Fish poaching gangs blamed as prize specimens vanish from lakes

 Poaching of fish from lakes and rivers by gangs has become a “major problem”, an anglers group has warned.

Scores of fish, including prize winners, have vanished from lakes, according to Anglers Essex, which blames the decline of large specimens on criminal gangs.

The group also said that increasing otter numbers and anglers from countries where the culture was ‘‘to catch and eat’’ were also to blame for the decrease in fish numbers over the last decade.

Nick Watkins, chairman of Angling Essex, said poaching had become a “major, major problem” in recent years, and there was anecdotal evidence of anglers blaming fisherman from countries without a culture of catch and release.

“The Polish Anglers Association has been doing a lot of good work, going to schools and teaching youngsters about our laws and culture and what is acceptable,” he told BBC Essex.

“People need to realise that if you go to an owned lake and you take a fish, it’s theft.”.

Mr Watkins said that anglers are unlikely to make the same impact on numbers as criminal gangs and natural predators such as otters.

Thom Airs, of Angling Times, said a carp in a lake “was an easy meal for an agile otter” but increasingly cormorants were settling inland to feed.

Fishing lake owners are reluctant to discuss loss of fish as their businesses rely on reputation, Mr Airs said. “Their lakes could be home to specimens that have grown large over 30 or 40 years and a loss could deter anglers,” he said.

The Environment Agency said: “We are not aware of any recent incidents of carp poaching on Essex rivers.”