poaching again

[chrisfly]

just come back in from walking the dog, 4 men fishing the pool under llansanfraid bridge in aberkenfig, not club members drinking cider etc, nothing i could do again, no mobile on me, there are two nice sewin in that pool which ive had my eye on for over a week now, hope they dont get them on a worm, ive tryed every fly in my box day and night no joy,
please could one of our baliffs take a look around that area espesally after 5 in the evening, there usually in pandy park but they seem to be speading there wings a bit,, we must catch them they do take a lot of fish,
didnt phone baliffs when i got home as they would have proberbly gone.

[OAA]

Chrisfly,

I am sorry to hear that there is poaching again in this area. Unfortunately thare are now only a few active club bailiffs, all who have day jobs. Unless members come forward and volunteer to become bailiffs, incidents like this will increase. Inevitably our few remaining bailiffs cannot always respond to incidents and when they do, they need to outnumber the poachers cosiderably. The more bailffs we have to greater the likelihood of getting a response.

Any volunteers should contact myself.

[OAA]

Further to the above posts and in response to recent reports of poaching, the environment agency have spent several evenings patrolling the river ogmore in recent weeks.

At least two illegal anglers have been aprehended and will face prosecution as a result of this. Thank you to the Environment Agency for spending so much time on the Ogmore with very limited resources.

[sewinfly]

Well done the E.A. and O.A.A. committee.
sewinfly........

[tonymorris]

At last perhaps they'll come out a little more often now. I did wittness poaching of a different kind in the garage pool . A seagull dived into the water and came out with a trout in its mouth took it to the bank droped it then picked it up tapped its head against a stone and flew off with it.
On a completely different subject has anyone seen the Ewenny Angling club signs that have appeared opposite the lake in Troes. I did think that that area was either ours or Pencoed . The maps on the site only cover the Ewenny as far as the volvo garage.

[goldhead]

tony- that location is nothing to do with OAA it was originally all pencoed water but some changes have taken place in the last 18 months

[Chris J]

Seen one person poaching in the town stretch today at about 1130 had 4 rods out and also seen 4 persons carrying night line tackle going down to the YMCA pool (all adults)

Reported the incident direct to the police who happened to be at Bridgend fire station ,officer was said he was a member of OAA and was going to deal with the above people shortly.

Lets make it as awkward as possible for these people

[OAA]

Chris,

We must have walked past eachother today! I reported the above incident to the Environment Agency along with the two gentlemen who were fishing with a handline for a large sewin 100 yards upstream. The Agency did dispatch 2 bailiffs.

Please could all members report such incidents to the Environment Agency 0800 807060.

[Chris J]

Jul 28, 2008 13:31:15 GMT OAA said:

Chris,

We must have walked past eachother today! I reported the above incident to the Environment Agency along with the two gentlemen who were fishing with a handline for a large sewin 100 yards upstream. The Agency did dispatch 2 bailiffs.

Please could all members report such incidents to the Environment Agency 0800 807060.

Do the EA give you an update if you request their attendance?

If so what happened to the above persons?

Thanks Chris

[OAA]

Unfortunately the offenders had gone by the time the Agency attended but they were planning a patrol further upstream in case they had moved up.

They are usually pretty good and update if any progress has been made.

[Chris J]

Do you think it would be good advice to contact the police as well as the EA?

If enough people contact them in relation to the same incident it will usually get a response and I would imagine its going to be quicker than the EA.

The ultimate outcome we want is to send the message the river is being watched and you will be dealt with if poaching / committing an act of theft.

Just a thought all the best Chris

[highplains]

Nice to see the EAW are actually turning out.

Well done to the front line staff. They work hard.

[OAA]

Chris,

The EA should always be called so that the crime is recorded. Otherwise they will deny that there are problems on our rivers.

We have called the police in the past and they have assisted. The police can only be called if a member or club bailiff is willing to be present to confiscate the tackle, to write a statement etc.

The police will assist but will not lead when it comes to fisheries offences. When police have been called in the past they have been most helpful in obtaining the name and address of the offender and assisting in the confiscation of tackle.

[Chris J]

Hi OOA1

I except that EA should be called and I applauded the work you and others have done in campaigning for the protection of Welsh fisheries, however this statement is wrong


" The police can only be called if a member or club bailiff is willing to be present to confiscate the tackle, to write a statement etc. "

The police will attend and deal with offenders whether a club member is present or not.

This isn’t a dig or a point scoring exercise on my behalf but I think its important club members are aware of this fact

Like I said in my first post lets make it as awkward as possible for this people to operate.

For the record Im willing to become a club bailiff you have a PM with my details.

All the best Chris

[OAA]

Chris,

with regards to the last post, i have been involved with several incidents where the police have been called.

In fairness to the police they are not particularly clued up about fisheries offences and were led by the club bailiffs.

Yes of course illegal angling comes under the theft act (1968) for no permit and the Salmon and freshwater fisheries act (1973) for no licence, but if the police were lumbered with all the paperwork for these offences they would shy away from attending and advise that we call the Environment Agency - whose job it is to deal with such offences!

With regards to my comment :

" The police can only be called if a member or club bailiff is willing to be present to confiscate the tackle, to write a statement etc. "

This has been misunderstood. The current Association policy is for the club bailiffs to call the police only when neccessary in a supporting role. If we called the police more indiscriminately, there is a danger that they would evenyually shy away from attending such offences.

When you state that it is important for members to be made aware of the facts, the Association does not advise any members to become involved in such offences unless they are club bailiffs and as such have attended the courses we provide where fisheries law, common law and powers are dealt with in great detail. Also our club bailiffs are fully insured when carrying out their role.

I hope that this clarifies my points and we would be more than grateful if you would interested in becoming an Association Bailiff.