I
Ian Cloke
Guest
Carp fisheries may have been infected
ROY WEBSTER
09 August 2006
Up to 200 inland carp fisheries may have been infected with the deadly Koi Herpes Virus (KHV).
So far, only a dozen commercial lakes have been confirmed with this serious disease, but 10 of those have been restocked with new fish whose health checks are now known to have been no more than a casual inspection for any external signs of trouble, rather than a detailed scientific examination.
Many other fisheries are known to have received new carp stocks from some of these sources now under scrutiny, but the Environment Agency (EA) has refused to disclose the names and locations of the KHV infected waters for the disease is not notifiable.
The names of the suppliers of the suspect fish stocks have not been made available either, but one fishery boss has voluntarily come forward after having to incinerate thousands of fish that have died in his Lincolnshire lake. Elsewhere dead fish have been spotted by anglers lying in the margins of a Suffolk fishery.
Although the main spread of KHV is thought to be caused by infected fish, the recent heatwave is thought to be an accelerating factor, as have anglers' keepnets that may have been used on waters containing dying fish.
As a result, some fishery bosses have banned the use of keepnets, while others have been handing them out to anglers from stocks of equipment kept on site.
Terry Booth, who runs the infected commercial fishery in Lincolnshire, is blaming the inadequacies of the Environment Agency's Section 30 Licence governing movements of fish stocks, which claims to guarantee that all purchased fish for restocking purposes should be free of all disease.
Chair of the Commercial Coarse Fisheries Institute, Sarah Thomso,n said she believed there need to be urgent changes to regulations governing movements of fish.
?This matter should be high on the agenda of the forthcoming new Fisheries Bill,? she said.
ROY WEBSTER
09 August 2006
Up to 200 inland carp fisheries may have been infected with the deadly Koi Herpes Virus (KHV).
So far, only a dozen commercial lakes have been confirmed with this serious disease, but 10 of those have been restocked with new fish whose health checks are now known to have been no more than a casual inspection for any external signs of trouble, rather than a detailed scientific examination.
Many other fisheries are known to have received new carp stocks from some of these sources now under scrutiny, but the Environment Agency (EA) has refused to disclose the names and locations of the KHV infected waters for the disease is not notifiable.
The names of the suppliers of the suspect fish stocks have not been made available either, but one fishery boss has voluntarily come forward after having to incinerate thousands of fish that have died in his Lincolnshire lake. Elsewhere dead fish have been spotted by anglers lying in the margins of a Suffolk fishery.
Although the main spread of KHV is thought to be caused by infected fish, the recent heatwave is thought to be an accelerating factor, as have anglers' keepnets that may have been used on waters containing dying fish.
As a result, some fishery bosses have banned the use of keepnets, while others have been handing them out to anglers from stocks of equipment kept on site.
Terry Booth, who runs the infected commercial fishery in Lincolnshire, is blaming the inadequacies of the Environment Agency's Section 30 Licence governing movements of fish stocks, which claims to guarantee that all purchased fish for restocking purposes should be free of all disease.
Chair of the Commercial Coarse Fisheries Institute, Sarah Thomso,n said she believed there need to be urgent changes to regulations governing movements of fish.
?This matter should be high on the agenda of the forthcoming new Fisheries Bill,? she said.