Men ordered to pay more than £1,400 for illegal fishing: a reminder...

This is a dedicated thread for discussing article: Men ordered to pay more than £1,400 for illegal fishing: a reminder...

http://www.fishingmagic.com/news_ev...-pay-more-than-1-400-for-illegal-fishing.html

Such a heinous crime, not paying the fishing tax, cheating other anglers? that's rich coming from the EA, I hate paying money to the EA with a passion and have in the past fished without paying their tax for quite some time. I wouldn't mind paying it if Parts of the EA were not so anti angling

The EA have been very active around here of late, the week before last there were four anglers named in our local rag who were all caught, prosecuted and fined for fishing without a licence.

I think the largest fine was around £450 with something like £150 costs.

Here is an example of the complete hypocrisy of the EA, this was taken from their face ache page.

Otters, which were nearly extinct in the 1970s, have recovered thanks to a ban on harmful pesticides. They are now present in every English county.

They have also been helped by a significant improvement in water quality over the past 20 years, bringing fish back to rivers that were once grossly polluted.

Otters are at the top of the food chain, and are therefore an important indicator of the health of rivers

Bringing fish back to rivers? yeah right, that's why they have constant restocking programmes with tens of thousands of small Barbel stocked every year.


Significant improvement in water quality? last time I looked they were failing miserably to meet targets for water quality that have been set.

An important indicator of the health of the river? if that were true and Otters relied totally on riverine species they would once again be on their way towards extinction.

As I said I wouldn't mind paying the angling tax if it was used by an organisation that wasn't so anti angling and full of bu!!$+!t

Personally I think it is a damn good thing that Magistrates are finally waking up and imposing fines that are, and should be, punitive!

The maximum fine is, I believe, £2500 . . . . so maybe a few of those levels imposed might make these people think twice in the future . . . .

I remember when to look into a river was to look at shoals of fish: river, fish. Fish, river. One went with the other, like bread and butter / salt 'n' pepper. I can't remember the last time I hung over a bridge to see a shoal of roach midstream; a few chub in the margins; one or two pike and a shower of bleak or dace: it just doesn't happen any more. Sorry to be negative, folks, but that's the truth.

For anyone that doesn't think the EA are anti angling can I suggest that they research what is proposed to happen to Powick weir on the Teme, they are in cahoots with the Severn Rivers Trust regarding the removal of this weir that has been there for hundreds of years and its destruction will result in the ruin of fishing both above and below the weir.