The Environment Agency is reminding anglers of the importance of having a rod licence after a County Durham man was fined for fishing illegally.

Dean Ferguson, 49, of Browning Hill, Coxhoe, failed to appear for his court hearing at Peterlee Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 23 January.

In his absence he was fined £660, ordered to pay £127 costs and a victim surcharge of £66.

Intelligence-led patrols

Shortly before midnight on the night of Saturday 6 August 2016, Environment Agency Fisheries Enforcement Officers were carrying out intelligence-led patrols on the River Wear in Durham city.

They saw Ferguson start fishing in the river using a double-handed salmon rod, and almost immediately he had foul-hooked a sea trout, which means the fish was hooked somewhere other than in the mouth.

He was stopped by the officers who searched his vehicle, and found the foul-hooked fish. Ferguson also admitted he did not have a valid rod licence.

He was summonsed to appear at court for the offences. It’s illegal to fish without a licence, and to fail to return to the water any fish that is foul-hooked.

‘Vital’ that anglers abide by law

Kevin Summerson, Fisheries Technical Specialist for the North East, said:

It’s vital that anglers abide by the law to protect the future of the sport and the quality of our rivers and fisheries.

We won’t hesitate to take action to stop illegal fishing and hopefully this will act as a deterrent for any angler thinking of cheating the system.

All the money raised from rod licence sales is used to protect and improve fish stocks and fisheries, benefiting anglers.

Rod licence income funds improvements

During 2016 in the North East there were six serious fisheries offences resulting in £460 in fines and £600 costs, plus forfeiture of equipment and a crushed vehicle.

There were a further 54 offenders prosecuted for 59 rod licence offences resulting in fines of £14,327, with four offenders also given conditional discharges.

Anyone discovered committing offences could face a substantial fine at court.

All income from rod licence sales is used to fund Environment Agency work to protect and improve fish stocks and fisheries, including improving habitats for fish and facilities for anglers, tackling illegal fishing and working with partners to encourage people to give fishing a go.

Buying a rod licence is quick and easy – you can buy them online at the Post Office.

A group of public agencies is hosting a drop-in event in Wakefield to explain how they work together to regulate the onshore oil and gas industry and protect communities and the environment.

The Environment Agency, Health and Safety Executive, Oil and Gas Authority, and Public Health England are hosting the event in the Kingswood Suite at Wakefield Town Hall, Wood Street, Wakefield, on Tuesday 7 February.

These agencies work together to assess the impacts of the oil and gas industry, to oversee industry operations, and to ensure that any exploration and development, including fracking, is done in a way that does not put people or the environment at risk of harm.

The drop-in session is one of a series of events that offer local residents, businesses and other interested parties in West Yorkshire an opportunity to find out about agencies’ roles and to ask questions and discuss any issues or concerns they have about onshore oil and gas development ahead of any future applications to develop operations in the area.

Everyone is welcome to attend at any time between 2pm and 7pm.

A group of public agencies is hosting a drop-in event in Wakefield to explain how they work together to regulate the onshore oil and gas industry and protect communities and the environment.

The Environment Agency, Health and Safety Executive, Oil and Gas Authority, and Public Health England are hosting the event in the Kingswood Suite at Wakefield Town Hall, Wood Street, Wakefield, on Tuesday 7 February.

These agencies work together to assess the impacts of the oil and gas industry, to oversee industry operations, and to ensure that any exploration and development, including fracking, is done in a way that does not put people or the environment at risk of harm.

The drop-in session is one of a series of events that offer local residents, businesses and other interested parties in West Yorkshire an opportunity to find out about agencies’ roles and to ask questions and discuss any issues or concerns they have about onshore oil and gas development ahead of any future applications to develop operations in the area.

Everyone is welcome to attend at any time between 2pm and 7pm.

An integration has been agreed between the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and the Home Office’s Centre for Applied Science and Technology (CAST). This has been decided following a review to examine the best way to provide enduring and appropriate science and technology (S&T) support to the Home Office and the MOD. The integration will improve the resilience of the S&T support that makes such a major contribution to the nation’s defence, policing, security and resilience.

