Operation LEVIATHAN Briefing Note for Tarporley & District Angling Club‏

Operation LEVIATHAN, the largest multi-police force and multi-agency operation to ever target illegal fishing and fish theft, will be launched on Thursday 11th June 2015.

Operation LEVIATHAN’s policing partners are West Mercia, Warwickshire, Cheshire, Gloucestershire, West Midlands, Dyfed-Powys and South Wales Police and the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit. Other partners are the Angling Trust, Fish Legal, Environment Agency and Cefas.

The Fisheries Enforcement Campaign and Operation LEVIATHAN is supported by Daniel Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury & Atcham, and the Prime Minister’s Envoy of Polish & Eastern European Diaspora in the UK.

Like Operation TRAVERSE, launched in November 2014 as a partnership between Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire Police, the Angling Trust, Environment Agency and Cefas, Operation LEVIATHAN will be ongoing indefinitely.

Such operations work through a high profile, increasing confidence and thereby intelligence – leading to pre-scripted and appropriately resourced ‘Days of Action’.
All operations are subject to an Operational Order, a detailed briefing of all legislation and due process – removing any ambiguity when incidents are reported. The intention is to ultimately cover the whole of England in such multi-agency initiatives. Moreover, the Environment Agency’s Incident Communications Centre was recently briefed, and is very much aboard.

It is vital that anglers report criminal offences (fishing without permission and the theft of fish) to the police (dial 101 or 999 if a criminal offence is in progress), and rod-licensing or national byelaw offences to the Environment Agency (0800 80 70 60).

Further information regarding how to report incidents and angling law can be found in our Guide for Anglers Reporting Offences to the Police HERE.

The Crown Prosecution Service has also been briefed, and fisheries offences, which were hitherto obscure and unfamiliar to the police, are increasingly being brought before magistrates all over England – the Impact Statements we provide have ensured appropriate sentences. See our recent news HERE.

Multi-lingual leaflets and signage, together with information on our ‘Building Bridges’ Project, can be downloaded from our website HERE.

Information concerning the Fisheries Enforcement Campaign can be found HERE and in our blog HERE.

Sign up for our FREE e-news updates about Operation LEVIATHAN and the work of the Angling Trust & Fish Legal at http://www.anglingtrust.net/subscribe
For further information contact:
Dilip Sarkar MBE
Angling Trust National Enforcement Manager
Mob: 07971 677638
E: dilip.sarkar@anglingtrust.net