With the start of the fishing season now only a month away, a new initiative has been launched as part of a long-running campaign to encourage anglers to report illegal fishing activity.

Environment Agency fisheries bailiffs, angling clubs and tackle shops will be handing out information cards to anglers as part of Operation Tapestry ahead of the new season which starts on June 15.

Tapestry was launched last year to tackle large-scale illegal fishing activities such as netting and the use of long-lines – a fixed unattended line with one or more baited hooks attached – as well as illegal movements of fish from one body of water to another.

The new cards – designed in-house by the Environment Agency to minimise costs – include the Operation Tapestry 24-hour information hotline number as well as the Environment Agency’s national incident hotline number.

Environmental Crime Officer Mark Rumble said: “Since the launch of Operation Tapestry last year, people have provided us with useful information about the illegal removal of fish from one water body to another. This enables us to build up a picture of where illegal activities are taking place and deploy  resources to catch those responsible.

“We hope that by giving anglers the cards to carry in their wallets or a pocket, we can encourage even more people to contact us with information.”

The dedicated Operation Tapestry information hotline can be contacted on 01522 785894 and is for use by people with information and intelligence about illegal fish movement or removal. If a crime is in progress, witnesses should ring 0800 807060 to report it. Vehicle registration numbers and photographs  are also useful.

Mark said: “The Environment Agency recognises there is a problem with this sort of activity and we urge anyone with information to help us gather the evidence we need to do something about it.

“This type of crime threatens the livelihoods of law-abiding fisheries owners, the future of angling and the environment. Illegal catching and movement of fish can introduce disease and pose a danger to aquatic mammals and other creatures that may get caught as a result of the trapping methods used. This was tragically highlighted earlier this year when four dead otters were found drowned in an fyke net set illegally to catch eels at Barton Clay Pits.

“We need to reel in the perpetrators of these crimes and we need anglers to help us do it.”