Fishing gear to blame for injuries

Animal rescuers have urged people to take their fishing equipment home with them after callouts to numerous birds injured by hooks and line.

West Sussex Wildlife Protection have dealt with five reports of birds caught with fishing hooks and line in the last month.

The latest, on Wednesday, was a herring gull at Glynde Crescent, Felpham, which was trapped in a garden by a angler’s hook buried in its wing. It was sent for treatment at Alphapet Veterinary Clinic, in West Meads, Bognor Regis.

The organisation also recently collected a rare marsh harrier that was found hanging from a tree by a hook and line near lakes in Shopwyke, Chichester, but later had to be euthanised as its wing ligament was detached.

Two other herring gulls, one in Chichester and another in Littlehampton, that had fishing line around their legs, were not able to be caught, while a swan at Lakeside Holiday Park was rescued and treated for a serious wing injury due to fishing line.

Simon Wild. a spokesman for the rescue group, said: “This is the worst year we have had – too many anglers are snaring their hooks and cutting the line next to their rod, and it is inflicting great harm on birds.

“The other thing we are concerned about is this latest trend of crabbing, where children hook up meat and bacon on a line thrown down into the sea. Last year we had a number of gulls caught with these hooks in their mouths where children had just discarded them. We are asking people to take their fishing equipment home, not leave it on the beach. Just think of the consequences.”