Please Take Care of the Fish

Care of Fish

When fishing in Devon, as in all places, the care of the fish, is obviously of the utmost importance. At Newbarn Farm cottages and Angling centre we need to make sure that any Devon fishing holiday customers look after our fish, because we look after our fish and they look after us.

Angling is one of the top leisure activities in the United Kingdom, with an estimated 1•2 million people who currently hold an Environment Agency rod license, a legal requirement for all coarse fishing and Devon fishing holidays are on the increase.

Fish care is one of the most important things that we do, and we have strict rules in place, to ensure that the care of the fish is taken on by our anglers.

It is amazing how many people don't know about fish care. So here are a few pointers that you should pay close attention to, remember, if you wish to continue catching fish as a sport, you must ensure that they are kept in top class condition.

Always have a landing mat for carp or larger species of fish.

When handling the fish make sure there are no objects on your body that could possibly damage the fish i.e. watches, rings etc.
When taking a picture of your prize fish always hold it close to the ground, this will prevent damage to the fish, if you are unfortunate enough to drop it.

It is also important to have an antiseptic fluid to treat any damage to the fish caused by hooking the fish.

When putting the fish back don't just drop the fish back place the fish in the water, wait for it to recover and then release the fish.

By far the most talked about fish species with the majority of anglers in England is the carp (Cyprinus carpio), not just because some individuals can attain weights of up to 18 kg and above, but also because it can prove wily and difficult to catch. However never forget that there are numerous other species, the silver fish, who are equally wily and indeed can prove to be more difficult to catch. If your fishing in Devon watch out for Rudd, Tench, Perch Roach and many others.

The popularity of carp probably verges on the obsessive, which has led to an artificially inflated value for these fish and created a market for theft, illegal movement and unauthorised importation from continental Europe.

The latter may be either on a casual basis, such as the angler who lands a decent sized, attractive fish and wishes to stock it into a home stillwater, or as a result of criminal activity.

In the case of organised crime, vast numbers of carp have been illegally imported from Europe and it is now difficult to be certain of the origin of many carp which have been stocked in the UK. Indeed the statement has been made that lb for lb more criminal money is being made in illegal Carp trafficking than drug trafficking, although not, obviously, with such tragic consequences!

Illegal importation of carp has had a significant impact on coarse fisheries.

Britain is deemed to be free of notifiable diseases such as spring viraemia of carp (SVC) which is widespread in Europe. Illegally imported carp originate from countries throughout Europe and are introduced into English waters with a total disregard to the potential spread of any disease or exotic parasite.

Such illegal introduction has resulted in infected or carrier fish causing outbreaks of disease in coarse fisheries, with mortalities of between 85% and 90% of the carp.

We are totally in agreement with measures to prevent the illegal introduction of fish carrying disease into our angling centres. But we understand how it can happen, with some angler’s relentless pursuit for bigger and bigger fish.

We are fortunate that we have Self Catering Cottages and Fishing, with a tendency to more enjoyable fishing, with top of four star quality Holiday cottages and fishing is not the be all and end all of the Devon Fishing Holiday experience.

In many instances, the managers of infected fisheries will contact
The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) to investigate the mortalities, either directly or through the Environment Agency, veterinarian or fish consultant.

Where SVC is identified as the cause of mortalities, the site becomes a ‘designated order area’, restricting the movement of fish into or from the site, although angling may continue.

Some fishery managers use iodophor disinfectants for dipping boots and equipment prior to entering and on leaving any fishery, which theoretically could reduce the transmission of infectious disease. In practice, many of the dips are not routinely maintained and often the concentration of disinfectant is inadequate. We need to be careful as we combine holiday cottages and fishing, so need to have only relatively benign chemicals.

Many carp suffer injuries which are related to both the damage caused by catching the fish and through poor handling. Numerous fisheries have banned the use of barbed hooks, as have most Fishing in Devon properties, but despite this, the removal of the hook from a fish is often undertaken in a brutal manner, especially where it becomes entangled in the bones and associated cartilage of the mouth.

Large carp, in excess of 5 kg, are usually weighed and often
photographed before being returned to the water. It is common to find these fish with lesions or large areas of lateral replacement scales where they have been dropped or badly handled.

In recent years, large numbers of cormorant have moved inland owing to the depletion through over-fishing of juvenile fish
stocks in the estuaries. Particularly during the winter months, these inland populations of cormorant have taken to feeding on many of the heavily stocked fisheries.

The quantities of fish eaten is a hotly-debated issue between the anglers and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. There
is no doubt that cormorant are responsible for some loss of fish stocks and it is possible to find large numbers of fish with beak marks on the body but increasingly these birds are becoming the scapegoat for poor management and the resulting outbreaks of disease.

We are fortunate that because we have holiday cottages and fishing we can be quite vigilant in protecting our fish from predators. The advantage of Self Catering cottages and fishing is that there are more people moving about and keeping the predators away.

So remember look after the fish and they will look after your sport!