Angling Trust and Environment Agency evolve volunteer support for fisheries protection

Volunteers remain central as fisheries enforcement support moves to broader community model

The Angling Trust and Environment Agency (EA) are evolving the way volunteers support fisheries protection across England, moving from a single “Voluntary Bailiff Service” (VBS) model to a broader Angling Trust volunteer network trained to identify and report fisheries crime and other issues affecting waters, including pollution and invasive species.

The change forms part of the National Angling Strategic Services contract development and reflects the need to involve more anglers, clubs, fisheries, and local communities in helping to protect waters from illegal fishing, associated fisheries crime and issues negatively impacting fisheries.

The transition builds on the foundations formed over more than a decade of volunteer engagement through the Voluntary Bailiff Service and creates an opportunity to expand access to this knowledge and training right across the angling community and beyond.

The VBS has been a significant success in reporting evidence to the EA and in gaining recognition with police forces across the country to increase actions to deter wildlife crime and strengthen the role anglers can play in protecting fisheries and the wider water environment.

Under the new approach, volunteers will be supported to take part in a wider range of activities including encouraging accurate reporting of illegal fishing, promoting responsible angling, supporting local clubs and fisheries, and working with partners including the EA, police, and local communities.

Reporting routes will also be standardised, so incidents are directed to the Environment Agency through the correct channels, including online reporting, the incident hotline, and Crimestoppers where appropriate. This will help ensure information reaches enforcement teams quickly, and in a form that can be acted upon by the relevant agency.

This evolution will allow key training on identifying and reporting fisheries crime to reach beyond the passionate and committed volunteers within the VBS, extending support to club and fishery bailiffs, individual anglers, and non-angling members of the wider public who care about their local rivers, canals, ponds, lakes and streams. The change will also pave the way to explore how the approach could support reporting of sea angling incidents, with the Angling Trust working with relevant partners to consider this further.

Recruitment of new “Volunteer Bailiffs” has already paused, and existing volunteers will transition into the wider Angling Trust volunteer network over time. Training and guidance will continue to be delivered through the Angling Trust’s FishNET Learning Hub, which will expand access to key training on identifying and reporting fisheries crime. This will help reach beyond the passionate and committed volunteers within the VBS to club and fishery bailiffs, individual anglers, and even those who do not fish but care about their local rivers, canals, ponds, lakes and streams.

Jamie Cook, CEO, Angling Trust & Fish Legal, said:

“Volunteer Bailiffs have made an outstanding contribution to fisheries protection over many years, and they remain central to this work. This change is about building on the foundations created through more than a decade of volunteer engagement. By opening training and guidance to a broader volunteer network, we can involve more anglers, clubs, fisheries and communities, and help more people understand how to identify and report fisheries crime.

“The commitment to protecting fisheries has not changed. What is changing is the way we organise, support, train and connect club and community volunteers so they can continue to make a real difference.”

Kye Jerrom, National Fisheries Enforcement Manager at the Environment Agency, said:

“The Voluntary Bailiff Service has played an important role for more than a decade, helping to protect fisheries by reporting illegal fishing and supporting the Environment Agency’s enforcement work. The service has raised awareness of illegal fishing among anglers and enforcement partners, and more than half of illegal fishing reports currently come through volunteers.

“As digital reporting has made sharing reports easier and training platforms such as FishNET develop, we have an opportunity to build on that success and extend knowledge, guidance, and reporting to a wider Angling Trust volunteer network. Illegal fishing harms the sport enjoyed by law-abiding anglers, which is why fisheries enforcement remains a priority for the Environment Agency. We will continue to work closely with the Angling Trust to broaden participation and encourage everyone to follow a simple message: if you see it, report it, either to our incident hotline 0800 807060 or via our new online service.”

Useful links:

Online Reporting Service

FishNET Learning Hub