Former detective on a mission to stamp out fishing crime - full interview

After 30 years in the police, former detective Nino Brancato has joined the Angling Trust as manager of its Fisheries Enforcement Support Service. We spoke to the 55-year-old about his hopes for tackling angling crime…

Nino Brancato receives a commendation from the then Thames Valley Police Chief Constable, Dame Sara Thornton, for helping to disarm a man wielding a pump-action shotgun.

What’s your association with fishing?

I haven’t fished for about 20 years, but I used to go with my father-in-law down in Devon to do a bit of sea fishing. 

How did you come into this role?

It was advertised on the National Association of Retired Police Officers and I thought my skill set could be put to good use. The Angling Trust’s regional enforcement managers are all retired police officers and I felt I could help with a knowledge of how to get things done, networking and managing budgets.

Some anglers believe the police don’t take fish-related crime seriously. What was your impression during your time in the force?

First, that type of crime is under the radar – it’s very, very under-reported, and if you don’t report it then nothing will get done. It’s like moaning about parking on your road, but if you don’t report it to the council then they’ll never send a traffic warden. My message is ‘Report it, report it, report it’ – not by moaning on Facebook but by making a formal report. There are specific offences of fish theft and other offences such as criminal damage that the police can act on.

What challenges do you expect to face?

The challenge is supporting the Environment Agency and building on the numbers of current volunteers because we all know what’s going to happen to budgets. I see getting more volunteers as my overriding objective for the next year.

We’ll have years of limited budgets, so I’d rather step up to the plate and support the EA in its role to protect fisheries, rather than throw stones at it from the sidelines.

It seems angling is full of volunteers willing to support the sport…

Absolutely! There are a couple of things I’ve found since starting this role. The Fisheries Support Service is superb. There are very few non-government organisations that have got that kind of set-up, and the Building Bridges project is cutting edge when it comes to migrant integration. As well as dispelling myths and getting rid of discrimination it’s also bringing a whole new younger class of people into angling.

The Building Bridges (BB) initiative has made giant strides integrating migrant angling communities in England. This picture shows Nino at a BB meeting recently on the River Trent.

How important is the Voluntary Bailiff Scheme?

Very. Every time an angler goes out as a voluntary bailiff, even if they’ve nothing to report, that’s information the EA can use. If there are no problems being reported then resources can be diverted to where we are seeing issues. These bailiffs are our eyes and ears on the bank.

The number of voluntary bailiffs is often quoted as being 500 – is that accurate, and will you be looking to boost numbers?

The 500 figure was what was deemed manageable at the time, but we’re looking to increase that to 700 over the next two years. Normally we recruit once a year, but we’ll be going to a more rolling recruitment.

You had a distinguished police career, including receiving a commendation for disarming a man armed with a shotgun. Can you tell us more?

I joined the police at 19 and did 30 years’ service, including being seconded to units dealing with issues of national security. The incident with the shotgun was just 30 seconds of being in the right place at the right time. I’m more proud of the things I did to bring down burglary figures, which made a difference to people’s lives. 

[Angling Times gently presses for more details on the shotgun incident] I was with a team of detectives investigating a murder of a care worker in the car park of a care home. At the time, the victim’s husband wasn’t a suspect but we went round to his home to bottom out his story. He was a serving police officer – a protection officer at Buckingham Palace – and he had a cache of illegal firearms. He pulled out the pump-action shotgun and three of us pounced on him to disarm him. This was back in 1997.

What skills are transferable from your police skills to this new role?

It’s about knowing how to process information, gathering intelligence and knowing how to record and detect crime. I’ve managed 40-strong teams 100 miles apart dealing with life-and-death decisions – you have to have an appetite for risk. My skill set will bring good investigation, good partnerships with the EA and police, and a knowledge of how to target resources. 

Have you set yourself any targets?

It’s easy to set and achieve numbers, and I’m looking to increase the number of patrols and the amount of good-quality intelligence we can submit to the EA and police, but what I really want to see is a far more constructive collaboration with all the people who care about fish and fisheries.

Nino has wasted little time getting involved. Last month he was on a work party with Reading and District AA .