Firstly, I'm not a fisher. Secondly, I'm no expert on fish. Thirdly, I only came across this website because I was looking for an article on the lakes that I could forward to one of my lecturers - bit of serendipity, eh?
Anyway, you've probably guessed by the name that I'm Florence's son. And, to be honest, I'm very hurt by the speculation I've seen here. Granted, we all speculate - but what I'm reading on here is just horrid. I do realise, however, that you only have hearsay to go by: I'm writing this to try and rectify that: whether or not you choose to believe what I have to say is up to you - I'm only offering the first hand, subjective account of a mere student, after all.
I don't live with my mum anymore - so the first I heard of the poisoning came about a day after it happened. I drove over to the lakes and was confronted with the sight of my brother, his girlfriend, my mum and a few other volunteers frantically dumping salt into the lake, netting surviving fish and placing them in separate ponds nearby, and netting and burying the dead fish - of which there was never any shortage. I pitched in. That evening, I was basically told that the day before, someone had driven in, parked on the far side near some of the other fishermen (it was a fairly busy day), was there for around 20 minutes, and then left. Mum originally assumed they were picking someone up, until a couple of separate fishermen came down and said that fish had started dying in their area of the lake - just coming up and dying, in droves. This was the same area where the car had been not long before.
I'm no expert on fish, like I said - but I do know that we used to lose a few fish every year because the lake was overstocked - it was inevitable, and we were in the process of creating a second lake to accommodate for the extra stock. The reason that this is a suspected poisoning is that before the car came, there were no deaths of fish - or no noticeable deaths. Afterwards, hundreds - over the course of four or five days. Just coming up to the surface, floating, gasping for air, red raw gills that were bleeding, scales coming off all over the place. We've lost over 80% of the fish, and probably more. Lack of oxygen? Very, very doubtful.
This is what I know. The environment agency hasn't got back to us yet, but then again, that means nothing - a reply will determine what happened.
EDIT: Just changed 'dubious' to 'doubtful' at the end of the penultimate paragraph!
As for the fraud accusation - it is true, in part. My mum's one of those annoyingly innocent people in the world of business, and she chose a very bad partner. I won't go into detail, but he is a criminal through and through. He's currently on remand for possession of a loaded military grade pump action shotgun, various fraud charges, and (if they can persuade my mum), several domestic abuse charges. He is one of those nasty pieces of work who will do anything to get ahead in life, and we're all glad he's gone now. The reason we had no security, and the reason the progress with the lakes has been slow, is because he had control over the finances (my mum's finances - he's bankrupt); she had no say. He spent thousands of pounds on useless projects, on hiring his friends to work for him (a wonderful idea - especially considering half of them love their drink), and his imprisonment is one of the first good things that has happened to us in a number of years. I will make it clear, right now, that my mum has had nothing to do with his criminal activities, and that she has been charged with nothing over the current affair.
So, if the lakes were poisoned, who could have done such a thing? To be honest, mum's former partner has angered that many people over the last few years that it could have been anyone: in fact, the poisoning (and I do doubt it was anything else) is only one of a number of things that have happened since Rob (the partner) was placed on remand: items of worth stolen, break ins, sabotaging of the dog kennels, death threats over the phone - all very consistent. Even if it wasn't one of the people who have a reason to get their own back on Rob, Dean Curson is right: there are many unscrupulous people in the area who will do anything for profit. Incidentally, Dan (emm jr), I don't suppose the lake you are "familiar" with is the Willowcroft Fish Farm, Garden Lane? I wouldn't be surprised.
Oh, and as for the accusation that we poisoned the lake ourselves? Firstly, you've clearly not seen the state my family were in over it. Secondly, we couldn't get the fish insured: something about them being hard to quantify and/or price (I only found this out by asking mum if there was any good news over the whole fiasco - i.e. anyone caught, any insurance to restock the lake, etc). Regardless of our moral standing (and I'll point out right now that eradicating all life from a lake is genocide, and nothing less) we got no money out of it - not a penny.
So, now you've got it straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak. Again, it's up to you if you want to believe what I have to say - just as long as I can go on record as setting the record straight, or trying to.
Sam there is no doubt that your family have suffered a great loss and I am sorry for that. The subject has come up on an open forum and people are bound to speculate, that is their nature. Im sure we would all be glad to see the official reports from the ministry and perhaps it would put an end to the pure speculation. It might even give your family some sort of closure on the whole horrid affair, and you will be able to rebuild your lives and business soon. Im sure you will have the backing and support of a lot of anglers not just the locals but others from this site also.
Sam, I had'nt previously responded on this thread, because, under a 'different' guise, I have had several dealings within the Wisbech area.
There are probably more, criminal minded, nasty, vicious, vindictive people on the outskirts of that 'quiet' outback , than in many of the cities and towns of this country.
Unfortunately, if what you state is genuine, because of circumstances, I would fully accept that you have been targeted, and to a certain extent you probably know by whom.
What kind of person would blatantly drive a car in to posion fish in front of other anglers? Surely they would creep in on foot under cover of darkness when few if any anglers were present?
