SIX more fisheries around the country have contracted the Koi Herpes Virus that is usually fatal for infected carp, and have had to introduce special protective measures.
They are:
- Bannister House, Lancashire
- Cleverley Bridge, Lancashire
- Willows Lakes, Hertfordshire
- Sam Hosticks Fisheries, East Yorkshire
- Newlake, Humberside
- Tyersal Hall Fishery, West Yorkshire
Bannister House is a large day ticket complex near Preston that has 250 pegs and a huge head of fish, estimated by owner Tim Edwards at 25 tonne.
Tim told Angler’s Mail: “We are over the outbreak now and were visited by CEFAS (Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science) this morning who have given us a clean bill of health.
“All nets have to be dipped before people leave, but otherwise it is business as usual.
“Really our loss of fish was small compared to the volume of fish we have here.
“This Sunday the top seven pegs in our match caught a total of 1,000 lb so you can see the fishing hasn’t been affected.”
The EA are urging anglers to properly dry any wet nets after fishing, and they are using social media messages #checkcleandry and #stopthespread
Tim continued: “The KHV arrived weeks ago when he had very hot weather and the oxygen level dropped, and we were perhaps a bit overstocked.
“We had put in 2.5 tonne of carp not long before but I don’t think that was the actual cause.
“Most of our match anglers fish another local fishery on a Saturday who had an outbreak but haven’t reported the disease, and then they fish us on the Sunday.
“Some tackle dealers have been advising people not to come but everything is fine and the fishing still excellent,” he concluded.
Popular southern venue hit by KHV
Down south, day ticket Willows Lakes near the top of M25 in Hertfordshire has also been affected.
They have decided to close their match lake and keep it shut, probably until October, but their other two lakes are still open and fishing well.
Manager Andy Burton said: “We suffered about 1,500 carp deaths but I would estimate there were 10,000 in the lake.
“We technically could re-open it but the water level is low after little rainfall, and I want to give the fish every chance of a full recovery.”
Andy continued: “We have lost some business through cancelling our regular weekend and Open matches but I’m more interested in the fish’s welfare and profit isn’t everything.
“We will see how it fishes when we re-open and then decide whether to do any re-stocking next year,” he added.
Meanwhile the Environment Agency continues to raise awareness of the issue of the spread of infectious diseases and alien species.
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