A new national wildlife crime squad should make the removal of fish from Britain‘s waterways one of its top priorities.

That’s the message from the Pike Anglers Club, whose members fear pike and other coarse fish being taken in numbers for food.

Diversity Minister Barry Gardner is set to launch the National Wildlife Crime Unit at a press conference at Edinburgh Zoo on Wednesday October 18^th.

It is being billed as “a multi-agency police-led unit set up to target and disrupt serious wildlife crime on a regional, national and international level”.

“Coarse fish being taken from our waterways for food is a forgotten wildlife crime, being swept under the carpet by the Environment Agency, as Angling Times has revealed,” PAC president Phil Wakeford said.

“We hope the new Wildlife Crime Unit will start making inroads into the problem.

“While we accept the odd fish may be taken for the table, it is clear that our rivers are being abused by people fishing solely for food.”