 | The Angling Trust are helping out the Environment Agency (who have been hit by major cutbacks) by creating thousands of patrols with their voluntary bailiff scheme. |
The Environment Agency made just 62,000 licence checks for the 2015-16 season, a sharp decline of 8,000 from 2013-14. And for the same period there were 1,900 prosecutions, down by 900 two years before.
A survey revealed that hundreds of anglers had never, or hardly ever, had their rod licence checked.
The Angling Trust are set to go into Phase Two of their Voluntary Bailiffs Service, by training their people up to be given the full power of official bailiffs, making them akin to Police special constables.
Started in 2012 as a pilotscheme in one area, the VBS has since been rolled out all over the country, and 329 bailiffs are now in operation, supporting EA work.
Trust national enforcement service manager Dilip Sakar explained: “This is the most exciting development in angling history, representing the way forward in tackling licence evasion. The National Intelligence Model underpins all policing today – this means that our limited resources can be deployed to hotspot locations at peak times, following analysis of information received from the public. We don’t actually check licences, but report suspicious activity to the EA and occasionally the Police.
Since becoming fully operational from last spring, we have undertaken 2,892 patrols, and reported 51 incidents to the EA and 12 to the Police. We are also rolling out Phase Two of the programme, in which a number of the existing VBs receive further training, so they can be given the full powers of official bailiffs, making them akin to special constables.
We are aiming to increase our total of bailiffs to 500 by spring, bringing us level with countries like Holland, but a long way behind Poland, which has 5,000.”
Adrian Saunders, senior advisor for incidents and compliance at the Environment Agency, said: “We take illegal fishing very seriously. Just because a law-abiding angler hasn’t had their licence checked, it doesn’t mean we’re not out there.”
A survey revealed that hundreds of anglers had never, or hardly ever, had their rod licence checked.
The Angling Trust are set to go into Phase Two of their Voluntary Bailiffs Service, by training their people up to be given the full power of official bailiffs, making them akin to Police special constables.
Started in 2012 as a pilotscheme in one area, the VBS has since been rolled out all over the country, and 329 bailiffs are now in operation, supporting EA work.
Trust national enforcement service manager Dilip Sakar explained: “This is the most exciting development in angling history, representing the way forward in tackling licence evasion. The National Intelligence Model underpins all policing today – this means that our limited resources can be deployed to hotspot locations at peak times, following analysis of information received from the public. We don’t actually check licences, but report suspicious activity to the EA and occasionally the Police.
Since becoming fully operational from last spring, we have undertaken 2,892 patrols, and reported 51 incidents to the EA and 12 to the Police. We are also rolling out Phase Two of the programme, in which a number of the existing VBs receive further training, so they can be given the full powers of official bailiffs, making them akin to special constables.
We are aiming to increase our total of bailiffs to 500 by spring, bringing us level with countries like Holland, but a long way behind Poland, which has 5,000.”
Adrian Saunders, senior advisor for incidents and compliance at the Environment Agency, said: “We take illegal fishing very seriously. Just because a law-abiding angler hasn’t had their licence checked, it doesn’t mean we’re not out there.”
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