• You need to be a registered member of Barbel Fishing World to post on these forums. Some of the forums are hidden from non-members. Please refer to the instructions on the ‘Register’ page for details of how to join the new incarnation of BFW...

E A. can they be bothered

Neil Partridge

Neil Partridge

Senior Member
when was & where was the last (if at all) time you were challenged by an ea. official (or back in the day, local area bailifffe, stwa, nwwa, twa, etc.).
mine has been only once, about 20 years ago whilst fishing the shroppie at brewood in staffs during my match days.
its my beliefe that they cant be bothered to walk up to a mile (or more) along a river in the faint hope of finding some guy tucked behind a bush somewhere stalking barbel (or whatever else that swims).
i reckon they are quite happy to go to a muddy puddle complex where they can have a cuppa while they are there.
are they instructed as to where to go or do they please themselves
 
In stark contrast, Neil, I see the local EA bailiff(s) at least half a dozen times a season, despite only fishing once a week. I guess it's what might be called a 'baliffing postcode lottery'.... :)
 
I have been checked a few times when fishing Longbridge Lake in Hampshire. I also used to get checked regularly when fishing the RDAA stretches of the Kennet.

Considering the few times I used to get on the bank per season this would indicate that the bailiffs were visiting these waters regularly. However I would say that the last time was probably about seven or eight years ago.

I have never once had my licence checked by the E.A. while fishing the Wasing stretches of the same river.
 
Despite receiving around £22million from anglers rod license fees, they still plead that they do not have the manpower or resources due to cutbacks.
I am now told that they will consider charging me a 'fee' for asking questions, to where they will have to spend precious time to find the answers, and which will hinder their 'protection of the river environment role'!!!!!:eek:
 
Last edited:
They pulled a few up at the pond accross from my house this weekend, never heard of them checking there before.
 
Neil Partridge said:
are they instructed as to where to go or do they please themselves
Click to expand...
In the Midlands area there are no regular EA patrols. There are enforcement teams and these respond based on people ringing the call centre number.
How quick they will respond will really be down to if they happen to be in the area.
If a location is reported regularly then it may get a visit at other times.
In my experience it is a bit of pot luck, but certain locations have been visited on the Teme and the Severn recently following complaints from myself.
The chance of any one being checked for a license randomly whilst legally fishing is very remote. The only times I have been checked is whilst fishing for Salmon during the coarse close season following reports made to the EA about "people fishing during the close season". If you are fishing on the Severn during the coarse close season near any of the weirs or other known locations for Salmon you are quite likely to be checked in my experience (which is why the poachers fish at night). Outside of that I don't think I have every been asked for my EA license, or before that River authority license in the Midlands although I have seen EA officers on the bank, but as I knew them and they knew me they didn't ask!
 
Last edited:
Ray Walton said:
Despite receiving around £22million from anglers rod license fees, they still plead that they do not have the manpower or resources due to cutbacks.
I am now told that they will consider charging me a 'fee' for asking questions, to where they will have to spend precious time to find the answers, and which will hinder their 'protection of the river environment role'!!!!!:eek:
Click to expand...

That's because, Ray, at my last asking the question, the amount that the EA received from Government eclipsed by a not inconsiderable amount what they received from anglers. The numbers of anglers buying licences could go up, yet still potentially the EA (fisheries) could lose half of their funding.

Regards

Damian
 
But they still have the money and manpower to continue to vandalise our rivers - on this particular stretch for the third time in around seven years :-

http://www.pmlnet.co.uk/npfaforum/index.php?topic=28.30

And read the lastest post :


I went out to inspect the new platforms earlier this week. All three are in and they look good. There were a few problems with installing the steps as the ground was so hard.

However, it appears the contractors working on the far bank have completely removed the overhanging willows opposite the platforms. I am gutted as these trees were the main reason the barbel were in the area. Please accept my apologies for the cock up.

I.e they installed some nice fishing platforms - but inadvertantly chopped the trees down opposite that made the place viable in the first instance....

You couldn't make this up!

Regards

Paul.
 
Never Ever Seen any up in the north west :(
I did report some E.Us last year The response i got was it will be around 3hours b4 anyone can get there
Pretty Disgusting i think
 
Damian Kimmins said:
That's because, Ray, at my last asking the question, the amount that the EA received from Government eclipsed by a not inconsiderable amount what they received from anglers. The numbers of anglers buying licences could go up, yet still potentially the EA (fisheries) could lose half of their funding.

