Illegal Fishing On The Don ? What to Do?

[Wildfisher]

I need some advice here. I fish  the council beat of the Don at Alford a fair bit, love it to bits  and catch my share of fish. However, I  have now just  about had enough of the blatant illegal fishing that goes on. By illegal fishing I mean, by and large,  guys spinning for salmon at  all water levels.

On the permit it?s clear enough: no spinning unless the water is above the markers. This rule is openly flaunted to the extent it?s a joke.

I was down the other night. The river is dead  low, only a few inches above summer level, yet there were 3 anglers spinning ? some using multi-treble hook  Rapala type lures in fact which  is ALWAYS illegal there no matter what the river level is. This was no one-off, it's like that most times I go down.

I usually have a friendly word, pointing out the markers and the usual response if a shrug of the shoulders or an  ?I didna ken? response which makes you wonder if they even have a permit as the rules are clear enough on it.

Obviously as an ordinary angler there is nothing I can do and the already hard pressed closest bailiff  lives  about 10 miles away. I?m not sure he would thank me for a call at 8.00PM after he has already put in a full day?s work anyway!

I am intending writing to Aberdeenshire council telling them this will be the last year I buy  a permit for the river for the reasons stated above. Not that that?ll do much good.

So what to do? What would  you do?

[Inchlaggan]

There are a couple of things you can do, and more that you cannot- sadly.
Taking the idiots on can result in a very sore face as Texxa (I think) pointed out in another thread.
Car registrations, or photographs can help the bailiff, as can a well-written report of what you saw.
A 'phone call may be out of order, but I doubt his contract will be for a 9-5 day, if it is a business line, call and leave a message.
The police "train" bailiffs and are wary about the creation of volunteer bailiffs. However, creating a cohort of volunteer "wardens" might be acceptable to the riparian owners.
Being non-confrontational is always the best way forward. We have (in conjunction with the owners and police) produced a document listing the rules and the law, this is sealed in an envelope, and is either handed to the angler or left on his windscreen.
In short it says, this is the law, these are the rules, we have reason to believe that you have broken them, the owner, bailiff, and police will be informed as necessary, please desist.
It works about 70% of the time.

[Wildfisher]

These guys are very obviously salmon fishing smurf and that's not a PO matter, so I really don't know  what the score is.

[Fishtales]

From the 2003 act.

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/acts2003/pdf/asp_20030015_en.pdf

12 Contravention of protection order
(1) Any person who fishes for or takes freshwater fish in contravention of a prohibition
contained in a protection order made under section 48 of this Act shall be guilty of an
offence, and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the
standard scale.
(2) Without prejudice to section 294 (attempts to commit crime) of, and paragraph 10 of
Schedule 3 to, the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (c.46), any person who
attempts to commit or who does any act preparatory to the commission of the offence
mentioned in subsection (1) above shall be guilty of an offence and liable to the same
punishment as if that person had committed the offence mentioned

and......

(2) A protection order shall?
(a) be made in relation to such area as the Scottish Ministers may prescribe, which
shall be the catchment area, or such part thereof as the Scottish Ministers think
appropriate, of any river; and
(b) prohibit persons without legal right or without written permission from a person
having such right from fishing for or taking freshwater fish in the inland waters in
the prescribed area.

[Fishtales]

Which PO are they talking about? The only one I can find is the 1990 one that states all freshwater fish.

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1990/Uksi_19901971_en_1.htm#fnf002

'Interpretation
    2.    In this Order-
"freshwater fish" has the same meaning as in section 24(1) of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries (Protection) (Scotland) Act 1951[2];'

'Prohibition of fishing without legal right or written permission
    3.    Fishing for or taking freshwater fish in the inland waters in the area prescribed in article 4 hereof, without legal right or without written permission from a person having such a right, is hereby prohibited.'

As far as the 2003 Act goes salmon and sea trout aren't freshwater fish

'?freshwater fish? means any fish living in fresh water, including trout and eels and
the fry of eels but exclusive of salmon and of any kind of fish which migrate
between the open sea and tidal waters;'

So the PO doesn't cover salmon and sea trout only "freshwater fish"

[Fishtales]

To summarise then. They aren't breaking the PO but they are breaking the rules which are covered by the 2003 act.

'Fishing for salmon and sea trout in any waters, including any part of the sea within 1.5km of mean low water springs, without legal right or written permission from a person having such right is a criminal offence by virtue of section 6 of the 2003 Act.'

So is breaking the rules of the permit a criminal act or a civil one If they have a permit then it would be up to the owners to do something about it, if they don't have a permit it is the police. If they don't show a permit when asked then get the police involved to find out if they have a permit or not and are breaking the law. If it turns out they do have a permit the hassle from the police might deter further illegal fishing, the police may also take the view that they are poaching as they are using a prohibited means of fishing.

[Wildfisher]

I was down there this evening. I left as darkness fell and came across 3 guys  from the central belt in the car park with fishing gear and getting wired into the beer. I have reported the incident to the Don salmon fisheries board bailiffs (I have their numbers on my mobile)  just in case. I really don't fancy the job these guys have to do. Now it might be innocent enough and if so no harm done. On the other it might not be  and  I really don't want my local river emptied by illegal spinning or the illegal baggie minnin brigade.

You know this is what really pisses me off with those web sites that openly  post pictures of lots fish and reports of catching them. They just wave a big banner to every google-ing ned that reads  BIG FISH HERE COME AND GET THEM.    Ego stroking comes at a price.

[Malcolm]

Fred,

Legislation is all very well but enforcing that when you are one and they are three - and they are not for moving - is another matter. In that instance you can only rely on the police or the bailiff force. It's not a situation that I have come across so far although I know the local bailiffs have. In the case of one honorary bailiff he simply calls a full-time bailff or the local police.

On one stretch of my local river I come across people spinning or worming from time to time. The stretch borders on another stretch with day permits  that allow any method. I just walk up to them and tell them they can't spin or worm there as it says on the permit (in fact the permit doesn't say that at all - but it is in the Associations rules). There is a good chance they don't have a permit  or they will have a permit for the neighbouring stretch. In any event so far they have stopped or left.

[stickleback]

So is breaking the rules of the permit a criminal act or a civil one

In my opinion this is the nub of the problem and will determine who can do what and when.  Luckily the Clerk of the Don District Salmon Board is a George Alpine who is a solicitor at Burnett & Reid so if he was asked he'd hopefully be able to provide the definitive legal position for all species/scenarios.

After Mr Alpine's clarified it, then perhaps the council could be asked to beef up the notes on their permits to make it crystal clear what permit holders are allowed to do and what is illegal along with phone numbers for the bailiffs / police.  Then if an illicit fisher / poacher is seen in action, and the person seeing them thinks they look beyond 'friendly advice' from a fellow angler then the matter should be reported to the bailiffs (it would be good if their phone number was more widely advertised), and if it's a criminal matter then it should also be reported to the police, asking that whoever takes the report also notifies the Wildlife Crime Unit  http://www.grampian.police.uk/Advice.aspx?id=170&pid=30;34;188 - part of their remit is to investigate poaching of fish.   If the bailiffs / police don't hear about it (or only occasionally) it probably won't feature high up on their list of things to be sorted out.  But if these sort of incidents are recorded properly by the bailiffs / police then the problem areas would hopefully become clear over time and allow the bailiffs / police to give them more attention than is happening at present, and hopefully deter the folk that are repeatedly doing it.

I seem to have used the word hopefully a lot  :lol: