Bricklayer Emlyn Rees, 35, from the village of Cenarth in Carmarthenshire, led an operation that caught 989 sea trout and 302 salmon over seven years. The judge at Swansea Crown Court told Rees he would probably have jailed him if he had the power, but instead fined him £1,600 and confiscated his fishing equipment. The judge also made a confiscation order for £61,791.50 – the value of the fish – but as Rees claimed he had no savings, he was ordered to pay a nominal £1. The investigation began when Natural Resources Wales (NRW) officers patrolling a section of the River Teifi near Cenarth found a net had been illegally placed in the river. They watched the river all night and spotted a poacher returning to check the net. He escaped by jumping into the river but was tracked down at his home, where a detailed book of his illegal catches was found. NRW said illegal fishing by Rees and his colleagues resulted in the loss of approximately 686,534 salmon eggs and 2,285,164 sea trout eggs. Ann Weedy, director of Mid Wales operations at NRW, said: “The impact of this illegal business is shocking. The sheer scale of the number of fish caught has undoubtedly led to a significant and unsustainable loss of reproductive potential.” Judge Thomas told Rees: “It is surprising that there is no detention option. If there was, chances are I would have gotten that save option. You have been a persistent salmon poacher for many, many years. You’ve had a significant impact on the fish stocks in the river.” Sergeant Esther Davies, of Dyfed-Powys Police, said: “Poaching has been a real issue on the River Teifi for many years, and I hope that this investigation and the sentence handed down today strongly demonstrates our commitment to investigating wildlife crime life and reassure our fishing and fishing communities. “The operation involved 25 police officers from the force and nine NRW police officers.”