Regards

Damian
Click to expand...
You are correct here Damien, except that the government doesn't actually have any money this cash comes from taxpayers;)
The present fisheries budget has been cross subsidised from many other parts of the EA budget, so far more money than just the license fee is actually spent on rivers.
The underlying issues if how the fisheries part of the EA is managed, rather than how it is funded. Separating out from the EA's overall role as a regulator, from its role in developing the environment generally and fisheries in particular is a complicated issue.
The responsibility for improving and maintaining rivers in England and Wales cannot be funded by the small amount raised by anglers license fees. The river environment is of importance to everyone in the country. Management of rivers has to be done in the long term interests of the rivers as an environment and not just for anglers. Anglers can play a key role in this, but cannot be expected to either fund all of it or have total control of how resources are either allocated or managed.
The water companies have many millions available for environmental improvements, which they are presently prevented from spending due to the legislation they operate under.
European farming subsides allocated by DeFRA are a huge source of funding that directly impacts on the river environment, river friendly farming needs to become a requirement for obtaining grants and this needs to be enforced with angling clubs and riparian owners having a large say in how it is used.
Riparian owners themselves need to see river improvements as something that adds value to their assets and not just something that is forced on them.
Some of these changes are already taking place, how fast change will come can be influenced by anglers if they get involved in the decision making processes through service delivery organisations like the Rivers Trusts and the political activity of the SATA and the Anglers Trust.
 
Last time I was asked for my rod license? Possibly at least 20 years ago, on the Gt. Ouse, at Milton Earnest. (when it was worth fishing)
Back then if you turned up at that venue on the w'end, after 9pm, you'd not get on any of the decent swims. There'd be upwards of 20 cars parked on the roadside. Now you'd be surprised to see more than half a dozen.
So there's no point in the EA officers trudging up and down 2-3 miles of river, to ask 3 or 4 anglers for their license, when the commercials are crammed with anglers.
 
They have turned up at a local pond near me.... Never heard of this before




He had a 'barcode machine' to scan the licence :eek:



I was told this and not seen it myself
 
Last edited:
I'm not quite sure what some on here actually want. Take my locality; Oxfordshire. 50+ miles of Thames, 40 miles of Cherwell, Windrush and Thame, 30 miles of the Evenlode, plus rivers Ray, Ock, Swere, Sor....

200+ miles of significant river (400+ miles of river bank), plus 40+ miles of canal and all the tributaries. Does anyone really expect it to be routinely walked by an EA officer and for what?
On a busy weekend, perhaps 100-200 anglers.

Wow, that would be an efficient use of resources, NOT!!:rolleyes:

Then there will be cries of money wasting.:confused:
 
Yes. Rivers are best served by communities of the concerned, not by occasional, one-interest-only "tourists" often with loud mouths and unrealistic expectations. I am not talking about some here today - gone tomorrow politicos' "Big Society" now (excuse me whilst I hawk out of a nearby half-open window), but about what it takes to keep rivers rivers - water, fish, people, otters and all.
 
The last two posts illustrate perfectly why the close season is totally out of date.
The only people who could possibly police that amount of water are the anglers themselves, i.e. those with a vested interest in protecting the stocks from the unscrupulous and the unlicenced. However; as it stands at the moment we are left with a situation where the very people who could be the guardians of the fish stocks are prevented from doing so at the time when the fish are at there most vulnerable to being taken.
 
Yet we don't we hear trout fishers demanding that rivers stay open year-round in order to prevent out-of-season poaching. And before someone pipes up "But they're privately patrolled", be aware that only a comparatively few rivers have a full-time keeper or security presence, but are merely regularly walked (not fished) by their Angler-users. But coarse-fishers seem to be piscatorially incontinent, they cannot leave the water alone, they just have to whip their dinky little rods out...
 
Richard Parsons said:
Well, it would seem I'm one of the lucky ones then (in a perverse kind of way).....
Click to expand...

Possibly due to the fact your local EA Bailiff has a personal interest in the stretch(s) you fish Rich?!

In responce to Lee's post, the one and only time i've had my licence checked was on a north west park lake during May last year, not too far from your home. The officers were on their way to your local river in responce to a call regarding illegal fishing activities!
 
I thought that was why trout fishers came up with the good old triploid rainbow Paul.
And do we really want to get to the position many trout rivers are in where they are stocked through the season and then left barren through the close?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top