Angler Fined After Killing Otter In Illegal Net
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8th March , 2008
Lincolnshire Echo, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, UK
 An eel fisherman has been prosecuted and fined for setting an oversized net in a river which drowned an otter.
Terrence Roy Smith pleaded guilty to breaching the National Eel Bylaws 2004 in court yesterday.
The dead adult male otter was found in a floating fyke net, a long hooped net designed for trapping fish, in the River Witham between Tattershall Bridge and Dogdyke in June.
The discovery was made by Environment Agency staff cutting back weeds on the riverbank.
Cardiff University carried out a post-mortem examination concluded that the probable cause of death was drowning following being caught in the net.
The net found in the Witham had valid licence tags relating to Smith.
Prosecuting for the agency, Anne-Lise McDonald said the fyke net measured more than 1.31m at its entrance. Eel byelaws state it should be no wider than 1m.
Smith told investigators that during the season he may have up to 100 nets set in watercourses at any one time, the court heard.
They could be set between 10 or 11 months of the year. All his nets were registered with the Environment Agency, he said.
Smith pleaded guilty to using a net which was too wide on or about June 20, 2007.
He was fined £100 and ordered to pay £100 costs by Skegness Magistrates' Court.
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