‘We can all help police waters’
“It was the wrong decision to keep the closed season”
ON THE last day of the river season I had a lovely three hours on the bank chasing chub. I didn’t try too hard, and blanked. I’d love to have another go to rectify my tardiness, but of course I can’t, and that’s a gripe for me.
To my mind it was the wrong decision to keep the standard closed season. Riverkeepers are best placed to decide when to close stretches, rather than the EA’s broad-brush application of an ancient law. But that’s sadly not a matter for me, and it’s water under the bridge of an argument lost. Let’s not revisit Brexit!
However, it brings me nicely onto Operation Clampdown 8, which has swung into action to try to catch illegal anglers. It’s intelligencebased, so if you see someone taking the mickey, please report it. It’s easy to say it’s not your problem, but it is your problem... or at least it will be when you go back on June 16th and find there’s not a lot left. The chances are that the people that fish illegally are not ‘catch and release’ types.
Enforcement officers are underresourced and over-worked, and need to know where these offences are taking place, so report them by dialling 999 (if offence is in progress) or 111 after the event. Get the registration number of the suspect’s vehicle, their description and the location of the incident. Mention to the call-taker that it’s a police matter, one that’s recordable under Home Office Recording Code 116/11, and is part of Operation Clampdown 8. Over to you ....