Environment Agency enforcement officers will be on patrol this weekend in a close season Easter crackdown on illegal angling.





They’ll be out in force patrolling waters to make sure anglers are fishing in the right place, with the right tackle and equipment, and with a valid licence.

Easter and the upcoming Bank Holiday weekends are always popular for angling, and despite the unsettled weather forecast, there’s no better time to get outdoors and enjoy some of the great fishing .

The Easter enforcement activity will be supported by the Angling Trust’s Operation Clampdown – the annual blitz on illegal coarse fishing during the close season, which runs from 15 March to 15 June inclusive.

There are currently 464 Angling Trust Voluntary Bailiffs in England who are taking part in Operation Clampdown by keeping watch on their local rivers and reporting suspicious activity to the Environment Agency and police.

Targeting known hotspots
Kevin Summerson, Fisheries Enforcement Technical Specialist at the Environment Agency, said:

The Environment Agency carries out enforcement work all year round. Our job is to protect fish stocks and improve fisheries, and anglers who fish legally rightly demand we take action to catch those who flout the law.

Our enforcement officers, working together with the police and supported by Angling Trust Voluntary Bailiffs, will be targeting illegal fishing this Easter weekend and anyone caught can expect to face prosecution.

Our work is intelligence-led, meaning we target known hotspots and act on reports of illegal fishing.



Anglers are reminded it is currently the close season for coarse fishing. This means fishing for coarse fish on rivers and streams is not permitted. This is done to help protect breeding fish, helping to safeguard stocks for the future. However, there are still plenty of places anglers can wet a line for coarse fish, including most stillwaters and canals.