Environment Agency officers are once again out in force to crack down on illegal waste crime around London City Airport.

Recently the Environment Agency supported a multi-agency day with partners including the Met police and DVSA – in a bid to reduce and disrupt waste crimes, metal/cable theft, tax evasion and prevent dangerous vehicles from being on the road.

During the day of action, vehicles were stopped by officers from the partner agencies to identify offences and non-compliance.

On one occasion, a vehicle carrying a suspected stolen cable was stopped. The driver was interviewed under caution by the Police with an Environment Officer on hand to question him about duty of care offences and non- compliance.
Environment officers also checked whether waste carriers were providing waste transfer notes to the sites where they collected waste from.

Senior Environmental Crime Officer Julia Leigh said:

We want to make it very clear to people that everyone has a duty of care to ensure their waste is managed and disposed of correctly by the people they give it to. If you use illegal waste carriers to take your rubbish you risk being fined up to £5000. When someone offers to take your waste, you need to check that they are a registered waste carrier with us and they must provide you with a waste transfer note that tells you where they are taking the waste to.

Police and DVSA used their powers to prohibit a number of vehicles from being used on the road due to the dangerous defects they identified.

DVSA vehicle examiner Keith Barker, whose team took three vans off the road during the operation, said:

DVSA is committed to protecting you from unsafe drivers and vehicles. There’s no excuse for driving with mechanical defects or with an overweight or unstable load. Those on London’s roads who break the rules are putting themselves and others at risk. Working alongside our colleagues in the Environment Agency we’ll crack down on rogue drivers and operators, making London’s roads safer for all.

Waste being transported with no authorisations is likely to end-up at unregulated sites. Such sites store waste in vast quantities and for long periods of time posing significant risks to health and the environment. Risks can include fire which has the potential to contaminate water and land as well as air pollution from smoke. Illegal waste sites are often the cause of odour complaints too.

Julia Leigh added:

People who manage waste illegally cost the taxpayer millions every year in clean-up costs and make considerable sums of undeclared income. They also undercut legitimate business, and pose a direct threat to sustainable growth in the waste management sector. Our enforcement days make sure that the Right Waste goes to the right place ‎to stop unpermitted businesses undermining legitimate businesses and help create a level playing field.

Media enquiries: 0800 141 2743.

The Environment Agency is urging anglers and commercial fishermen to report unusual catches after a non-native pink salmon was caught in North East waters.

The fish was captured in a commercial net, close to the mouth of the River Tyne in early June. Since then, there have been further unconfirmed reports of pink salmon being caught in coastal nets in the North East.

Around 200 non-native pink salmon were caught in waters off the North East and Yorkshire coast in 2017 and by anglers in the rivers Tyne, Coquet, Wear and Hull, but this is the first confirmed catch of 2018. Further afield, anglers have confirmed catches in rivers in Scotland and in western Ireland.

Pink salmon (Onchorhyncus gorbuscha), also known as humpback salmon, originate from the northern Pacific Ocean.

Millions were stocked in the White Sea region of north Russia from the 1950s until the early 2000s to develop a net fishery. As a result, some have established self-sustaining populations in rivers and coastal areas in Russia, Finland and northern Norway. These populations now appear to be expanding. This is the most likely origin of the pink salmon recently caught in the UK and Ireland.

Non-native species have the potential to disturb the natural balance of our environment so, the Environment Agency is collecting data on sightings of pink salmon so officers can monitor and review any potential impact on biodiversity.

The Environment Agency’s Jonathan Shelley said:

The high numbers of pink salmon in our waters in 2017 was quite unusual. Now we’ve seen the first pink salmon caught in 2018, we’re asking anglers and netsmen to make us aware of any other pink salmon they catch.

I’d urge them to contact us if they see any non-native salmon in the waters, with a date, location and if possible a photograph, which would really help us identify them and build up a picture of where they are.

At this stage we don’t think there’s likely to be a major impact on wild fish stocks, but it is important we build up as comprehensive a picture of the number and distribution of pink salmon arriving, so we can take any necessary action.

