Fury as migrant anglers 'eat the fish'

Officials armed with batons, handcuffs and body armour are patrolling riverbanks and lakes as tensions rise between anglers and eastern Europeans. The migrants have been blamed by fishermen for contributing to declining fish stocks by illegally keeping their catches for the dinner table rather than returning them to the waterways.

After reports of anglers firing over the heads of the migrants, the Environment Agency has stepped up efforts to restore calm and to prosecute thieves by sending out the "high-impact fisheries enforcement" officers.

Adrian Taylor, the fisheries policy manager at the agency, said that the officers had the same powers as the police when enforcing fisheries law and were also training in surveillance techniques.

Angling experts believe they will need all their training to deal with the disputes. Richard Lee, the editor of Angling Times, said: "There's a lot of anger and soon it will lead to some terrible violence. The scale of thefts by foreigners is absolutely horrific. It has become a major problem in every town and city. Fishermen are very passionate about their sport and when they see a lot of people coming in and disrupting and threatening our rivers, they get very angry.

"I know of people who have fired warning shots over people's heads with shotguns and it won't be long before their sights are lowered."

Areas particularly affected include the Thames and the Nene in Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.

Ken Wade, the match secretary for the Peterborough & District Angling Club, said: "We have fish taken daily by eastern Europeans. They are not respecting the rules. Confronting them can be very intimidating."

Prosecutions for the most serious types of fish crime have tripled in the past three years. Between April and June, the agency dealt with 1,200 cases of illegal fishing. The cases resulted in formal cautions and fines and costs of ?145,000.

While freshwater fish such as carp, perch, roach, bream and pike are considered inedible by most Britons, in many central and eastern European countries they are regarded as delicacies.

In Poland, carp is the main ingredient of the traditional meal eaten on Christmas Eve. The starter is a soup made from the head, fins and other discarded parts of the fish, followed by the carp itself, fried and served with potatoes and vegetables.

In June, Hertfordshire police arrested and questioned four eastern Europeans seen with snorkels and a spear gun near a lake stocked with protected carp.

Martin Salter, the Labour MP for Reading West, has set up a parliamentary group on angling and recently hosted a summit at Westminster on fish theft.

He said: "There's widespread concern. Taking fish for the pot is second nature to eastern Europeans but is anathema to us.

"Our fish stocks are under threat and if we killed everything we caught there wouldn't be any fish left.

"I hope the agency gets a few high-profile prosecutions to get the message across that fish thefts are unacceptable."

I heard Ken on 5live yesterday and he came across very well on the issue.

Did anyone else hear the commentators on Radio Wales being scornful of anglers concerns on Saturday morning! The same day I got a reminder in the post from 'Angling Wales'. They need to get their act together.

Ian
I am expecting the trout at Bakewell on the River Wye which are tame to go the same way,in fact i told my wife they would not be there much longer when i was down the other week

what's next a picture like the cormorants dead on the front page...how to put angling back years yet again

When in Rome

Might be a good idea to tell the Eastern Europeans that cormorants taste better than chicken because the only time the Government will act is when the RSPB complain

Oh so true john.

People coming into UK are always to blame for everything.

I have come acrossmany different nationalities in my life and majorty of these people didn'tunderstandthe laws of fishing.

Responses I got: What, you need to pay to fish? The fish are wild, what are you on about? Yes, that is the response I have got from non-anglers. It’s not easy to understand the concept of fishing unless you fish yourself or know someone who does.

For example I am a really good friends with a Sea Angler – been in the game for many years born and bread English. I offered to take him coarse fishing – told him that we needed to pay. HE WAS IN SHOCK! Why, sea fishing is FREE! He automatically assumed so would coarse or game fishing. Education is theway forward.

You all have stories off Eastern Europeans taken fish, what about the angler I met other day on Manchester Ship Canal. He was just landing a pike! I stopped and admired! Once landed he kicks it over the head and puts it in his bag…. I must admit he was bigger then me and had 3 of his friends with him. But I stood up to him and asked him do you know that is not allowed? He answered! Who say’s! I bought my rod, line, and bait, paid the post office… So this fish belongs to me. I will do what I like. He was not Eastern European but English.

As am getting more and more involved in the Regeneration work I had a meeting with someone who has been in the same field for many number of years. We actually spoke about the jobs going to foreigners. He looked at me and said: I have been helping regenerate areas for 15 odd years. And I have came acrossa number of families where 3 generation of the same family are on benefits. How is this family going to teach it'skids that work is the way forward. He followed on to say: Jobs are there for everyone but locals are not happy to work for minimum wage despite having no qualifications or work experience. This country offers one of the best get back to work schemes in Europe if not in the World – you can get working family tax, job seekers allowance if you work under certain number of hours etc. The help is there – they will even give you money to buy your interview clothes. So, what is stopping them?

Look at it from another point of view: Whom would you rather employ if you had a choice – someone who speaks English or someone who does not?Concluding to my point: Don’t put everyone in the same bucket.

Ado.

You say that English locals are not happy to work for minimum wage despite having no qualifications or work experience.

