Higher than average fines netted for iIlegal fishing
Two men were fined and ordered to pay costs and fines totalling more than £1,400 after they were caught fishing illegally in Midlands.
Environment Agency fisheries bailiffs in action
Elliot Everton, 28, of Clifton Road, Ashbourne, and 56-year-old Charlie Bevan, of Woodrows, Telford, were both charged with fishing without a rod licence.
Both cases were proven in their absence, at Northampton Magistrates Court on Monday 4 March 2019. Everton was fined £440, and ordered to pay £127.47 costs with a £44 victim surcharge. Bevan was fined £660, and ordered to pay £127.47 costs and a £66 victim surcharge.
An annual fishing licence costs just £30. Money from fishing licence sales is invested in England’s fisheries and is used to fund a wide range of projects to improve facilities for anglers including; protecting stocks from illegal fishing, pollution and disease, restoring fish stocks through re-stocking, eradicating invasive species and fish habitat improvements. Fishing licence money is also used to fund the Angling Trust to provide information about fishing, to encourage participation in the sport and to manage a voluntary bailiff scheme.
Children under 13 fish for free. Anyone aged 13 to 16 also fish for free, but they do need to have a valid Environment Agency fishing licence. Anyone over 16 must pay for an Environment Agency fishing licence to fish for salmon, trout, freshwater fish, smelt or eel in England.
Anyone witnessing illegal fishing can report it directly to the Environment Agency hotline, 0800 80 70 60. Information on illegal fishing and environmental crime can also be reported anonymously to Crime stoppers on 0800 555 111, or alternatively use the online form at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.