Commenting on today’s announcement, Dstl’s Chief Executive, Jonathan Lyle said:

Combining our capabilities will improve the science and technology support for the MOD and Home Office, and enhance the nation’s defence and security. Dstl and CAST already work closely together on key projects such as forensics, body armour and detection systems. We intend to continue to build on this existing close relationship to make the integration process a success.

The Head of CAST, Andy Bell, added:

This development will enable a more joined-up, coherent approach to science and technology provision for security, policing and resilience in the UK. The move will mean that our customers have access to a wider range of scientific and engineering expertise across government, industry and academia, giving broader access to innovative ideas and solutions. There is a lot of hard work to be undertaken before we complete the move, and we will be providing full support to our staff throughout the transition.

The integration is expected to start in 2017 and end by 2020. CAST’s staff and work will move to become part of Dstl, and be primarily based at Porton Down, near Salisbury. An integration programme team will work jointly across Dstl and CAST to support the transfer of staff and capabilities during the transition period, ensuring continuity in support of national security, defence and policy.

The operator of a waste mattress and bed recycling site in Smarden has been found guilty for failing to comply with relevant waste exemptions as well as failing to comply with an Enforcement Notice issued by the Environment Agency. Sentencing is due on 3 February 2017.

The charges were brought against Mr Lewis Bertram, trading as Eco Matters, Units Y & E2 Smarden Business Estate, Smarden, Ashford, Kent after an Environment Agency investigation discovered that he was operating outside of the terms of registered waste exemptions, posing a pollution and fire risk to the surrounding environment, neighbouring units and residential properties. Mr Bertram pleaded not guilty to the charges presented at Magistrates court early in 2016 and elected for the case to be heard at Crown Court. The jury returned guilty pleas to all three charges brought before the court.

Mr Bertram had been operating a mattress recycling business at the two units, which lie within close proximity to several residential properties, since July 2013. Environment Agency visits in December 2014 and January 2015 found that the activities were not compliant with the terms of the registered waste exemptions. Environment officers informed Mr Bertram that he was committing an offence by operating the site outside of the terms of these waste exemptions and gave Mr Bertram the opportunity to comply with the specific conditions and relevant objectives in the first instance.

Further visits to monitor the situation on site in March and early April 2015 revealed that activities on site were continuing to be conducted outside of the terms of the exemptions and the volume of waste stored on site continued to increase. The Environment Agency de-registered the waste exemptions and Enforcement Notices were issued on Mr Bertram in March 2015 instructing that all waste be removed from Unit E2 and the volume of waste at Unit Y to be reduced to the 1,000 tonne limit of textiles permitted for storage under the waste exemptions by 29 May 2015.

Mr Bertram maintained a not guilty plea in relation to the non-compliance with these two notices to clear the waste for which the charges will be referred back to a magistrate’s court.

No further waste had been brought to site by Mr Bertram since the de-registration of the exemptions in May 2015. However, further visits to the site conducted by environment officers in June 2015 revealed that Mr Bertram had not complied with the Enforcement Notices requesting for the removal of waste from site.

The Environment Agency worked closely with Kent Fire and Rescue Service throughout 2015 and 2016 to monitor the fire risk posed by the site and to ensure that the situation on site did not get any worse.

The site at Units Y and E2 are still full of waste mattresses, divan bed bases and their associated parts which we will continue to deal with to ensure that they are removed by those responsible.

Alan Cansdale, Environment Manager from the Environment Agency said:

His actions showed blatant disregard for local residents and businesses putting the environment and local amenity at risk. Mr Bertram ignored numerous opportunities given to him by our officers to bring the operations back into compliance.

Waste exemptions are designed for activities deemed to be of low risk to the environment and have strict conditions that must be complied with.

While we will work closely with businesses to help them comply with such legislation, in cases where individuals consistently operate illegally and in this case outside the terms of an exemption, we have no hesitation in prosecuting them to make sure that waste crime doesn’t pay.

There are photos available on our flickr account