How do we stop people taking fish?

the EA don't give a toss, but people on here do so why can't we have volunteer bailiffs working alongside the EA? could be in teams of 3-4 blokes accompanied by an official bailiff.
wouldn't cost them much and would be a start at trying to educate the people who are taking fish.

Colin Darlow wrote:

the EA don't give a toss, but people on here do so why can't we have volunteer bailiffs working alongside the EA? could be in teams of 3-4 blokes accompanied by an official bailiff.
wouldn't cost them much and would be a start at trying to educate the people who are taking fish.

Colin that's such a spot-on idea mate that's what they're thinking of doing. They announced start of the year they would...the EA were looking at doing it with the Angling Trust I think...haven't heard any more since though. Steve

the EA are doing it in surton areas of England only, i did see somethink on it, up north somewhere and Essex, I think

Education is good for people willing to learn,how about them who know they shouldn't kill/take fish?
When i went to school teachers often smacked me ,I think that sort of education would work

AndrzejTrzcinski wrote:

When i went to school teachers often smacked me ,I think that sort of education would work

okay, as per my earlier post but also accompanied by large sticks and knuckle dusters........

I would assume that those advocating the taking on of volunteer bailiffs is a " great idea"
Having been a full time officer for many years, (32) I had to enjoy the abuse, assaults, visits to hospital and also endure personal abuse directed at my immediate family, so I'd say think again!
I can't understand why so many think its a glamourous job?
Its not..its dangerous, uncomfortable when the weathers poor and waiting at night for many days for offenders to turn up or not is mind bending.
I doubt also if you will find an insurance company that will provide insurance cover or public liability once the terms " conflict resolution". apprehend and detain, are seen as part of the job description to ber held by a volunteer
The training required for the tasks of patrolling rivers and lakes takes years and knowledge of fishery law can be seen as complex, and thats without knowing the pitfalls of the Human Rights Act, Offences against the persons Act, PACE etc etc...all of which if you breach them, you can guarantee as sure as chickens follow eggs, some criminally minded fish thief will take you to task in the courts for hurting their feelings.
Any further views on this , please feel free to ask!
Kind regards
K.

you are quite right keith, abuse physical and verbal is all part of the job i suppose and glamourous isn't a word i'd use. that is why i suggested 4-5 people along with an official.
the point remains that in all the years i have fished the thames (over 25 and for a few of those i would fish 4 or 5 times a week) i have never been asked for my licence and never even seen an inspector.
on the flip side of that when i do occasionally go to a PRIVATE commercial venue, probably a dozen times in the last 3 years i have been asked maybe 5 times!
as the EA doesn't fund these venues why is so much time spent there by officers.?
let me hazard a guess, large numbers of anglers in a relatively small area (easy pickings), easy access (no long walks to ask one or two anglers) and you probablyy wont get your head filled in.
most people not buying a licence are on the rivers sometimes fishing out of season.
anglers are paying a fee and what are we getting? 39 million tonnes of sewage in the thames,
river ash polluted, river wandle polluted and the river crane killed stone dead.
money's worth i think not!!!!!!

Steve Holmes wrote:

Steve Appleford wrote:

I moved some on a couple of years ago at a lake i was Piking right next to the Kennet but they only went coz i had 2 big hairy scary dogs with me .

Good point Steve mate you've got me thinking. Elmbridge council's dog patrol don't mess about - no nonsense attitude backed up by working in pairs with big hairy dogs.

They rule Albany Reach and Cigarette Island with a rod of iron, booting off anyone without a licence

I wonder if we could convince the council to get the dog unit to patrol more parts of the bank...

m8 as you say the elmbridge dog patrol have the right attitude.
they check every swim along the mole on cig island as well and they dont miss much.
i have seen them chuck many ee anglers off there.
i have rang the council directly a few times seeing certain things going on and they sent the dog units out within 10-15 min.
as if you ring the ea well they just take the info and thats it...at least these guys check the licences so steve it would be good if other bourough's could do something like this as well because surley other councils along the thames have park patrols have dog units.

Keith is of course absolutely right however if TAC members arrived on site in force (say five or six) hi viz jackets with TAC enblazened on them it would deter all but the most determined lets face it it would you face them for a smelly old bream or a scrawny pike i think not.

something needs to be done as the alternative is groups of blokes taking matters into their own hands. some time ago a polish bloke on the stretch i was fishing was found with a couple of decent bream in a carrier bag he was "spoken to" his rod was "modified" and he wasn't seen on that stretch again, if it were a barbel we would have probably killed him. while effective in the short term that sort of thing cannot succeed in the long run.
things need to be done legally and with a thought to educating the polaks to our way of fishing.
i have met and spoken with many EE's and it's a cultural thing and nothing else, they are not trying to piss us off. BUT.....just think if you saw a 3lb perch in a bag it would be pretty hard not to take offence and there's the problem.

John Barnes wrote:

Steve Holmes wrote:

Steve Appleford wrote:

I moved some on a couple of years ago at a lake i was Piking right next to the Kennet but they only went coz i had 2 big hairy scary dogs with me .

