840 to the Environment Agency, which brought the case at Alnwick Magistrates’ Court.
Mr Renner also had to pay a £15 victims surcharge and had to forfeit any nets or equipment used at the time to be destroyed.
Paul Harley, prosecuting for the Environment Agency, told the court how Mr Renner had been on holiday in Northumberland last month, and while there he was caught by officers to be using an unlicensed net to catch salmon.
On 7 September, Environment Agency fisheries enforcement officers were alerted by a member of the public that a fixed net had been placed on the River Aln, Northumberland.
Fisheries officers came to the scene and watched Mr Renner return at 1.40am when he removed the net. Officers arrested Mr Renner at the scene, and he was taken to the local police station where he was questioned and charged with using an unlicensed net under the salmon and freshwater fisheries act.
Mr Renner admitted that he had been fishing for salmon on the River Aln. The net he had placed across the river failed to catch any fish.
The magistrates’ said that Mr Renner’s actions were intentional and premeditated.
Speaking after the case, Environment Agency fisheries enforcement officer Kevin Summerson said: “This case shows that poachers are prepared to travel to target some of the region’s best salmon stocks. We will do everything within our power to ensure that those who illegally take fish are prosecuted.”
