A man has been fined almost £11,000 after he was caught fishing baby eels illegally.

Phillip Croker was charged with unlawfully luring the baby eels, known as 'elvers' towards his net on the River Severn.

He was caught with around 700 grams of elvers on March 14 2019 in what the Environment Agency described as a 'financially motivated' crime.

At the time elvers were worth around £150 a kilogram, with anglers being required to present a tag on their nets to prove they were fishing legally.

But a lucrative black market saw them sell for more than caviar.

Croker, of Gloucester, was caught without any form of tag or proof of authorisation, and was using a torchlight to guide the eels towards his net at Oldbury tidal sluice.

Eels migrate from the Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic Ocean to the below the tidal gate, which controls freshwater entering the saltwater estuary at Oldbury.

Croker pleaded guilty to fishing without a tag, and was ordered to pay the Environment Agency costs of £10,425.40, along with a £300 fine and a £30 victim surcharge at Cheltenham Magistrates' Court last Thursday.

He was also found guilty of fishing with net within 10m below a tidal sluice, fishing unaided by tying his net to the sluice gates and using a light.

His fishing net was also seized and destroyed.

The Eels he caught were also subsequently released back into the wild.

Speaking about the case, the Environment Agency said it was illegal to fish for eels unless the catcher was given specific permission by them due to the rapid decline in the eel population.

A spokesperson said: "There has been a huge decline in eel stocks in recent years and their illegal exploitation undermines the Environment Agency and Sustainable Eel Group efforts to conserve and improve eel stocks.

"This offence was financially motivated to increase the likelihood of higher catches of elvers due to an unfair advantage."