Natural Resources Wales and Dyfed-Powys Police have spoken of how they broke up a decades old poaching operation that decimated fish stocks on the River Teifi.

The illegal fishing undertaken by Emlyn Rees, Dan y Graig, Cenarth, and his associates led to the loss of an estimated 686, 534 salmon eggs and an estimated loss of 2,285,164 sea trout eggs.

A detailed ledger of his illegal catches, kept by Rees, showed that 989 sea trout and 302 salmon were caught over a seven-year period between 2013 and 2020.

In the poacher’s log book 373 dated entries of fish capture were made, detailing the number and weights of the fish caught.

The investigation was triggered after Natural Resources Wales (NRW) enforcement officers were patrolling a stretch of the River Teifi near Cenarth and found a gill net illegally set in the river.

They staked out the area overnight and saw a person wearing dark clothing retrieving the net at 5am.

He was identified as Emlyn Rees, a man known to the enforcement officers and who had previous convictions for illegal fishing offences.

Rees fled the officers by jumping into the river, but he was later arrested and his home was searched. The outcome of the search was the basis for the rest of the investigation and the implication of his co-defendants.

Rees was sentenced at Swansea Crown Court on Friday, July 8 after admitting eight illegal fishing charges.

He was fined £1,600, ordered to pay £1,000 costs and a nominal £1 proceeds of crime payment. This was despite the investigation costing £51,444 and Rees having made around £61,751 of ill-gotten gains.

He was warned that if he did come by any money, that money would be taken off him.

Magistrates had previously ordered five other Cardigan men to pay more £20,000 in fines and costs for their part in the operation.

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“The impact of this illegal operation is staggering. The sheer scale of the number of fish caught has undoubtedly resulted in a significant and unsustainable loss of breeding potential,” said Ann Weedy, mid Wales operations manager at Natural Resources Wales.

“Since 2020 all salmon and large sea trout caught in Wales have to be returned alive to the river to help protect these vulnerable stocks.

“This case should stand as a warning to would-be offenders that we will pursue every case where there is evidence of wrongdoing, and if we can demonstrate that a significant financial gain has been made, we will look to confiscate that gain.

“I would like to thank our legal team for pursuing the illegal gains made from Mr Rees’ crimes. I would also like to thank our dedicated team of enforcement officers, whose detailed and dogged investigation exposed an astounding scale of criminality.

“We are also very grateful to our colleagues at Dyfed-Powys Police for their support and to members of local angling associations who provided victim impact statements which greatly helped our case.”

Western Telegraph: Emlyn Rees with coloured sea trout. Picture: Natural Resources WalesEmlyn Rees with coloured sea trout. Picture: Natural Resources Wales

Sergeant Esther Davies, Dyfed-Powys Police added: “This is an excellent example of joint partnership working between the police and NRW.

“In 2020 Dyfed-Powys Police’s Rural Crime Team arrested Mr Rees for offences under the Salmon and Freshwater fisheries Act, which then led to joint searches of his address and a vast amount of evidence being recovered.

“Subsequently Dyfed-Powys Police and NRW executed seven warrants as part of the investigation into an illegal fishing operation on the River Teifi.

“The operation involved 25 police officers from the force and nine NRW enforcement officers, and targeted seven properties in the Cardigan area, linked to people believed to be involved in illegally catching and obtaining salmon and sea trout, or sewin, on an unprecedented scale.

“Poaching has been a real issue on the River Teifi for many years, and I hope this investigation and the sentence handed down today strongly demonstrates our commitment to investigating wildlife crime and reassures our fishing and angling communities.”