2019 Fishing licences feature images of bream, mirror carp and sea trout

Bream on the 2 rod coarse and trout licence

The Environment Agency has revealed this week which fish will feature on the 2019 fishing licences.

Renowned angling and wildlife artist David Miller painted the images which will appear on the new Environment Agency issued fishing rod licences with the bream on the 2 rod coarse and trout licence, a mirror carp on the 3 rod licence and a sea trout on the salmon and migratory trout licence.

Angling is one of the most popular participation sports in England. A million fishing licences were sold in 2017/2018 raising £23 million.

In this last full year, sales of fishing licences funded 350,000 fish being restocked into rivers, responding to 797 fisheries incidents and installing 37 fish passes amongst other things.

Bream is a fish which shoals in large numbers which makes them a traditional favourite of match anglers and can often make the difference between a poor and a good day for match anglers and pleasure anglers alike.

Carp is now one of the most popular species amongst anglers and the Mirror Carp is actually the same species as the fully scaled Common Carp and its unusual scale pattern is the result of selective breeding over a considerable period of time.

Sea Trout is a migratory form of the native Brown Trout. Like the salmon, it migrates to the sea where it grows quickly before returning to spawn. A great many sea trout will survive spawning to return to the sea before coming back to its home river to spawn. It is not known why some trout migrate and others don’t.

Kevin Austin, Deputy Director of Fisheries at the Environment Agency, said: “Annual fishing licences are available from only £30 with fishing licence income used to fund work to maintain, improve and develop fisheries, fish stocks, fish habitats and angling.

“We’re delighted to reveal these new images as part of our continued drive to encourage people to give fishing a go. They celebrate three of our much loved fish species and we know that many anglers enjoy collecting these wonderful images.

“To enjoy fishing and make sure you fish legally just go to www.gov.uk/get-a-fishing-licence”