Illegal eel nets confiscated

THE Environment Agency has removed four nets designed to illegally catch eels from the Nene during the first ever closed season.

Officers were called to a location on the Nene, just downstream of Peterborough, by an RSPB warden who spotted the fyke nets. Fyke nets are a bag-shaped net held open by hoops. They are linked together in long chains and are used to catch eels in rivers, Alan Tilbury tells us.

Jake Reeds, Environment Monitoring officer at the Environment Agency, explained: "The four nets were in a string formation set along the north bank of the tidal Nene. They were set without tags, which must be bought by eel fishermen and placed on each of their nets. They also didn't have otter guards which puts at risk other protected animals on the river and not just eels."

Six months closed season

The Environment Agency will not tolerate the setting of these nets during the closed season owing to the drastic drop in the number of eels in the river. A six months  closed season was imposed by the Environment Agency following calls from the European Commission for all member states to take immediate steps to protect eels and halt their decline.

The Environment Agency is also working on new legislation to cap the number of eels allowed to be caught outside of the closed season, and anglers who catch eels by rod and line already have to return them.