Non-native Fish Species Causing Havoc in UK Waters

[Mr T.]

'Foot and mouth scale disaster' looms after thousands of diseased specimens are illegally imported
By Rajeev Syal and Graham Mole
(Filed: 05/09/2004)


Thousands of diseased fish smuggled into Britain from eastern Europe have killed up to a million British carp and are threatening to wipe out native stocks, according to Government scientists.

Common carp, a coarse fish coveted by anglers, and Koi carp, an ornamental fish, are being illegally imported from countries including Poland, Moldova and the Czech Republic, where they are cheap to buy.

The foreign fish carry two highly infectious diseases that are not immediately visible to purchasers, according to a Government report. Their impact on the carp population has been described as equivalent to that caused by "foot and mouth" on cattle. Among the areas affected during the past year are Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Greater London and West Yorkshire.

Dr Kevin Denham, a senior fish health inspector at the Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, the Government body that monitors disease, said that there was great concern about the risk to the British carp industry, which is worth £1 billion a year.

"Fish are being brought to Britain in large numbers from Europe but many people do not realise that they carry diseases similar to the foot and mouth that we see in sheep and cattle. They can kill off a lake of fish very, very quickly."

Dr Denham said that the "invasion" of diseased fish could devastate the British carp industry. The carp, once seen as an unfashionable fish, is being smuggled into Britain to satisfy an unprecedented demand among anglers and ornamental fish enthusiasts.

"Because there is a healthy trade in carp, there is a real danger that these diseases could spread across the country very quickly," he added. Smuggled European common carp, a brown-grey coarse fish, tend to be bigger than the native fish and can change hands for up to £3,000 for a 50lb specimen. They are used to stock lakes fished by fee-paying anglers. Koi carp, a brightly coloured ornamental pet, can be sold for up to £10,000 each.

The two imported diseases identified by scientists in a report by the Fish Health Inspectorate are spring viraemia, which is particularly contagious, and Koi herpesvirus, which usually affects ornamental carp and has been detected in fish imported from Germany.

Symptoms of spring viraemia include darkening of the eyes, abdominal swelling, and bleeding gills and skin. It is a notifiable disease, increasingly common in Germany and eastern Europe.

Koi herpesvirus, which can be identified by erratic swimming and bleeding gills, can kill fish in a matter of hours.

Under present rules, fish importers are supposed to notify the Government if they intend to bring carp into the country. Mark Anthony Dallas, an established fish trader, was caught last year transporting 262 diseased common carp, worth about £90,000, across the English Channel in the back of a lorry. Tests found that they were carrying a rare strain of spring viraemia that was traced back to Moldova.

Carp specialists said last week that the profits were worth the risk for smugglers. A 30lb fish that can be sold in Britain for £1,000 can be bought in Poland for as little as £40.

Gary Jacques, who owns a fishing lake in Bourne End near Hemel Hempstead, said that he had been offered illegally imported common carp on two occasions over the past year. He suspected that the fish were diseased and refused to buy.

"I knew the fish were stolen, they knew the fish were stolen. I though it would be better left alone because I suspected they might have a problem," he said. "Fishery owners like me are under pressure to buy bigger fish because these are the fish that anglers want to catch. Anglers have become lazier, and want to catch big fish with the minimum of effort."

Mary Madeley, a publisher from north London, bought two fish for £1,000 from an unauthorised dealer for her pond where she already had a carp. After two weeks, all three fish died. "I think they were diseased, and the Europeans killed off my original fish. The episode has left me out of pocket and upset," she said.

[Scuba1]

Well at least it is over for the fish getting hooked and taken out the water then thrown back in again and so on is not the life the carp had in mind me thinks.
Better to die in a matter of hours than to waste away with fungus infections from missing scales and wounds from all those hooks.

Regards
Michael

[Mr T.]

Aliens threaten native fish stocks
By Charles Clover, Environment Editor
(Filed: 15/11/2004)

Britain's indigenous coarse fish face a new and serious threat from introduced alien species including the ornamental goldfish, the Environment Agency has warned.

The goldfish, which originates in Asia, is one of several unwelcome discoveries which the agency says could in time transform England's rivers and lakes.

Research has revealed that goldfish, in their browner form, not only compete for food and living space with Britain's only native carp, the crucian carp, but also breed with it, producing hybrids. There are fears that the native carp could be wiped out as a result.

"It is a serious problem," said Dr Robert Britton, a senior fisheries scientist based in the agency's laboratory in Cambridgeshire. The crucian carp's habitat, of reedy lakes, has been in decline and the number of true crucian carp is falling.

Another threat comes from the Topmouth gudgeon, a species which can still be bought under licence in the ornamental fish trade. Topmouth gudgeon, a small Asiatic member of the carp family, appeared in mainland Europe in the 1960s. It has been introduced accidentally into a number of British lakes and is thriving.

It can out-compete native species such as roach and rudd because it matures at one year old, whereas a rudd does not mature sexually until two or three.

Even greater alarm was caused by the discovery, 10 years ago, of a specimen of the Common White Sucker, a north American species, in the River Gade, a Thames tributary, in Hertfordshire.

The agency is concerned to prevent any further introductions, as the Common White Sucker would occupy the same niche as native barbel and chub and compete with them over food and spawning areas.

The Black Bullhead competes with other species for food and, when larger, eats the juveniles of native fish.

"Once in a river, you can't get them out easily, if at all," said Dr Britton.

He added: "Non-native species could be a big problem over the next 10 years. Education is very important. People don't necessarily realise the consequences of their actions in releasing unwanted fish into rivers and lakes."

[Mr T.]

December 08, 2004

Global warming entices exotic fish on flying visit
By Simon de Bruxelles

AN ORIENTAL fish with fins like wings is believed to have been brought to British waters by global warming.

The 15in long oriental flying gurnard, Dactyloptena orientalis, was hauled up in a herring net less than a mile from Penzance on Monday night. The fish is being kept at the Blue Reef Aquarium in Newquay after skipper Tony Richards kept it alive.

Mr Richards, 46, from St Ives, said: “We were in only about 45ft of water and were hauling up our herring nets by hand. It was the last fish in the net. I could feel by touching that it was an extraordinary specimen — its skin is armoured. It had a flat head and when I picked it up it spread its wings. They are as wide as the fish is long, about 15in.

“It is a beautiful animal. Its wings are all different colours: blue, red, yellow and grey. I’ve never seen anything like it in all my years at sea. It’s an incredible beast.”

Flying gurnards are widely distributed but native to warmer waters such as the Mediterranean and the Philippines. They use their large pectoral fins to “walk” along sandy sea floors hunting for small invertebrates. One other such fish was found in Britain in the 1980s but was dead when it was caught.

[chrisch]

Feeling fishy today Bren?

Chris

[scubadog]

We quite often see flying fish from the rib. It´s amazing the distance they travel over the surface. I´m still trying to take a descent pic of one above water. On a dive I missed last year, a barracuda lept out of the water, taking it´s prey in mid air.