Poaching free for all!!

[Sawyer]

Apologies for the dramatic title but just been to North Wales for the weekend only to witness 2 incidents on the river I fish, both of which have left me di-heartened to say the least.
On our river the June run of large sea-trout (fish between 6-16lb) have got "stuck" in the middle reaches of the river & it seems to be open season for the local poaching community. The icing on the cake was yesterday afternoon whilst clearing the banks 3 lads walked past carrying 4 fish between 8-12lb in broad daylight bold as brass without a care in the world. Phoned the police only to be asked "are they not allowed to fish today" & left a message with the Natural Resources Wales helpline to be informed that they would look in to it (I gave a date/time & registration of the vehicle & a full description of the 3 men).
Chatting to my neighbour who is not a fisherman it seems that one of the lads we saw yesterday has taken to pulling fish out from the bridge pool in the middle of the village in broad daylight while people are looking on! I reported another incident late last week involving one of the three, and fair play the officer gave me a ring back, during the conversation he told me that they had numerous complaints about that particular individual.
I know that resources are stretched & times are hard for all Goverment Departments (devolved or not) but when fish stocks are at an all time low & we as anglers are being asked to pay our due & potentially observe catch & release then it seems we are just leaving more fish in the larder for our friends with a snare!

[phl]

The Angling Trust informs us that poaching is a criminal offence under the Theft Act 1968 which can be reported to the police. Whoever takes the call should be informed that the Home Office code for this offence is 116/11, and it is the police rather than the EA who have the responsibility to deal with it.
Whether they will take action is another matter, but I think the point about reporting it and quoting this code is that it will then be logged, and presumably if not dealt with will show up on their unsolved crime statistics. If there are enough reports of this kind it may stir them into action.
The Angling Trust guidance on this is as follows:

"When reporting such an incident, the points to make, in addition to the essential what, where,
when, offender description, and confirming signage etc, are: -
1. Fishing without permission is a Schedule 1 Theft Act 1968 offence.
2. The police are duty-bound to record and deal with it.
3. Point out that the Home Office Code for this offence is 116/11.
4. That, if applicable, the offence is in progress.
5. Whether the offender is verbally or physically aggressive.
6. Officers can refer to both the Police National Legal Database (PNLD), and the ‘Essential
Guide to Angling Law & Fisheries Enforcement’, produced in 2013 by the Angling Trust
and Environment Agency (EA), which was endorsed by the National Wildlife Crime Unit
(NWCU) and uploaded to the Police Online Knowledge Area (POLKA).
7. Officers can refer, if necessary, to the NWCU for confirmation.
Should the call-taker state that this is a matter for the EA, be assertive but polite: it is not; the EA
largely deals with rod licence and local byelaw enforcement. It does not deal with fishing without
permission – which is undoubtedly a police matter, given ‘1’ and ‘3’ above.
It is always worth, though, making a follow-up call to the EA (0800 80 70 60), because there could be
other offences involved which are a matter for the Agency, and in any case this is important
intelligence that the Agency needs to be aware of."

Paul