GUIDELINES FOR ISLWYN ANGLERS WHO WITNESS OR SUSPECT POACHING IS TAKING PLACE ON CLUB WATERS

If whilst fishing or otherwise you come across a person or persons fishing and you do not recognise them or suspect they may fishing unlawfully all members have the right to question the person and ask them to produce their Membership Card or Day Ticket plus a current Environmental Licence. Any person refusing to produce the above documents is to be assumed to be unlawfully fishing.

NB: You must ensure that you are in possession of your own Membership Card and Environmental Licence before questioning others.

If for other reasons, such as unsuitable fishing equipment or methods eg spinning rods, fixed spool reels etc , you are reasonably sure that poaching is taking place then follow the procedure below.

If you are alone or feel uncomfortable to challenge the persons potentially poaching, request the assistance of other members present or if this is not possible contact the police on 101 as procedure below.

Poaching Report Procedure

  1. In line with the above guidelines should the person(s) be unable to produce a valid Membership Card, Day Ticket or Environmental licence inform them that they are fishing illegally and ask them to leave the water.If at any time they refuse or abuse you do not react and walk away.
  2. Ring 101 on your Mobile or any Landline and follow the call through until answered by Gwent Police. You will be asked to provide your Name, Address and Date of Birth, then follow on with a brief statement on What, When and Where is the poaching taking place. You will also be asked if the poaching is taking place at the time of the call. The actual officer will guide you through the whole process and you can question at any time.
  3. On completion of the statement you will be given an Incident Number, make a note of this number and then ask for feedback to yourself on the action taken by the police. To enable this you will need to provide them with your phone number. ( it does not have to be the phone you are using at the time, or if you are not available, you can select a colleague or committee member as your deputy.
  4. On completion of steps 1 to 3 make contact with a committee member and inform him/her of the current position with the incident plus the Incident Number. This person will then consider whether or not to inform the Environmental Agency and record the Incident on the Website.
  5. The initial stages are now complete, the final stage is communicating any incident feedback received from the police to preferably the same committee member, if possible.

Thankyou in advance for following this process, in doing so you have contributed to the protection of the Club’s Fish Assets plus the Sport of Fishing in the UK.