Fishermen who hold a salmon licence and catch pink salmon are asked not to return the fish to the water if they are confident in their identification. Instead they are asked to dispatch them humanely and make the fish available to the Environment Agency for inspection and further analysis. If this is not possible, they are asked to send a sample of the scales. Coarse and trout anglers who catch pink salmon are asked to retain them in a keep net if possible and alert the Environment Agency to arrange collection. If this is not possible, the fish should be released.

Data collected will help the Environment Agency, fisheries researchers and other organisations with an interest in fisheries management in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Scandinavia, better understand how to manage the arrival of pink salmon in the UK.

The Environment Agency is urging anglers and commercial fishermen to report unusual catches after a non-native pink salmon was caught in North East waters.

The fish was captured in a commercial net, close to the mouth of the River Tyne in early June. Since then, there have been further unconfirmed reports of pink salmon being caught in coastal nets in the North East.

Around 200 non-native pink salmon were caught in waters off the North East and Yorkshire coast in 2017 and by anglers in the rivers Tyne, Coquet, Wear and Hull, but this is the first confirmed catch of 2018. Further afield, anglers have confirmed catches in rivers in Scotland and in western Ireland.

Pink salmon (Onchorhyncus gorbuscha), also known as humpback salmon, originate from the northern Pacific Ocean.

Millions were stocked in the White Sea region of north Russia from the 1950s until the early 2000s to develop a net fishery. As a result, some have established self-sustaining populations in rivers and coastal areas in Russia, Finland and northern Norway. These populations now appear to be expanding. This is the most likely origin of the pink salmon recently caught in the UK and Ireland.

Non-native species have the potential to disturb the natural balance of our environment so, the Environment Agency is collecting data on sightings of pink salmon so officers can monitor and review any potential impact on biodiversity.

The Environment Agency’s Jonathan Shelley said:

The high numbers of pink salmon in our waters in 2017 was quite unusual. Now we’ve seen the first pink salmon caught in 2018, we’re asking anglers and netsmen to make us aware of any other pink salmon they catch.

I’d urge them to contact us if they see any non-native salmon in the waters, with a date, location and if possible a photograph, which would really help us identify them and build up a picture of where they are.

At this stage we don’t think there’s likely to be a major impact on wild fish stocks, but it is important we build up as comprehensive a picture of the number and distribution of pink salmon arriving, so we can take any necessary action.

Fishermen who hold a salmon licence and catch pink salmon are asked not to return the fish to the water if they are confident in their identification. Instead they are asked to dispatch them humanely and make the fish available to the Environment Agency for inspection and further analysis. If this is not possible, they are asked to send a sample of the scales. Coarse and trout anglers who catch pink salmon are asked to retain them in a keep net if possible and alert the Environment Agency to arrange collection. If this is not possible, the fish should be released.

Data collected will help the Environment Agency, fisheries researchers and other organisations with an interest in fisheries management in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Scandinavia, better understand how to manage the arrival of pink salmon in the UK.

For the third quarter of 2018 (1 July to 30 September 2018) the fishing limit for scallops in the Western Waters ICES area VII, which includes the English Channel, is being set at 30 days. This is happening in order to carefully manage the remaining effort for this year and help avoid an early closure of the fishery.

The development follows a recommendation by the Scallop Industry Consultation Group (SICG) after its meeting of 7 June, which has now been agreed by UK Fisheries Administrations. The SICG includes representatives from scallop fishing and processing companies, as well as government representatives.

Uptake of scallop fishing in area VII is very high currently (59% at 12 June) and industry negotiations with France to increase the UK’s fishing effort in the area through exchanging additional effort (‘the Baie de Seine agreement’) are still ongoing. During the SICG meeting the group looked at a number of scenarios, which made it clear that a reduction in the quarter 3 limit was required.

A further review of the limit will take place once the outcome of the negotiations are known, likely to be mid-July.
A variation taking effect 1 July 2018 will soon be issued affecting all vessels of 15 metres and over.

More guidance and explanation of ‘days at sea’ appears elsewhere on GOV.UK.

Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science annual reports and accounts 2017-18.