The head of a poaching operation that caused “amazing damage” to salmon and sea trout populations in a river in Wales has escaped prison after a judge lamented that he did not have the power to give. him a prison sentence.
Palette Emlyn Rees, 35, from the village of Cenarth in Carmarthenshire, led an operation that caught 989 sea trout and 302 salmon for seven years.
The Swansea Crown Court judge told Rees that he would probably have sentenced him to prison if he had the power, but instead fined him £ 1,600 and confiscated his fishing gear. The judge also made a confiscation order of £ 61,791.50 (the value of the fish), but as Rees claimed he had no savings, he was ordered to pay £ 1 nominal.
The investigation began after agents from the Wales Natural Resources Commission (NRW) patrolling a stretch of the River Teifi near Cenarth found that a net was illegally placed in the river. They watched the river at night and saw a poacher returning to check the net.
He escaped by jumping into the river, but was located at his home, where a detailed record of his illegal catches was found.
NRW said illegal fishing by Rees and his associates resulted in the loss of some 686,534 salmon eggs and 2,285,164 sea trout eggs.
Ann Weedy, Mid Wales’ operations manager at NRW, said: “The impact of this illegal operation is staggering. The large scale of the number of fish caught has undoubtedly led to a significant and unsustainable loss of reproductive potential “.
Judge Thomas told Rees, “It’s amazing that there are no custody options. If there had been, chances are you would have taken that custody option. You’ve been a persistent poacher of salmon for many, many years. .You had significant impacts on river fish populations “.
Sergeant Esther Davies of Dyfed-Powys Police said: “Poaching has been a real problem on the Teifi River for many years, and I hope that this investigation and the verdict handed down today will firmly demonstrate our commitment to the investigation. of crimes against wildlife and reassure our fishing.and fishing communities.
“The operation involved 25 police officers from the force and nine NRW officers.”