An off-duty rural crime police officer discovered five illegal gill nets – used to trap fish by their gills – in a Fenland river.
The officer from Cambridgeshire Constabulary’s Rural Crime Action Team found the nets in the 20ft river in March on Friday, October 2.
A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Police said: “The team are always keeping an eye out for rural offenders working in partnership with the Environment Agency.
“The location was Shepperson’s Bridge, 20ft river, March.
“Unfortunately there was no one there when the officer saw the nets. They were removed from the river and will be destroyed.
“A gill net is a fishing net which is hung vertically so that fish get trapped in it by their gills.”
“Unattended and unlicensed gill nets are not only capable of killing fish indiscriminately, they will also kill any other wildlife that are unfortunate enough to get entangled in them,” say the Environment Agency.
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