Paul Gainey - 8-Aug-2007
- Three poachers were filmed by Dorset’s police
helicopter as they removed fish from an illegal
net in Poole Harbour.
The trio were spotted by Environment Agency
officers during a routine fisheries patrol
on July 4, 2006. The police helicopter was
in the area and offered to assist in the operation.
The poachers had fixed an illegal net across
the entrance to the River Piddle using a flat-bottomed
boat known as a ‘Poole canoe.’ The net was
set in such a way so as to intercept any fish
trying to enter the river including salmon
and sea trout.
As the fisheries officers approached they
saw all three offenders in the water alongside
the boat. One was removing fish from the net
that contained five grey mullet and one bass.
The fish were returned alive to the water
by Agency officers. Five dead mullet were
lying in the boat.
The net was attached at each end to two coloured
marker buoys and anchored to the river bottom
with weights. It had been placed inside a
fishery owned by the Environment Agency where
the use of such a ‘fixed net’ is prohibited.
Officers seized the dead fish and net.
When asked what they were doing the offenders
claimed they were catching fish for their
dog. One of the defendants, Michael Corcoran,
said he hadn’t realised they had done anything
wrong. A second said he knew they couldn’t
keep any salmon or sea trout and that any
bass caught would have to be returned to the
water as they were fishing within a bass nursery
area.
The Dorset police helicopter assisted in
the final stages of the operation by hovering
overhead and filming the scene.
‘This net was fixed across the mouth of the
River Piddle at one of the most important
times of the year for migrating salmon and
sea trout. It was effectively blocking the
movement of fish upstream and would have caught
most fish as they entered the river with the
tide. Had it not been discovered it could
have resulted in a significant loss of breeding
stock,’ said Stuart Kingston-Turner for the
Environment Agency.
Michael Corcoran, 33, of Gussage Road, Parkstone
was today fined £200 and ordered to
pay £150 costs by East Dorset Magistrates
after pleading guilty to using a fixed net
in tidal waters contrary to Section 6(1) and
Schedule 4 of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries
Act 1975.
A reporting restriction, imposed by magistrates
at an earlier hearing, prevented the naming
of the two other defendants who were each
fined £100 and ordered to pay £150
costs. The court ordered forfeiture of the
net and fish caught.
+ More
Environment Agency launch consultation on
operating the emissions trading register for
large combustion plants
Head Office Press Office - 7-Aug-2007 - Operators
of Large Combustion Plants (LCPs) signed up
to the new UK National Emissions Reduction
Plan (NERP) may be required to justify the
quality of their emissions data under a proposal
being put forward for consultation this week.
The NERP scheme is aimed at reducing emissions
of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and dust
from LCPs, which can lead to human health
concerns and to acidification problems. The
Environment Agency, SEPA and the Chief Inspector
in Northern Ireland are calling for comments
from operators, industry groups and environmental
stakeholders on new guidance for verifying
emissions reporting and operating the trading
Register.
With 96 participating LCPs across the United
Kingdom, (77 in England and Wales, 18 in Scotland
and one in Northern Ireland), operators will
be encouraged to improve efficiency by allowing
them to trade emission allowances with other
participating LCPs.
Among the questions under the current consultation,
participating LCP operators have been asked
whether smaller installations – with a thermal
input of between 50 and 100MW – which are
not required under the Large Combustion Plants
Directive (LCPD) to have continuous emissions
monitoring, should be required to demonstrate
they have selected the most appropriate method
for the determination of their emissions.
"The UK National Emissions Reduction
Plan sets respective annual limits for the
emission of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides
and dust from participating LCPs, and will
allow operators the opportunity to trade these
allowances within the respective national
bubble for each pollutant," said Environment
Agency Industry Regulation Advisor Dr Peter
Newman.
The Environment Agency on behalf of the other
Regulators will operate a register allowing
the controlled trading of these emissions
among participating LCPs from 1 January 2008
– similar to their role under the EU Emissions
Trading Scheme.
"Even so operators must hold sufficient
allowances to at least match their actual
emissions at the end of each calendar year.
This is one example of modern regulation in
practice. It limits the total national annual
emission of these pollutants from participating
LCPs across the UK and provides a more equitable
way of sharing out the total allocations between
operators.
"We aim to publish our response to comments
received in October 2007. The NERP register
will be set up by the end of November 2007,
so that emissions trading can start from 1
January 2008."
