Cumbria magistrate guilty of poaching

A Cumbria magistrate found himself on the other side of the bench today when a salmon poaching offence cost him £3,000.

Stephen Furniss, from Seascale, was found guilty after a two-day trial. He was fined £500 and ordered to pay a further £2,500 in costs to the Environment Agency, which brought the prosecution.

Jennie Frieze, prosecuting for the Environment Agency, told Carlisle Magistrates’ Court how Environment Agency fisheries officers Mike Farrell and Peter McCulloch had seen Furniss fishing in a holding pool on the River Ehen, near Braystones, last August.

The officers watched Furniss catch two salmon using a ‘snatching’ or ‘foul-hooking’ method. This involves dragging a sharp hook through the water across a fish, with the intention that the hook will become embedded in the flesh of any part of the fish’s body so the fisherman can pull the fish out of the water.

The Environment Agency officers approached Furniss and inspected the two salmon he had caught. Both of them had wounds consistent with having been injured with a sharp hook. One of the fish was still alive. Fisheries Officer Farrell tried to revive it by holding it in the river but the salmon was bleeding badly from one of its gills and did not survive.

Fisheries Officer Mike Farrell said: “The deliberate foul hooking of fish is totally unacceptable on any river and is a serious poaching offence. This method of fishing is not sporting and if used widely, would quickly reduce fish stocks.

“We treat offences like this seriously, to ensure that sufficient numbers of fish return to our rivers each year. The River Ehen does not always meet its conservation targets for salmon, and it’s vital that as many fish as possible caught by anglers are returned to the water. Foul-hooking in this way causes significant injury or death to the fish and so fish caught by this method tend to be sold to eat.

“Fortunately, many legitimate anglers recognise that practising catch and release is fundamental to the conservation of future salmon and sea trout stocks, and fish legally for the sport rather than illegally for the pot.”

Stephen Furniss was found guilty of using a snatch for the purpose of taking salmon from the River Ehen, contrary to Section 1(a)(iv) of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975. In addition to the fine of £500 and the costs of £2,500 Furniss’ fishing tackle was confiscated.