| Poaching on River Trent up as people catch fish to eat during lockdown | |
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Illegal poaching is on the increase along the River Trent in Burton by people taking the fish home to eat during lockdown.
John Anderson, who is a river bailiff along the Trent, has said there has been an increase in poaching across the town, with him even catching two people in the act before they ran off.
He says things have got worse during the pandemic, with more and more people illegalyl fishing on the river as way of catching food. |
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A lot of people are fishing without a licence but then there are those who are using illegal set lines, which is a cruel way of catching pike which they then take home to eat.
Set line has hooks on the end and usually a small fish is used as bait, which are left out along the river for long periods until the poacher returns.
Mr Anderson said: "To use these lines is illegal. They target fish such as pike and they take them home to eat them.
"The pike takes the fish on the wire line and they end up with the hook in their stomach - it's a cruel way to fish.
"I found one line in a fish in Stapenhill Gardens and it had obviously been there a long time as the wound from the hock had healed. |
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