Moving fish,legal or not? Grey area...

[frothy]

Ok so we keep hearing about carp that grow legs and walk over land to pastures new and of course fish appear in new lakes after flooding ect but....
If fish are moved up river, captured and released above a weir,sluice or lock, effectively trapped in a new section of water albeit the same watercourse is this still classed as the illegal movement of fish

 

[binka]

Can't say for certain but I think it would all depend on whether it was done under the control of a club or fishing rights owner as i'm fairly certain that they would have to apply for a section 30 from the EA if they were to do it.

If it's uncontrolled water on either side and done by an individual then I guess it's a bit of a no mans land.

Out of interest why do you ask?

 

[frothy]

I'm looking at the scenario of it being under different control, hence the reason for the fish movement.

 

[binka]

I think that you would probably get snared by the small print of a Section 30 to be honest, the best people to ask would be the EA.

Unless of course you didn't want to bring it to their attention :wh

If there's a lock you're in business as the fish could always make their own way there

 

[frothy]

Btw just to make clear this is not something I have been doing or condone doing in any way. Lets just just say its something of a border dispute and if the fish were on all one side of the border the problem would go away...

 

[binka]

Btw just to make clear this is not something I have been doing or condone doing in any way.

I think that maybe you've answered your own question... if you feel the need to deny something then maybe you would be better seeking clarification from the EA just for peace of mind.

How high do the floods get around there?

 

[chub_on_the_block]

In this instance the weir, sluice or lock would be an un-natural obstruction and barrier to fish movement. It would be ethically OK in my book, but i dont know the legal situation. Unless there were differences in fishery ownership or stocking policies in the sections upstream or down i wouldnt see a problem (if you could find a good reason to move a fish in the first place!). It would be difficult for the EA to be against moving the fish to the other side of an obstruction as they would generally seek to remove the obstruction in the first place if they could.