Thugs Stealing Fish Options

[Blake]

I was watching a special on The One Show a week ago about what people eat at Christmas.

I was utterly horrified to hear that a certain element of amateur fishermen are plundering our lakes and rivers of fish and taking them for the pot at home. This is not only illegal but is a serious threat to the sustainability of our rivers and the wider ecosystem.

Is this conduct very prevalent in West Berkshire?

If anyone sees this going on, be sure to report it.

[gel]

I was watching a special on The One Show a week ago about what people eat at Christmas.

I was utterly horrified to hear that a certain element of amateur fishermen are plundering our lakes and rivers of fish and taking them for the pot at home. This is not only illegal but is a serious threat to the sustainability of our rivers and the wider ecosystem.

Is this conduct very prevalent in West Berkshire?

If anyone sees this going on, be sure to report it.

Eastern Europeans are active at this, and enjoy swans too:

From "World News"

2011-08-03: Fish stocks on Britain's world famous River Wye are being decimated by organised gangs of Eastern European poachers who are plundering fish to sell on the black market. Environmentalists yesterday warned that the number of wild salmon in the river has plummeted by an alarming 57 per cent over the last two years alone.
The 134-mile long river, which topped a nationwide poll last year as the country's best waterway, has come under sustained attack from industrial-scale poachers. Picturesque: The River Wye has been voted Britain's favourite waterway, but its wildlife have been plagued by poachers this year

[Blake]

It's absolute savagery.

[Nothing Much]

You could say Industrial Savagery.
Flocks of possibly 500 sheep are being stolen,rustled overnight,(Bring back Clint Eastwood).
The fen waterways in Norfollk have a poaching problem.
I guess poaching was always a niggle for landowners.
hex

[Guest_xjay1337_*]

The bloody fish...

[HJD]

I was watching a special on The One Show a week ago about what people eat at Christmas.

I was utterly horrified to hear that a certain element of amateur fishermen are plundering our lakes and rivers of fish and taking them for the pot at home. This is not only illegal but is a serious threat to the sustainability of our rivers and the wider ecosystem.

Is this conduct very prevalent in West Berkshire?

If anyone sees this going on, be sure to report it.

Has anyone told Richard Benyon about this .

[TallDarkAndHands...]

The problem is if it is Eastern Europeans doing this then it is not 'PC' to report it as an issue. Anyway we have opened our borders to people who are known for this sort of activity so why be surprised?

[On the edge]

Is it just me, but I can't see the difference between hooking a fish out of the Kennet to eat and picking blackberrys from the brambles along the bank to do the same?

[TallDarkAndHands...]

Is it just me, but I can't see the difference between hooking a fish out of the Kennet to eat and picking blackberrys from the brambles along the bank to do the same?

It's just you.

[blackdog]

Is it just me, but I can't see the difference between hooking a fish out of the Kennet to eat and picking blackberrys from the brambles along the bank to do the same?

But the thread is not about 'hooking a fish' it's about industrial scale fish poaching. Wild blackberries have no commercial value, whereas fish are a very lucrative 'crop'.

[Guest_xjay1337_*]

Is it just me, but I can't see the difference between hooking a fish out of the Kennet to eat and picking blackberrys from the brambles along the bank to do the same?

It all sounds a bit fishy to me.

[On the edge]

It all sounds a bit fishy to me.

Very good!! Perhaps we could get a TV Chef; Kennet pike with a blackberry sauce....

[Nothing Much]

I can see some amusement brewing here. Gone are the days of honest poaching.
The solitary fly fisherman stalking a lone fish, or the poacher tickling an old trout under the chin.
"Your place or mine dear?"
In Cambridgeshire it is done like dredging, Carps in garden ponds or public garden lakes are not immune.
Yes Herons get some, but reports of overnight loss leads to other conclusions.

I am not a fisherman,my brother tried to get me interested. He sometime in the past tried Roger Daltry's place.
Lovely bloke, had a chat .
Hex

[blackdog]

What is needed is a high demand for crayfish, the Kennet is infested with the blighters - http://www.riverkennet.org/crayfish_campaign.php

[dannyboy]

I think the problem is that the fly fishermen who pay ££££ to fish the Wye & other rivers don't like their sport being ruined.

The taking of Eels on the severn has been done for centuries & is done on a large scale, often illegally.

[IanB]

What is needed is a high demand for crayfish, the Kennet is infested with the blighters - http://www.riverkennet.org/crayfish_campaign.php

As teenagers, friends and I caught well over 70 crayfish one day in the river Lambourne, near Shaw Social Club. We were only there about 2 hours too.
We secured a mackerel to a net with a small piece of fishing line through the gill, tied a long piece of rope to the net and lowered the net from the A339 bridge allowing the current to carry it under the bridge a few yards and left it for 5-10 minutes at a time.

Each time we pulled the net up there were more than the time before, almost like word was getting around the crayfish community that a holy mackerel was whisking them off to a better place in the sky (our bucket on the bridge). Incredible how many there were living under that bridge...!

I like to think we invented the show 'Deadliest Catch' that day... ;-)

BTW, I've only just found out from the link you posted that you need permission to catch them, and that it is illegal to put them back... If anyone asks; 'you aint seen me.... Roight?!'

[On the edge]

I can see some amusement brewing here. Gone are the days of honest poaching.........

Umm a poached egg on fish, specially kippers - now you are talking.


Sorry Nothing Much, but I couldn't resist!!

[Nothing Much]

I think the thread has drifted a bit.
Drop an egg into a pan of noodles with a stock cube.
Et voila. I Won't try to do the Italian.

When the river dropped as the Bagnor stream was closed. I pulled 5 old trout from the mud.
Better than Sir Michael Hordern.!
hex

[x2lls]

BLAKE

You have made a very good point!

Unfortunately there are others here who have used your post to grasp it as an opportunity to ridicule the very serious events that you highlight. I subscribe wholeheartedly to your view, and shame on all you others who appear to be so proud to make jest of the loss of our heritage, local wildlife and gloat over your own participation.

You should be ashamed of yourselves.

Just look at the bloody stupid responses you lot have 'contributed'. A complete bunch of silly idiots.

xjay

The bloody fish... ........Duh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


OTE
Is it just me, but I can't see the difference between hooking a fish out of the Kennet to eat and picking blackberrys from the brambles along the bank to do the same?

ditto duh................. (btw it is blackberries. )

OTE (again)
Very good!! Perhaps we could get a TV Chef; Kennet pike with a blackberry sauce

Nice!!!

[dannyboy]

Very good!! Perhaps we could get a TV Chef; Kennet pike with a blackberry sauce

Nice!!!

Turnpikey with blackberry sauce?