Ray Walton
Senior Member
Hi All….
Just to inform BFW members to be on the look out for illegal fyke netting activities and indicators on the Hampshire Avon and Dorset Stour and probably other rivers, and also Lakes at this time of year.
A number of 'out of season' fyke nets have been found, removed and seized on the Lower Avon and have said to have contained dead barbel and other species.
Visual indicators of the activity can include small marker buoys of differing colours or plain, on or under the water surface, hanging ropes attached to overhead structures such as low bridges, stakes or bank side marker poles etc.
Each net can be over 20+ feet long and are submerged underwater, flat on the riverbed, held down by very heavy weights, so they are virtually undetectable if no surface marker is present.
The emptying of the nets is usually undertaken at night or very early morning, so you may never see any activity in daylight.
Although the fyke nets are usually used to trap eels ‘in season’ and possibly licensed by the EA, the nets are non-selective and other migratory species such as salmon and sea trout as well as coarse fish can be trapped and will possibly die.
If anyone sees activity or indicators mentioned above that look suspicious and you are unsure, the EA urge you to contact them on the freephone 0800 80 70 60 hotline to report it. Please obtain an EA incident report number when you inform them.
Also, inform your club committee or bailiff and report the location so it can be checked out pronto… Many thanks for your co-operation...Ray
Just to inform BFW members to be on the look out for illegal fyke netting activities and indicators on the Hampshire Avon and Dorset Stour and probably other rivers, and also Lakes at this time of year.
A number of 'out of season' fyke nets have been found, removed and seized on the Lower Avon and have said to have contained dead barbel and other species.
Visual indicators of the activity can include small marker buoys of differing colours or plain, on or under the water surface, hanging ropes attached to overhead structures such as low bridges, stakes or bank side marker poles etc.
Each net can be over 20+ feet long and are submerged underwater, flat on the riverbed, held down by very heavy weights, so they are virtually undetectable if no surface marker is present.
The emptying of the nets is usually undertaken at night or very early morning, so you may never see any activity in daylight.
Although the fyke nets are usually used to trap eels ‘in season’ and possibly licensed by the EA, the nets are non-selective and other migratory species such as salmon and sea trout as well as coarse fish can be trapped and will possibly die.
If anyone sees activity or indicators mentioned above that look suspicious and you are unsure, the EA urge you to contact them on the freephone 0800 80 70 60 hotline to report it. Please obtain an EA incident report number when you inform them.
Also, inform your club committee or bailiff and report the location so it can be checked out pronto… Many thanks for your co-operation...Ray