Police diver team and rural crime officers mount operation targeting illegal Elver fishing on River Dee

Police carried out an operation targeting the illegal fishing of Elvers from the River Dee on Tuesday.

Officers from North West Police Underwater Search and Marine Unit joined colleagues from Cheshire Constabularies Rural Crime Team as part of an ongoing European wide operation.

Elvers – juvenile eels, also known as glass eels – are currently on the “Red List” as a critically endangered species, the same level as the Panda.Operation Lake is an annual Europol led operation targeting the trafficking of the protected European eel (Anguilla Anguilla) species, which has seen its population decrease by 90 % in recent years.