Two Sunderland men sentenced for fishing illegally in the River Wear
Two men from Sunderland have been sentenced for fishing salmon and sea trout illegally in the River Wear.
Connor Bell, 30, and Michael Hutchinson, 39, were caught after photographs and videos were posted on social media of the pair holding 14 of the illegally caught fish.
The fish were caught using unlicensed gill nets which are designed to catch fish by their gills and are rarely licensed in rivers, due to their ability to catch large numbers of migratory fish in a short period of time,
Gill nets are also capable of causing injury or indeed killing sea birds and mammals.
Both men were sentenced at South Tyneside Magistrates Court on Tuesday 16 August.
Connor Bell of Bexhill Road, Sunderland pleaded guilty to using unlicensed gill nets to catch salmon and sea trout on the River Wear, including at a location near Fatfield, in the county of Tyne and Wear.
He was sentenced to 5 months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work.
In addition, Mr Bell was ordered to pay £1,000 costs and a victim surcharge of £128.
Michael Hutchinson of Cranberry Road, Sunderland also appeared for similar offences and one other offence of handling the illegally caught fish.
Mr Hutchinson was sentenced to 2 months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work.
Mr Hutchinson was also ordered to pay £1,000 costs and a victim surcharge of £128.
On sentencing, District Judge Garland told the defendants: “You don’t know how lucky you are to avoid going on a trip to Durham this morning.
"I view and the law views the things you were up to as extremely serious. These weren’t boyish pranks.
"You were out there putting a large net across a confined space of river where it was highly likely you were going to catch fish of one sort or another. And you did.
"If you hadn’t gone around bragging on Facebook about what fish you were catching, you wouldn’t have been in as much trouble as you are.”
David Shears, Senior Fisheries Enforcement Officer for the Environment Agency in the North East, said: “With salmon stocks reaching crisis in many of England’s rivers, this level of illegal activity could have a serious impact on the sustainability of future stocks in the River Wear.
"That’s why we take reports of suspected poaching seriously and work closely with the police to take action where appropriate.
“We’re committed to tackling illegal fishing of all kinds whether online or off and as this case clearly demonstrates, we will take action, especially where potentially damaging methods are used.”