A POACHER who "tickled" two large sea trout in the Beaulieu River has been fined £100 by New Forest magistrates.

The court at Lyndhurst heard that Shane Wells, of Boothby Close, Eling, waded into the river and caught the fish with his bare hands - a method known as tickling - while they were spawning.

Kathleen Mason, prosecuting for the environment Agency, said Wells was confronted near the river on the night of December 5 by an Environment Agency fisheries officer, who was working with Hampshire police and a Forestry Commission keeper.

Wells, 23, of Boothby Close, Eling, Totton, was found to be concealing the fish, which were found to be females in spawning condition, she added.

He apologised to the court for the offence and said he had no wish to harm fish or their environment.

But the case sparked a stern warning from the Environment Agency and fisheries team leader Adrian Saunders said: "Sea trout are particularly vulnerable at this time of the year as they move into shallow water to spawn.

"Both the adults and the eggs they have laid need to be protected from damage to ensure that their life cycle is completed.

"In taking these fish, Wells will have disturbed the gravel in which sea trout lay their eggs as well as robbing the river of two fish which may have had years of successful spawning ahead of them.

"To safeguard future stocks, the agency undertakes patrols with the police and other agencies to enforce the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act in all vulnerable locations in Hampshire.

"We have many genuine anglers who return the fish they have caught to the water and we can do without this type of incident."

A Forestry Commission spokesman Martin Noble commented: "We are totally against the taking of fish from Forest rivers and streams without (A) permission from us and (B) a licence from the Environment Agency.

"This was the worst possible time to take a fish. They spend a number of years reaching that point and they have invested a huge amount of time and effort getting to that stage and the last thing you want is for them to be caught when they reach that point."