06/05/2005 - More than
100 anglers were caught over the May Bank
Holiday fishing West Country lakes and rivers
without a rod licence.
Environment Agency enforcement teams made
checks on 109 waters across the region between
April 30 and May 2 and caught a total of 106
illegal anglers. The highest success rate
was in South Wessex where fisheries officers
checked 756 anglers and netted 64 (8.5%) licence
dodgers.
Elsewhere, figures were lower with only 14
(6.4%) of anglers in Devon and Cornwall without
a licence out of a total of 253 checked and
28 (7.4%) in North Wessex out of 376. The
number of waters checked in these two areas
were 56 and 20 respectively.
Fishing without a licence is an offence and
those caught fishing illegally can face tough
penalties including fines of up to £2,500
and a ban from fishing. The rate of evasion
dropped this year to 6.9% compared to 7.93%
in 2004. The message is sinking in with fewer
anglers, it seems, willing to take the risk.
"People who fish without a licence are
cheating the system and their fellow anglers.
We will continue vigorously with our blitz
programme to bring rod licence evasion down,"
said Dafydd Evans, Head of Fisheries at the
Environment Agency.
"All rod licence money is ploughed back
into fisheries work which benefits all anglers,
fish stocks and the waterside environment
and we will continue with our efforts to safeguard
this essential income."
The checks were part of a national Bank Holiday
blitz that netted a total of 868 illegal anglers
across England and Wales giving a national
evasion rate of 6.9%. The figure is down slightly
on 2004 and 2003 when 1085 and 1010 licence
dodgers were caught respectively. The North
West had the highest number of illegal anglers
-12.8%- compared with the North East at only
2.6%.
Buying a rod licence couldn’t be easier –
there are around 15,000 Post Offices and other
outlets which sell them direct and for a small
additional charge they can be purchased over
the phone (0870 1662662) or from this website
– www.environment-agency.gov.uk/fish