Good point Steve mate you've got me thinking. Elmbridge council's dog patrol don't mess about - no nonsense attitude backed up by working in pairs with big hairy dogs.

They rule Albany Reach and Cigarette Island with a rod of iron, booting off anyone without a licence

I wonder if we could convince the council to get the dog unit to patrol more parts of the bank...

m8 as you say the elmbridge dog patrol have the right attitude.
they check every swim along the mole on cig island as well and they dont miss much.
i have seen them chuck many ee anglers off there.
i have rang the council directly a few times seeing certain things going on and they sent the dog units out within 10-15 min.
as if you ring the ea well they just take the info and thats it...at least these guys check the licences so steve it would be good if other bourough's could do something like this as well because surley other councils along the thames have park patrols have dog units.

I'm perplexed at the above comments.....worried in fact that some think that a councils dog patrols can be used to manage fishery offenders without the powers to do so!
Can someone enlighten me as to what regulations are being used ( misused) to effect compliance as referred to.

I'm not going to condone what EE's do, in fact if we weren't aware of their cultural differences we'd probably take the law in our own hands in a far more serious way...but the only way in reality is by education and by taking a cohesive position.
it would be useful if notices as those available from the Angling trust were posted in the supermarkets and social centres of those communities that we need to educate about the taking of our fishery resources, making sure its stated that in sporting terms the behaviour its unnacceptable in our community.

As far as contacting the EA and nothing happening thereafter, I'm curious as to why anglers who make compaints don't follow through after and ask for feedback on the complaint.
The EA has a Customer Charter which is quite clear and sets out its standards of service and if you read the EA website and look at those terms of reference, it is clear that complaints not dealt with are subject to scrutiny and can be referred for explanation as to the apparent failures
It is vital that anglers know that the EA's Customer Charter was Granted by Number 10 and can be taken away by the No 10 Awards office if sufficient complaints are made to it about poor service.
In short, theres no point moaning on forums if you don't know how to deal with a failing government agency!...Now you do!!!

Keith Williams wrote:

John Barnes wrote:

Steve Holmes wrote:

Steve Appleford wrote:

I moved some on a couple of years ago at a lake i was Piking right next to the Kennet but they only went coz i had 2 big hairy scary dogs with me .

Good point Steve mate you've got me thinking. Elmbridge council's dog patrol don't mess about - no nonsense attitude backed up by working in pairs with big hairy dogs.

They rule Albany Reach and Cigarette Island with a rod of iron, booting off anyone without a licence

I wonder if we could convince the council to get the dog unit to patrol more parts of the bank...

m8 as you say the elmbridge dog patrol have the right attitude.
they check every swim along the mole on cig island as well and they dont miss much.
i have seen them chuck many ee anglers off there.
i have rang the council directly a few times seeing certain things going on and they sent the dog units out within 10-15 min.
as if you ring the ea well they just take the info and thats it...at least these guys check the licences so steve it would be good if other bourough's could do something like this as well because surley other councils along the thames have park patrols have dog units.

I'm perplexed at the above comments.....worried in fact that some think that a councils dog patrols can be used to manage fishery offenders without the powers to do so!
Can someone enlighten me as to what regulations are being used ( misused) to effect compliance as referred to.

I'm not going to condone what EE's do, in fact if we weren't aware of their cultural differences we'd probably take the law in our own hands in a far more serious way...but the only way in reality is by education and by taking a cohesive position.
it would be useful if notices as those available from the Angling trust were posted in the supermarkets and social centres of those communities that we need to educate about the taking of our fishery resources, making sure its stated that in sporting terms the behaviour its unnacceptable in our community.

As far as contacting the EA and nothing happening thereafter, I'm curious as to why anglers who make compaints don't follow through after and ask for feedback on the complaint.
The EA has a Customer Charter which is quite clear and sets out its standards of service and if you read the EA website and look at those terms of reference, it is clear that complaints not dealt with are subject to scrutiny and can be referred for explanation as to the apparent failures
It is vital that anglers know that the EA's Customer Charter was Granted by Number 10 and can be taken away by the No 10 Awards office if sufficient complaints are made to it about poor service.
In short, theres no point moaning on forums if you don't know how to deal with a failing government agency!...Now you do!!!

when i spoke to the dog patrol about how comes they do this he said that due to the number of problems along that stretch not just fishermen but kids and drunks as well they do regular checks now to try and combat the problem esp the fish takers and trouble makers. they have every right as we are on there property and was given a offical letter because i was using a shelter as your only allowed to use a brolly/system. and had other stuff on there as well
i know a couple of othere's that have been given these notices as well.
a m8 of mine fishes a lake and has signs in other lingos but has not made any diffrence they still do it.
i did send a email to the ea months ago about certain issues and after 4 weeks they got back to me saying we only have a couple officers for that region and said to report anything else. they did say they were in contact with the tac about issues in general.