Well done Robin for actually making the call
I posted the following rant on another site...
"It's the time of year when the fishing boards are rife with irate anglers reporting various sightings of out of season river angling taking place. Further threads, not just on this site, decreeing the exploitation of fish stocks by immigrant workers for food supplies.
I work for the EA as an external relations officer (Midlands West) and whilst discussing a diversity campaign (unrelated to fishing) that is in process, I got chatting to the Environmental Crime team leader (a practising angler).
I asked him firstly about his view of Eastern European fishing for the table. His reply was that (for the Midlands West region) he has had very few complaints in this year and that during license checks Eastern European anglers are, in terms of percentage, more compliant than UK anglers.
I then asked him about out of season fishing, explaining that the general feeling amongst anglers (on fishing forums) is that when we report 'out of season angling' to the Agency, there is never a response and that no bailiff ever turns up to investigate. His response to this was that Yes enforcement staff numbers are low, but that is because, in terms of figures, the problem barely exists! For the month of March 08 this office received 1 complaint was received with regard to out of season fishing. So how can the Agency request more enforcement staff when the problem is not highlighted.
It appears that us Anglers are truly terrible at reporting. So my plea is this- GET REPORTING- even if a bailiff does not turn up to enforce- your call will be counted and a chance of highlighting the issue will move closer.
The number is on the back of your rod license. If you see it- REPORT IT. And KEEP REPORTING!
The other thing is to report as soon as possible. A stale incident is worse than useless and gives a very small team of river bailiffs even less chance of making it in time to reach offending culprits."
I posted the following rant on another site...
"It's the time of year when the fishing boards are rife with irate anglers reporting various sightings of out of season river angling taking place. Further threads, not just on this site, decreeing the exploitation of fish stocks by immigrant workers for food supplies.
I work for the EA as an external relations officer (Midlands West) and whilst discussing a diversity campaign (unrelated to fishing) that is in process, I got chatting to the Environmental Crime team leader (a practising angler).
I asked him firstly about his view of Eastern European fishing for the table. His reply was that (for the Midlands West region) he has had very few complaints in this year and that during license checks Eastern European anglers are, in terms of percentage, more compliant than UK anglers.
I then asked him about out of season fishing, explaining that the general feeling amongst anglers (on fishing forums) is that when we report 'out of season angling' to the Agency, there is never a response and that no bailiff ever turns up to investigate. His response to this was that Yes enforcement staff numbers are low, but that is because, in terms of figures, the problem barely exists! For the month of March 08 this office received 1 complaint was received with regard to out of season fishing. So how can the Agency request more enforcement staff when the problem is not highlighted.
It appears that us Anglers are truly terrible at reporting. So my plea is this- GET REPORTING- even if a bailiff does not turn up to enforce- your call will be counted and a chance of highlighting the issue will move closer.
The number is on the back of your rod license. If you see it- REPORT IT. And KEEP REPORTING!
The other thing is to report as soon as possible. A stale incident is worse than useless and gives a very small team of river bailiffs even less chance of making it in time to reach offending culprits."
