The Environment Agency and Angling Trust are running a pilot project, funded by the fishing licence, testing the benefits of giving members of Voluntary Bailiff Service powers to make fishing licence and byelaw checks. If successful, the initiative’s expansion would allow Environment Agency fisheries officers to focus on investigations into other types of fisheries crime.

In the first phase of the project, the Angling Trust recruited over 300 volunteers across England to help Environment Agency fisheries officers by providing information and reporting suspicious incidents on riverbanks and lakes.

In the second phase, the pilot project has now trained 10 of the Voluntary Bailiff Service members from the south east to undertake fishing licence and byelaw compliance checking patrols, reporting offenders in the same way that Environment Agency enforcement officers do.

Judy Proctor, head of fisheries at the Environment Agency said:

The volunteer bailiffs already provide a great service to angling by helping our officers catch people fishing illegally. We will be evaluating the pilot carefully to see what more can be done and how we can improve the service.

There is no excuse for illegal fishing. A fishing licence costs from just £30 for a whole year and you can get one on GOV.UK. Anyone fishing illegally can expect to be prosecuted and face a fine of up to £2,500 and up to £50,000 for byelaw offences. In 2015/16, the Environment Agency’s patrols checked 62,076 rod licences and brought 2,043 successful prosecutions for fisheries crime.

The Voluntary Bailiff Service recently inducted a further 35 new Phase 1 recruits in the North East and is currently recruiting in the rest of England. Induction and training days are being held this spring and anyone expressing an interest in joining the VBS should email karen.sarkar@anglingtrust.net

Reports on the areas and numbers of small woods, groups of trees, lone and hedgerow trees outside of main National Forest Inventory (NFI) woodland, with statistics broken down by category and sub-category (NFI woodland has a minimum size of 0.5 hectares.) Areas and lengths of hedgerows are also covered. Statistics are reported for GB, England, Scotland, Wales, individual NFI regions within England and Wales, and separately for urban and rural areas. Overall purpose is to quantify and characterise tree features outside woodland in GB for use in such areas as carbon sequestration, resource evaluation, tree pest and disease modelling and characterisation of urban and rural environments.

The Environment Agency consults the public on certain applications for waste operations, mining waste operations, installations, water discharge and groundwater activities. In some cases they also consult on draft decisions for environmental permits. The arrangements are explained in its Public Participation Statement
These notices explain:

• the Environment Agency’s proposed decision and the reasons and considerations on which they’ve based this
• additional relevant information available since the application was advertised
• any information or guidance provided by the Secretary of State relevant to the application

The Environment Agency’s flagship Lincshore scheme involves dredging sand from the seabed and pumping it onto the beach, replacing levels lost to the sea during the winter.

This reduces the risk of waves reaching and overtopping the main sea defences, protecting them from damage and erosion.

This year, the £6.8m project will begin Monday, 24 April at Boygrift. Over the next 6 weeks, beaches at Trusthorpe, Mablethorpe, Ingoldmells, Trunch Lane, Wolla Bank, Chapel Six Marshes and Huttoft will be replenished.

Mark Robinson, senior coastal advisor at the Environment Agency, said:

The beaches take the brunt of the waves’ energy, which would otherwise impact on coastal defences such as sea walls. Storms and large waves are more frequent during winter months, leading to erosion of the sand from these beaches.

” Replacing the sand helps extend the life of the sea defences – defences that reduce coastal flood risk to more than 30,000 homes and businesses, 19,000 static caravans and 35,000 hectares of land.

Additionally there’s an amenity value, benefitting and encouraging tourism on the coast, as otherwise there would be very little sand on our beaches.

Mark added:

We time our works to minimise disruption to local communities and visitors, but unfortunately we will need to close off sections of beach while we’re working on them to keep people safe.

This work is important to maintain coastal flood defences, so we appreciate residents’ ongoing patience if there’s minor disruption.