You are quite right my friend. But the thing that you may not understand, is that English workers have faught long and hard with the unions against employers only paying the minimum wage for slave labour.

It is now looked at as the Eastern Europeans and Polish people are setting this country back 50 years by taking on work for a minimum wage and sometimes even less.

I do realise this is an old thread before anybody starts. But Ado is asking a question.

BRAVO BAZ,WELL SAID

If the Eastern Europeans are taking less them minimum hourly pay then surely it’s the employers who are at fault and not the employees. The British industry and economy must have some benefit from employing foreign labour in this country. Let’s look at the Takeaways for example – mainly run by other nationalities working long hours to ensure we get food when we feel hungry. Another example road workers, builders working through the night to ensure our roads are ready for morning rush hour traffic.

I am have employed people in the past and know that it’s not always possible to pay someone above minimum pay. The profits are too small! The wholesale is too demanding in UK, the manufactures have left for Asia mainly because the labour is cheaper. With the minimum pay you will be taking £220 each week, which is around £953 per month minus tax. Surly this has to be better then Job Seekers allowance which is around £57 per week. I know you get housing benefits, council tax etc. However, if you stick by this for few years you will at least have a chance of getting a better job. With job seekers your pay is always the same even if you have been on it for the last 5 years. I know the minimum pay is low and there is no way I would like to work for that kind of money. But the moment working for myself I have paid myself less then £1 per hour. However, I love my work and always drive to improve on the last month.It’s about having passion, drive and determination to succeed. You can sit and moan at other or you can get up and make a difference in your life. The easiest option is to complain!

Yes Ado it is the employers that are at fault. But the English stood up to them and refused the low paid work. Eastern Europeans and Polish people coming in and accepting that kind of low pay is setting us back years.

You say:

The British industry and economy must have some benefit from employing foreign labour in this country.

Yes they do my friend, and that is to devide and conquer which allows them to pay cheap labour. It is my belief that as long as British industry can keep English, Eastern Europeans and Polish appart, then they will still be able to force cheap labour on people. The only way they can be beaten is for people like you and me to stick together. It is an old industry trick my friend to keep the workforce divided.

You then say the easist option is to complain.



I have to disagree with you there mate. The easiest option is to give in to their demads like you are doing.

The hardest but best option is to refuse the low paid work, and STAND TOGETHER until better offers are made.

Baz, you know as well as me that aint gonna happen.

I've been working in industries for more time than I can remember, the unions got smashed and now we have no-one to look after us or negotiate for us.

Foreign workers will always undercut us, if I was foreign I would probably do the same!

I've got a Polish friend at work, back home he earns £1 per hour (yes the cost of living is cheaper) in England he earns £8 pounds an hour order picking in the wharehouse. Some of his friends haven't been so lucky, they don't earn as much as him, but they are still earning more than they do "back home".

I would also like to say that Polish workers work damn hard, much harder than some of the lazy gits in my place!

.

Anyway, Ado, Graham has banned politics on the forum so that is it for me now.

This isn't politics though. It is two people asking and answering each others questions about low pay in a civilised and friendly manner.

"I bought my rod, line, and bait, paid the post office… So this fish belongs to me."

He was right - to a point.

A fish is feral, belongs to no-one. The fishing rights is a different matter and you need permissionto be able to catch fish.

Once you do catch a fish, it belongs to you.

However, if the rules of the fishery are to return all fish alive then that's what you have to do and the fish, once more, becomes feral.

steve there are also alot off english people who work dam hard and i am sure that some polish people that who get by off the state ?
as you might off guessed by my choosen name putting down wot i would like to say on paper ( or forums ) isnt one off my strong points
the job that i have isnt wot i would call good i work for a parcel delivery firm so we have just had are silly season as my old boss would say in the last 4 or 5 weeks we have had quite alot off temps working at are place and most have been eastern europeans i wouldnt say that any off them where super workers the one the one guy who springs to my mind about the temps is old alan the guy was 64 he wasnt the best worker by any means but one thing you could rely on was he was going to be there the next day
like ado says i dont wont to work for minimum wage so i work nights 5 pm till 1 am
i personaly dont like the minimum wage idea i think it just allows more and moe companys to offer just that or 10p above it
on the minimum wage who could afford to save up and buy a nice house run a car and pay all the bills ?

Good points exactly Brendan.

I agree Brendan, but it's the system that is at fault, not the immigrants.

There are loads of lazy scrounging buggers in all walks of life, no matter where they are from. That is the problem that needs to be addressed.

When I go abroad, which is reasonably regularly, I always take some fishing gear with me, and wherever Iam I always enquire about the rules and regs re the fishing, I would never consider wetting a line without having the required licences etc..... and in several countries, including France the authorities take a strong view on poaching..... any offenders are dealt with severely.... I wonder what the offenders guilty of taking fish in the UK do when (if ) they are in other countries, do they continue regardless, or because the penalties are more sever, toe the line.

Many of those involved in taking fish for the pot have doubtless entered Britain via other EU countries, did they feed themselves by poaching whilst on route to the UK.

The couldnt care less attitude exhibited by some persons ofother nationalities who decide that the UK is a Goose that lays golden eggs is deplorable.