Shropshire Star

Disgruntled anglers join forces to tackle illegal fishing in Shrewsbury

Five groups of disgruntled fishermen are combining forces in Shrewsbury in a bid to stamp out illegal angling in the town.

Published
Anglers plan to patrol the River Severn and other nearby waterways

The clubs have come together to patrol the River Severn around the town and waterways in the surrounding area and share intelligence before it is passed on to the Environment Agency for action to be taken.

It comes after four men from Merseyside were caught fishing without the correct licences in the town on Saturday and were then spotted elsewhere along the river later in the day.

Shrewsbury Angling Club, which has 120 members, has 16 volunteer bailiffs who patrol areas of the river to catch out unlicensed fishermen and women.

Secretary of the club Chris Wood is one of those who has come up with the idea and said angling is a big thing for the town that draws money into the economy, and those fishing illegal could be detrimental on that if the problem increases.

Mr Wood said: “Angling is a big thing in this area, so we have come together to tackle this and stamp it out all together.

"At the end of the day it is theft, and offences come under the theft act so we want to safeguard the area for the fishermen who abide by the laws.

“We have 120 members and are one of the fastest growing clubs in the country.

"Around a third of our members come from the Wirral, and come into the town buying equipment and food, so we bring money to the local economy.

"We don’t want that to be spoiled and we want to stamp out illegal fishing.”

Lymm Angling Association, Leighton and District Angling Club and Rowley and Fenemere are three clubs in the Shrewsbury area to have signed up.

Telford Angling Association are also involved, with the town having an issue with illegal fishing in pools.

Mr Wood said other clubs across Shropshire have been invited, and hope they get on board to stamp the issue out county wide.

He said: "We are hoping that clubs all over North Shropshire will get involved and tackle illegal fishing."