The return of perch disease?

[tiddlertamer]

If it is perch disease, it's extremely bad news, but the fact that the AT are spreading scare stories before they have any facts makes me feel better!

 

If you have spoken to Steve Burke and he has suggested to the Angling Times journalist that perch disease is only one of many potential causes, then I reappraise my opinion of the Angling Times coverage.

 

It does indeed look to be much more likely to be a 'scare' story.

[goosequill]

I emailed the Environment Agency [E.A.] about this incident last week and received an acknowledge and reference number on Monday - I understand I will now get a response within 10 working days which gives them until Friday 27th to answer:

 

"Thank you for your enquiry. For your information, your query has been

passed to our local External Relations Team (Planning and Corporate

Services) for attention and they will be in touch with you shortly."

 

"Thank you for contacting the Environment Agency.

 

Please see below regarding our response times and environmental incident reporting

 

You can expect to receive a reply from us within 10 working days for any general enquiry"

 

Even if the response is ' this has been passed to so-and-so for a response' We (the Oxfordshire Thames Anglers) will keep pushing on this until the EA gives us an answer.

[denzil]

is there any information on the size of the fish affected? was it a case of perch from all weights big and small or was it small perch +perch fry?

[gozzer]

is there any information on the size of the fish affected? was it a case of perch from all weights big and small or was it small perch +perch fry?

 

From EA web site.

 

Environment Agency investigates the death of 10,000 fish in Oxfordshire

Environment Agency officers are investigating the death of a number of small fish in Oxfordshire.

 

Environment Agency officers are investigating the death of a number of small fish in Oxfordshire.

 

 

 

More than 10,000 dead fish, mainly perch, were reported today (Thursday) at the Thames Farmoor Reservoir water intake on the River Thames. The reservoir is operated by Thames Water.

 

 

 

Mark Ormrod, Environment Agency’s Environment Manager, said: “We were alerted to this incident by Thames Water after it found a number of dead fish in the intake at Farmoor Reservoir. Officers have been deployed quickly to the scene to investigate.

 

 

 

“While we are uncertain what has caused the death of these fish at this stage, we are experienced in dealing with this type of incident and are mitigating any impacts where we can. Water samples have been taken and we should have results in the morning.”

 

 

 

Anyone who sees pollution in a watercourse or lake should call the Environment Agency emergency hotline on 0800 80 70 60.

 

John.

[JV44]

is there any information on the size of the fish affected? was it a case of perch from all weights big and small or was it small perch +perch fry?

Denzil i think they were all small Perch along with some Rufe ,sounds now like some sort of localised toxin or low oxygen [Hopeful thinking ]may be favorite ,If this is the case would the bigger Perch go on to even bigger weights due to lack of competition or will the lack of small perch as possible prey fish affect there weights in the other direction?? Steve.

[Amodoro]

I live quite close to Farmoor so I was able to have a wander up to the intake area on Sunday and see for myself what was going on. The river immediately adjacent to the intake grill was teeming with fry, and I saw kingfishers and grebes fishing nearby, so to my mind the pollution incident (if that's what it was) was short-lived and localised. Posts on the Farmoor flyfisher's forum suggest that a) there were nowhere near 10,000 dead fish, and they were mostly very small.

[Dick Dastardly]

But I remember reading of a diver coming across banks of dead perch piled up in the depths of a resevoir.

 

 

Me, Bewl Water?

Edited November 19, 2009 by BUDGIE

[Dick Dastardly]

Im glad some ones spoken to the Burkester as its cleared things up.I too thought it was most likely the normal miss quote.

 

TT the Angling press are allways doing this.In fact one of my initial reasons for falling out with them.Not only can this sort of journalism cause confussion but it can also cause problems and embarrasment for the person mis quoted.

[WickerDave]

There's pictures here...

 

http://www.fishingmagic.com/news_events/news/14598.html

[tiddlertamer]

Im glad some ones spoken to the Burkester as its cleared things up.I too thought it was most likely the normal miss quote.

 

TT the Angling press are allways doing this.In fact one of my initial reasons for falling out with them.Not only can this sort of journalism cause confussion but it can also cause problems and embarrasment for the person mis quoted.

 

 

I imagine journalists are often under pressure from editors to come up with the most 'dramatic' take on any incident.

 

That results in stories which are speculative and turn out in many cases to be plain wrong. Let's hope so in this case as no one wants to see a return of the perch virus.

 

It's ironic really that in a bid to drive up sales by offering 'juicy' stories, angling papers can end up alienating and losing those people who should really form the core of their readership.

Edited November 19, 2009 by tiddlertamer