Agency cracks down on
salmon poaching on Cornish estuaries
The discovery of a large
illegal net on the River Camel near Padstow
has prompted fisheries officers to launch
a major crack-down on poachers on Cornish
estuaries.
The 150-metre long net
was recovered on Monday (July 13) evening
after Agency officers received a tip-off
from a member of the public. Luckily it
didn’t contain any fish and was removed
by fisheries officers with the help of the
Padstow Harbourmaster.
The Environment Agency
is working closely with the Police and Sea
Fishery Authorities to protect migrating
salmon and sea trout on the Camel Estuary.
Regulations controlling the use of nets
are also designed to protect an important
local bass nursery.
This latest swoop follows
recent seizures of illegal fixed nets at
Daymar Bay and Little Petherick Creek. Given
its large size and position, the net could
have caught a large number of fish if it
had been left undisturbed.
‘Fortunately, on this
occasion the net was empty which suggests
it hadn’t been in the water long. We had
officers in the area at the time and were
able to act swiftly assisted by the harbourmaster
and the police,’ said Chris Hitchings for
the Environment Agency.
‘This latest success
highlights the benefits of working in partnership
with other authorities and organisations.
We will be using this approach during anti-poaching
work targeting all the main local estuaries
including the Camel, Fowey and Tamar.’
“With wild salmon fetching
around £18 per kilogram, people might
be tempted to set an illegal net to make
some money, especially during the credit
crunch, but our advice is ‘Don’t risk it’.
There are lots of pairs of eyes watching
Cornwall’s estuaries and in all likelihood
you’ll be caught. We always prosecute where
we have sufficient evidence,’ said Chris
Hitchings.
The public can play
an important role in protecting our rivers
from illegal fishing by reporting poaching
and other environmental crimes using the
Environment Agency’s free 24-hour hotline
0800 80 70 60.
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Environment Agency sponsors
Redditch angling taster day
The Environment Agency
is sponsoring a free ‘angling taster day’,
organised by the Angling Development Board,
which will take place at Arrow Valley Lake,
Redditch, on Friday 31 July 2009 between
9.30am and 4.30pm.
The event is part of
National Go Fishing Week (24 July – 2 August
2009) and anyone can go along to try their
hand at catching some coarse fish under
the expert supervision of qualified licensed
angling coaches from the Angling Trust.
Environment Agency Fisheries
Technical Officers will be on hand to assist
and to demonstrate the arts of fly-casting
and fly-tying.
Our sponsorship will
include providing angling ‘goodies’, such
as items of fishing tackle, as prizes. We
have also provided a portaloo with facilities
for the disabled. These have all been funded
through the money generated when anglers
buy rod licences.
Fisheries Technical
Officer John Andrews says “If you’d like
to try fishing, now’s your chance. It’s
free and if you could win a prize of some
angling tackle to take home with you. Thanks
to today’s anglers who buy rod licences
we can support events like these, which
provide an opportunity for anglers of the
future to give fishing a try. It is a fantastic
sport that is ideally suited to adults and
children alike and to people of varying
levels of fitness.”