This year, around 350,000m3 of sand will be dredged from designated areas 20km offshore. The dredger used will be the HAM316, which carries about 10,000 tonnes of sand at a time. Additionally, the equipment used to move sand on the beach has the lowest carbon footprint of its class.

Lincshore first began in 1994 and covers 20km of beach frontage between Skegness and Mablethorpe.

The Environment Agency is currently reviewing how coastal flood risk will continue to be managed in the future and will be seeking the views of local communities, businesses and partners to help shape this.

While Lincshore helps maintain an excellent standard of protection from flooding, those living and working in coastal communities should take steps to ensure they know what to do in an emergency – such as knowing your risk, making a plan, and signing up for our free flood warnings. To find out more, call 0345 988 1188 or visit our website.

Four boaters who did not register their vessels have been landed with penalties totalling almost £4,000.

It’s after river inspectors found 6 boats without registration plates moored on the Nene in Northamptonshire, part of the Environment Agency’s Anglian Waterways network. Three of the vessels were owned by just one offender.

It is a legal requirement for boat owners to register any vessel they keep, use or let for hire on Environment Agency waterways, and to clearly display a valid registration plate. None of the 4 boat owners had done so.

Andrew MacGilliuray of Kestrel Lane in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, Jim Brown of Station Road in Ringstead, Northamptonshire, Steve Caines of Abbey Road in Lancing, West Sussex, and Raymond Davis of Friars Avenue, Northampton, all failed to register their vessels as required by law.

Their cases were heard at Northampton Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 28 March, and resulted in fines and costs totalling £3,927.23. Mr MacGilliuray, who owned 3 of the 6 boats, was ordered to pay a total of £1,357.96, Mr Brown £1,112.29, Mr Caines £838, and Mr Davis £628.98.

Nathan Arnold, Partnerships and Development team leader at the Environment Agency, said:

Our historic and precious waterways are an important part of our nation’s heritage and are enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people every year.

A significant part of caring for them, protecting them, and ensuring people continue to enjoy them is funded by boaters paying their way. Those who don’t contribute as they should are threatening the future of our waterways – and we won’t hesitate to take action against them.

As well as not contributing to the upkeep of waterways, unregistered boats can be unsafe, hazardous to other river users, and a pollution risk to the local environment and wildlife.

The Environment Agency looks after 353 miles of navigable waterways in the Anglian network, which includes the Ancholme, Black Sluice, Glen, Welland, Nene, Great Ouse and Stour, as well as associated locks and navigation facilities like moorings, showers and toilets.

More information about boating and waterways, including registering vessels, is available at www.gov.uk/ea. If you suspect a boat is illegal, please contact the Environment Agency on 03708 506 506 or email our waterways team (mailto:waterways.enforcementanglian@environment-agency.gov.uk).

ENDS

Notes to editors:

• Andrew MacGilliuary of Kestrel Lane, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, pleaded guilty and was fined £960.96. He was also ordered to pay costs of £300 and a victim surcharge of £97. The total penalty was £1,357.96. He kept three unregistered vessels, namely Dee Jay, Big Dee II and Barbara Lee, on the River Nene at Willy Watt Marina, Northamptonshire.

• Jim Brown of Station Road, Ringstead, Northamptonshire, pleaded guilty and was fined £783.29. He was also ordered to pay costs of £250 and a victim surcharge of £79. The total penalty was £1,112.29. His vessel, called Tee Hee III, was found on the River Nene at Blackthorn Lake Marina.

• Steve Caines of Abbey Road, Lancing, West Sussex, was proved guilty in absence and fined £535. He was also ordered to pay costs of £250 and a victim surcharge of £53. The total penalty was £838. His vessel, called Sunflower, was found on the River Nene at Willy Watt Marina.

• Raymond Davis of Friars Avenue, Northampton, Northamptonshire, pleaded guilty by post and was fine £343.98. He was also ordered to pay costs of £250 and a victim surcharge of £35. The total penalty was £628.98. His vessel, called Galton, was found on the River Nene at Northampton Marina.