26-Jul-2006
- Environment Agency officers in Dorset have caught
their third gang of poachers in as many weeks
in the latest crackdown on illegal netting.
Salmon and sea trout are especially
vulnerable to poachers as they swim along the
Dorset coast and enter local harbours and rivers.
The use of nets is strictly controlled by the
Environment Agency under the Salmon and Freshwaters
Fisheries Act 1975.
Fisheries officers stage regular
anti-poaching patrols and notched up their first
success earlier this month when they netted three
men illegally fishing on the River Piddle. The
offenders had set a fixed net across the river
at a point where it flows into Poole Harbour.
A police helicopter was called
to assist with the operation and hovered overhead
while the suspects were questioned. Their net
and fish, that included around a dozen mullet
and bass, were seized.
A week later officers swooped
on a gang of six people illegally netting sea
trout in the River Sherford that drains into Poole
Harbour. Two sea trout, nets and a boat used by
the poachers were confiscated.
The biggest success came off
West Bay near Bridport last week where poachers
had set a series of illegal nets in the sea to
catch migrating fish. Officers kept a suspect
boat under surveillance and then apprehended the
offenders after they returned to port. The vessel
was boarded and searched and 16 sea trout discovered
hidden inside the boat. The fish were seized along
with the nets.
‘Salmon stocks in Dorset Rivers
are at a critical level and it is vital these
fish are allowed to continue their migration without
being caught. Our local sea trout population also
needs to be protected from illegal exploitation,’
said Kevin Parsons for the Environment Agency.
‘We will not tolerate the deliberate
setting of nets to target salmon and sea trout
in these locations where they are known to be
vulnerable. These latest anti-poaching successes
clearly demonstrates the determination of our
bailiffs to detect those who flout the law.’
Notes to Editor:
It is an offence under the Salmon
and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975 to place nets
to take salmon and sea trout without a licence.
In Dorset these licences are strictly limited
so as to safeguard fish stocks. In Poole Harbour
there is only one and there are none for any of
the rivers.
Within Lyme Bay nets are permitted
under byelaws administered by the Southern Sea
Fisheries District Committee. However, it is illegal
to take salmon and sea trout using these nets
that are normally set for commercial sea fish
such as bass.
Mike Dunning
