17/05/2005 - Three anglers
caught fishing without rod licences in Cornwall
have been ordered to pay nearly £1,000
in fines and costs.
The dodgers, all visitors to the county, were
netted by Environment Agency fisheries officers
during routine patrols of lakes and rivers.
The highest fine of £312 was dished
out by East Cornwall Magistrates to Thomas
Grylls for fishing on the River Fowey during
the close season. Grylls, from Luton, claimed
he had a fishing licence, but this was found
to be untrue. He committed the offence at
Ashford Bridge near Liskeard on October 24,
2004 – two weeks into the close season that
runs from October 10 – March 30.
Grylls, who claimed he had been fishing for
brown trout, was also ordered to pay £60.00
costs after pleading guilty to an offence
under the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries
Act 1975.
Christopher Cunliffe, from Bolton, Lancashire,
was fined £272 with £60.00 costs
for fishing at Porth Reservoir, Newquay without
a valid fishing licence. The court heard Cunliffe
had assembled his rod and line and was about
to start fishing on September 21, 2004 when
he was caught by fisheries enforcement officers.
The third angler brought to book was Arthur
Cunliffe, also from Bolton, Lancashire, who
was caught fishing at Porth Reservoir on September
21, without a licence. He was fined £213
with £60.00 costs.
The cases against all three defendants were
heard on Monday (May 16) by East Cornwall
Magistrates sitting in Liskeard.
"While we welcome visiting anglers to
Cornwall to enjoy the many high quality fishing
opportunities it has to offer, we strongly
remind them of the importance of holding a
valid rod licence. Angling without a licence
can bring heavy penalties as these three prosecutions
clearly demonstrate," said Mark Pilcher
for the Environment Agency.
