Fishery boss says 'It's all venue owners' duty to check rod licences"

‘Every fishery boss in the country should check rod licences before they are allowed to set foot on their lakes.’

These are the words of a commercial boss who insists that visitors fish within the law and will even buy a permit on behalf of any angler that turns up at his water without the necessary paperwork.

David Howarth owns Green Haven Fishery and Caravan Park in Boston, Lincolnshire, and is one of only a few UK fishery owners that make it their responsibility to check licences after becoming disillusioned with the Environment Agency, whose bailiffs have visited the site just once in the last 15 months.

Many venue bosses believe that it is ‘not their job’ to perform licence checks, fearing the confrontation with those anglers that choose to avoid spending the £27 for a yearly permit.

But David insists that since he began he has experienced none of the problems forseen by fellow fishery owners and believes that if others follow his example it will only produce positive results.

“If I have to buy a licence to fish at my own lake then there’s no way that I’m going to let anyone else that comes here fish without one,” he said.