Foreign imports

What do you think about foreign Carp being imported into the UK ? Are they just a threat to existing stocks or are they a valuable addition ? Does the capture of an imported fish warrant less merit than that of a home grown capture ?

My own feelings on this are that it is already too late to preserve our native stock of carp (which came with the monks for stewponds anyhow) so we may as well boost our carp fisheries with quality imports - providing it is done openly and legally, with all the necessary health checks. I reckon there is too much sentimental claptrap about foreign fish. God, if there was a race relations Board for fish we'd be in deep crap! We fish for sport, because we like to catch fish, just how important is it that the fish are true brits? Do British born and bred fish fight harder, are they more intelligent, easier or harder to catch? Come on, let's just go fishing and have fun. Providing foreign imports are properly controlled and not causing any danger to native stocks - what the hell! A fish is a fish is a fish, right?

What a subject!!!!! I think size is probably the most important factor when it comes to importation. I would hate to see the record go to an imported monster, as to what should be the max import size, who am I to judge? The demand for carp fishing has far outweighed the natural supply, so importation seems the answer.
It all needs to be legal and open, the carp should be quarantined for a period of time and fishery owners should be honest about their stocks. Then the anglers can make up their mind on whether they wish to fish for them or not.

I agree that it should be made open and legal. There is no way it is going to be stopped so it may as well be made legal and then at least anglers could make up their own minds as to what they fish for....I do feel a little sympathetic towards anglers sitting on lakes like Yateley and Wraysbury while some guy down the road is pulling out a newly imported 50 from a swimming pool but then again that?s the choice they made.
The situation regarding the record is an interesting one. I think a precedent was set with the Oak Lodge Catfish that was rejected.

But what about the Withy catfish that was accepted? What happens if one of the Darenth fish goes over the record, or Acton Burnell or Cracker Meadow? Judging by what the ruling was on the Oak Lodge cat, they said that they couldn't find documtation to clarify the stocking, if a carp was legally imported and stocked with the necessary section 30, then that would be acceptable by the BRFC. Would they accept the record? I believe there would be another record list split, because the large majority of carpers wouldn't accept it........

and to confuse it even more what about if someone claims an import is actually an uncaught home grown fish (home grown is a debate in itself!)...but do the majority of anglers really care if a fish has a section 30 or not or do we come back to a fish is a fish regardless of where it came from ?

It's not only about Carp, recently a very large catfish beat a couple of truly massive Bream in the prize stakes in AM, whilst not wishing to take anything away from the captor of the cat i personally rate the capture of the Bream way above the cat. This is one the problems that can arise with imported fish captures, another is that some anglers start to think a Carp of under 20lb is insignificant and a nice carp of say 18lb is guessed at 25lb and it seems they are in every puddle in the land!!!purely because the guys who don't own a set of scales are relating to todays press reports of big foreign Carp.

There is no doubt that we are already very firmly on the way to most, if not all, of our fisheries carrying stocks of foreign fish of all species. Okay, it's the thin end of the wedge at the moment, but don't doubt that it will happen. The trend has already been set and it's far too late to stop it. That being so we should do the next best thing and make sure it's done legally and properly with disease-free fish of the best pedigree. The British Record Fish List will inevitably have to go through a period of farce during the transitional period when imports settle in, grow, breed, and become accepted. But remember that record fish lists are not there to bestow glory on the captor, but to document history, provide a yardstick, and that will still be the case, eventually, when the foreign imports become firmly rooted within our native species. It's too late to fight it happening, so let's just make sure that what happens next is done right.