Fresh Water Licence - North East Anglers Have Best Record

Anglers in the North East returned one of the lowest ever rod licence evasion rates, when the Environment Agency checked nearly 900 anglers across 48 waterways last weekend.

With new rod licenses coming into force from April 1, a team of nine full-time Fisheries Enforcement Officers carried out the first license blitz of the year, using intelligence gathered from previous operations to target angling hot-spots and areas with higher than average licence evasion.

The Environment Agency carried out 865 successful licence checks, while only 25 anglers were found either not in possession of a current licence or were unable to produce one when requested. This meant only 2.9% of the anglers checked failed to have a new licence.

Team Leader Kevin Summerson said “The angling community in the North East should be commended on this statistic; it’s one of the lowest evasion rates I have seen in 25 years of enforcement.

“There should be no difficulty for anglers to buy a licence this year. Rod licences are available from every Post Office branch in England and Wales, can be bought over the phone or via the Internet, by direct debit and are also available from a number of retained outlets.

“All of the money obtained through licence sales goes back into fishing – so the Environment Agency can carry out work such as restocking waterways, improving fish habitat and river access. Those who avoid paying for a licence are limiting the amount of good work we can do.

“I can’t understand why a few anglers still take the risk and fish without a licence. The Environment Agency will carry out further blitzes throughout the season and we shall continue to target those areas where our intelligence indicates higher levels of rod licence evasion.”

Those anglers who were found not in possession of a current licence, or fail to produce a valid licence to the Environment Agency within the statutory period of seven days, will be dealt with through the courts.

Anglers caught fishing without a rod licence can be fined up to £2,500. Magistrates also have the power to order an individual to forfeit any equipment being used at the time of the offence and to ban the offender from holding a fishing licence for a period up to five years.

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