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Caerphilly man fined for fishing without rod licence

By Emily Price
Fishing rod - Image: Canva

A man from Caerphilly has been fined after being caught fishing without a valid rod licence.

Mitchell Edwards, 28, from Penyrheol in Caerphilly was seen fishing by enforcement officers from Natural Resources Wales (NRW) at Riverside Fishery near Ystrad Mynach.

When questioned by officers, Mr Edwards confirmed he did not hold a current rod licence and didn’t think he needed one to fish at the fishery.

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Compensation 

Mr Edwards was found guilty on 14 May 2025 via the Single Justice Procedure for using an unlicensed fishing instrument. He was fined £220, ordered to pay costs of £127, a victim surcharge of £88 and £30 compensation.

Ian Jones, Fisheries Officer for NRW said: "We take any unlicenced fishing activity extremely seriously.

"We encourage anglers to enjoy Wales’s stunning countryside, but ask that they do so responsibly and ensure they have a valid rod licence to avoid the risk of prosecution.

"Remember, you must have a rod licence for England and Wales if you’re fishing for salmon, trout, freshwater fish, smelt or eel with a rod and line.

"And you must always carry your rod licence when you’re fishing or you could be prosecuted and fined up to £2,500, and your fishing equipment could be seized."

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Report

Anyone who sees or suspects illegal fishing activity can report it to NRW by calling its 24 hour incident line on 03000 65 3000 or on online here.

To buy a rod licence, visit naturalresources.wales/rodlicence

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8 comments

Mab Meirion

But if you have some effluence you want to disappear we know some folks who could help...

Reply
Garycymru

They've gone heavier on him than any of the chicken farms that have destroyed the river wye and any of the quarries burying illegal waste.

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Frank

Perhaps he didn't have a brown envelope to hand over to the right person.

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Frank

Fining people has become a very lucrative business. Who are these people who constantly make up rules and regulations for the rest of us to obey and pay up to keep them in jobs? When one of them is caught they always find a way of evading prosecution because someone else in their business lets them off.

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Garycymru

It wouldn't be so bad if they would dish out fines for the appropriate things and ring-fence the money made, There's good funds to be raised by rinsing middle lane hoggers, polluters, vandals, dog fouling and speaking on a mobile phone on speaker in public, but these are missed.

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David

This story is ridiculous! How was he impacting the environment by fishing without a licence versus having a licence? All the foul pollution being pumped into rivers by water companies and they take this guy to court! Like living in North Korea, actually it’s typical of this country nowadays.

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Rhod

£88 victim surcharge? Excluding the fish, who exactly is the victim here?

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Frank

Exactly. My thoughts too. The problem is if you asked the magistrate, judge or clerk of the court to clarify who the victim was they would consider the offender very rude and cheeky and may even hold him in contempt of court and slap a larger penalty on him.

Reply

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