Fish Stocking, Movemnets and Disease
Never remove fish or introduce fish to any water without the consent of the Environment Agency (for England & Wales) and the permission of the fishery owner. This includes the use of fish for live bait, which should NOT be transferred from one water to another, without consent from the Agency. Serious problems have been caused through the illegal transfer of fish. The movement of fish between waters can introduce Spring Viraemia of Carp (SVC) and other diseases or parasites, and it may also result in undesirable species of fish becoming established in waters which could upset the ecological balance of a fishery
Stocking with fish from any source may only be undertaken once written Section 30 consent has been obtained from the Agency. It is the personal responsibility of the person stocking the fish to ensure that Section 30 consent has been obtained. The introduction of non-native species such as Wels catfish can adversely affect existing fish stocks and ecology, and requires consent from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) or the National Assembly for Wales Agriculture Department (NAWAD) in addition to Section 30 consent. The Agency has produced a free advisory leaflet - 'Buyer Beware - Your Guide to Stocking Fish' - and will provide help and advice. If you have any doubts regarding the origin, health or quality of the fish, do not stock.
Unauthorised fish movements are illegal and prosecutable with serious penalties. Any fish stocking carries the risk of introducing diseases into the receiving water. Entire fisheries can be wiped out by diseases (such as SVC), even when the fish introduced appear to be healthy. The risks can be reduced by following the Agency's advice. Only use reputable fish suppliers - ask for references and speak to other fish purchasers. Request all the necessary documentation, and if in doubt, consult the Agency. Do not accept fish or allow them to be stocked without a visual examination. Remember stock fish introduced in the winter might show no signs of disease until the water starts to warm in the spring. Never be tempted by cheap fish, and always obtain a proper invoice/receipt. Do not accept fish that are different from those ordered.
To avoid the accidental transfer of fish diseases and parasites, thoroughly dry or disinfect all nets, sacks and weigh-slings between angling sessions.
Stock
Densities
Many
stillwater coarse fisheries contain stock densities well above those
that would occur naturally, and the fish may be almost entirely dependent
on anglers' bait to sustain them. While heavily stocked coarse fisheries
provide an enhanced level of sport, both anglers and fishery owners
should recognise that the stock densities are artificially high and
that this has the potential to cause problems in terms of fish health
and welfare and water quality, and it may increase the opportunities
for predation by fish-eating birds and mammals. Within sensible limits
heavily stocked fisheries are viable, providing that they are carefully
and properly managed. There is useful guidance for fishery owners and
managers in the Institute of Fisheries Management's Stillwater Coarse
Fisheries Codes Of Practice (to be published 2002).
Conservation
of Predators & Eels
Fishery
owners sometimes misguidedly cull predator species such as pike from
fishing waters but the removal of large fish merely encourages an 'explosion'
of younger predator fish, which feed more voraciously, and thus deprives
anglers of the sport derived from larger predator specimens and the
younger year classes of non-predator species. If it is believed that
a water has too many predators, consult the fishery manager and/or the
Agency who, in conjunction with the Predator Groups, can advise and
often place unwanted fish in other waters.
Eels do not breed in freshwater and are subject to higher levels of predation than most other freshwater species. Fishery owners and managers should consider the consequences to the species of allowing commercial netters to remove eels from their waters as part of the long-term management of the water. The short-term income does not equate with the loss of sport or the potential damage caused to eels stocks throughout Britain. The mature eel must travel many thousands of miles in order to breed and our freshwater stocks are of prime Importance In the preservation of the species as a whole.