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| Ex-Fishing News hack, Phil Lockley picking crab from his pots in Falmouth Bay. |
Phil Lockley, who fishes from the Helford River, and a
familiar name to Fishing News readers, said that six new bass nets were
stolen from his pontoon on the river.
“This was two tiers of three nets of single mono netting,
rigged on white float rope with a yellow fleck and braided white lead rope with
a blue fleck, all brand new from South East Netting,” he said.
“Small boat fishing is hard work as it is,” he said. “But
then someone kicks 600 quid out of what you’ve made. Cameron Henry on the John
Peter II came out of it worse, as he had fifteen similar nets stolen, plus
fifty crab pots and fifty prawn pots. These are all pots that his father made,
so they are clearly identifiable,” he said, adding that it seems this gear has
been stolen to order rather than by opportunists, as the thieves had to cross
two fields with a lorry to reach it.
“Nothing has been seen so far and the police are taking this
seriously,” he said, adding that the theft of outboards along the river also
indicates theft to order, with specific brands targeted at different times.
“Chandlers can recommend anti-theft devices for outboards,
as these are particularly vulnerable and attractive to thieves,” said Ben
Gardiner at Devon and Cornwall police.
“There are a range of devices on sale that will make it much more difficult to take an engine, and no measures make an easy target. There are even tracking devices for boats on the market, but even cheaper measures are effective in mitigating against crime, organised or opportunistic.”
He told Fishing News that anyone aware on a crime in
progress should call 999, or should call the 101 non-emergency number to report
a crime or speak to a neighbourhood officer about marine crime.
Retiring fisherman Charley Reading told Fishing News
that after selling his boat a few weeks ago, he found that 75 distinctive
cuttlefish traps had been stolen sometime between 7th and 14th March from
Portmouth’s Camber Docks.
“My boat hadn’t been very active since the end of last year,
and it seems that someone noticed. I had already lost a pallet of 10mm leaded
backrope and three oyster dredges that were taken from the boat,” he said.
The cuttlefish traps are ones he made himself using
plastic-coated AquaMesh from GT Products, making them particularly distinctive;
some are square and black, others round and either black or white – and he had
already sold them along with other gear.
“They all have bottoms roped in with second-hand 14mm pot
rope. These traps are my own design, so they are very recognisable,” he said,
adding that he feels it unlikely that these pots have been stolen to be sold on
and it is more likely that a rogue fisherman somewhere on the south coast is
gearing up for the imminent cuttlefish season.
“The traps were taken from a locked compound where they were
stacked eight high. They had planned this pretty well as they would have needed
a big lorry or several trips with a large van to move them, and I guess that
there must have been at least three people to climb into the compound and pass
the traps over the wall.”
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| Cameron's stolen pots |
Anyone noticing cuttle traps that could fit the bill are
asked to contact the police quoting crime number: 44130099874.
There is a £1000 reward for the full set of 75 traps, or a
partial reward if some are recovered.