Illegal fish keeping

Member Joined: Jun 30, 2009 Posts: 26

Guys and Gals, I have witnessed some fisherman (if you can call them that) keeping undersized bass - that is bass under 36cm. These fisherman are in small boats and they think no one can see, but i can in my Kayak. I want to call the police and have them measure the bass there and then. I will then ensure they prosecute. What number do i call? What are the protocols to follow?

Thanks in advance.

Regular Joined: Mar 23, 2008 Posts: 411 Location: Pompey

police will do nothing , you need to contact the fisheries office , we've had the same problem with people taking under sized fish off south parade pier and since a few of us contacted the guy he's been down a few times and had words with the parties concerned.

Southern Sea Fishery Commitee 01202 721373

Member Joined: Jun 30, 2009 Posts: 26

Number noted, many thanks Jim! I will not tolerate under size fish keeping, I will take note of the boat name, date and time. I hope they can perhaps trace them and scare them with a letter? Will they attend the scene on a boat? Or is that too much to expect? I have VHF radio handheld so can call local port police, perhaps they can drive on out and catch them red handed?

Regular Joined: Mar 23, 2008 Posts: 411 Location: Pompey

like i say , i very much doubt the police will be interrested let alone do anything about it , but give the fisheries peeps a call with as much info as possible and hope they give the guys a scare , i know for a fact they only have 1 boat to cover a massive area so the chances of them coming out to catch those involved is pretty slim aswell , but atleast you'd have done youre bit to help.

Member Joined: Jun 30, 2009 Posts: 26

Cheers Jim.

The numbers for other areas are as follows:

Kent coast: Phone and fax (01843) 585310
Essex: Phone and fax (01206) 303261
Sussex: Tel: 01273 454407 Fax: 01273 454408

Tight lines.

Regular Joined: Mar 23, 2008 Posts: 452 Location: Plymouth

Hi Kayakdan,
Legal minimum size for keeping bass is 41cm from both shore and boat.
we get lots of this happening in the esturey all the way from magi lane right up to fawley near calshot.
Some people don't care about tommorrow only their needs today angry

Occasional Joined: Aug 17, 2008 Posts: 193

An observation.

There are NFSA limits and there are Defra Minimum Legal Size limits.
They are not the same.......