View Full Version : Foot and mouth
Just a quick question for our scientific advisor at RMC (ha ha!), are any of the venues being affected by the foot & mouth epidemic?
Clive
Great minds think alike (and Clive and me, ha ha)- I was about to ask the same question. I think it will affect fisheries that are in exclusion zones or that comprise stretches of river running through open country anywhere. Enclosed stillwaters outside exclusion zones may be able to stay open. But like Clive I eagerly await advice from the professionals.
Check out the Catch Reports section - a number of the venues have been closed.
Thanks Ian, was worried about the fish-in at St Pats...I don't think there's any farmland involved though?
Clive
....One of the lakes I have been fishing locally has apparently been closed due to FMD, this is in a public park. The guy who told me, said that there were a few guys still fishing even though there were signs up....I suppose the responsible thing to do is not fish, but does anybody know what the consequences are if caught by the authorities (other than the club that runs it 'cos they never patrol it)???
...also in the case of the lakes and rivers being closed for however long, how does this affect people who have purchased spring permits for mentioned waters?
Rivercarper
04-03-2001, 19:16
The fine for walking on a foot path that has been closed is a staggering £5000 a very expensive day out.If the anglers have used a closed path to get to the banks of the lake then I would guess that could be the type of fine they could face.Quiet rightly so too in my mind.
...yes I agree Neil, quite justified....it really knocks it home seeing all the footage of the cattle being slaughtered on the telly.....the scale of this is unbelievable......
Its not getting any better either from what i've seen. There seems to be more and more reported case's every day.
Just how bad is this going to get. Are we looking at another 3+ month ban on all angling?
Paulm /images/forum/icons/wink.gif
Apparently the Salmon & Trout Association are meeting with MAFF this week to agree a temporary code of practice while the F&M epidemic continues. Idea is to allow ongoing angling access to enclosed stillwaters with safeguards in place like disinfectant dips for boots, etc. I guess this will apply to coarse fisheries as well as game.
A big problem for game fishing is going to be restricted access to fish farms meaning that stock fish cannot be moved to fisheries for release. Will this also affect RMC, Ian ? I know there are some plans for extra stock fish in the pipeline.
My understanding of the virus, and this is solely based on what I have got from the media is that whilst the animals can recover, the virus can remain dormant in those heards and re-infect at any time. Hence the reason for the slaughter.
could it be that the antis are behind this terrible disease in this country?
rooky
andy rooke
No comment from me...... they wouldn't admit it if they were but as they say nothing is impossible.... can't accuse nobody without solid proof mate.
Tony
yer mate fair comment tony but these wakos may think that its a small price to pay to kill of farming. who knows what these are capmerbale of?
rooky
andy rooke
Surely they wouldn't be that devious................would they?!?!
Makes you wonder though.!
Paulm /images/forum/icons/wink.gif
I personally feel that the intensive farming methods used today to satisfy the increasing pressures placed on the farmers by the food industry. With reducing margins to be made in farming I suspect there must be corners cut regarding things like feed, and the general welfare of the animals, for example, just so the farmer can make ends meet (or more money depending on what end of the moral spectrum the farmer sits). Maybe it is this approach that has generated the right conditions for the virus to re-appear, in just one location, and coupled with the massive increase in livestock transportation spread it across the country.
That is fair enough but where else in the World has the F & M disease been reported? If the feed is infected it can only have been infected by an animal with the disease in the first place.
Tony
F&M is endemic in many Third World countries. There is a theory that the current epidemic originated with infected meat imported by the catering industry and spread to our farm stock from there. Along the same lines that the swine fever epidemic in Essex and East Anglia recently started from leftovers from a ham sandwich made from infected meat that a walker carelessly discarded on or near a pig farm.
Personal view - if folks really want dirt cheap meat either from shops or through the catering trade, then this sort of thing will keep happening. The margins are too tight for safety. We really ought to eat less meat but better quality meat - that would be good for consumers, the farmers and the livestock.
rhornegold
10-03-2001, 20:21
Ian,
I'm all for angling as a sport taking the lead in halting the spread of Foot and Mouth virus.
But can someone explain why angling has been stopped on a number of waters surrounded by farms and all mannor of boating sports continues.
On one golf course lake that I fish, angling has stopped but the golfers are allowed to carry on.
There is a bridge connecting one hole with another, this bridge is also part of a footpath, guess what the walkers are banned, but the golfers can use it as access as long as they walk along the other side of the footpath.
Is it not time all sports took responsibility if this is the way to stop the spread of this virus, or is it down to money and who can pull the most strings.
Bob Hornegold
foot and mouth up to 137 now this could be the end for labour
rooky/images/forum/icons/smile.gif
andy rooke
CB1_chig
10-03-2001, 20:31
Driving up the A20 today and went passed a golf coarse and yes there was plenty of golfers walking around and there was sheep in the field next door
I doubt it after the recent budget.
Paulm /images/forum/icons/wink.gif
6p rise on fags. atleased no rise on the booze.
rooky/images/forum/icons/smile.gif
andy rooke
Foot & Mouth won't determine the end for Labor..... As Ian said angling is regarded as a country sport where as golf isn't... the finacila impact on a golf course if it is shut is a lot higher than if a lake is closed and this probably also has something to do with it.
Tony
Totally agree Tony, money talks... and wouldn't it give the Antis another string to their bow if a farm became infected that had land crossed by anglers getting to a venue! I bet I know who they'd blame.
Clive
total now 151 and still spreading they caught it to late
rooky/images/forum/icons/frown.gif
andy rooke
rhornegold
13-03-2001, 12:01
Tony,
I still dont get it, having just come back from the Boat Pool where I disinfected the wheel of my car, did my shoes/ boots and dipped my net.
I had too smile as the tractors and lorries went up the same bit of road without any washing of off wheels.
Fine if angling is going to be made a scape goat for political ends, then I want to know why?
On the way home around the M25 there were loads of sheep and Cows, right next to the fence.
If this virus is airborn , not waterborn; then animals grazing next to the most used motorway in the country must stand every chance of catching it.
As for golf coures, I built 12 of them, 10 on farm land and two in forests, they are still open and surrounded by farms and live stock.
I know it's about money, but if this is the way to stop the virus ,then it applies to all and any sport where people travel and take part.
Personally I think it is too late and the virus will run it's course, there should have been a complete shut down of sport at the beginning of the outbreak.
Bob Hornegold
Bob,
Unfortunately the whole scenario of this foot and mouth outbreak has been badly managed.... no rugby but football is continuing? No fishing but golf is okay... the cure is to let itself run now.. if all movements of cattle and other animals was stopped after the first diagnosis it would have now been contained. By the way there is no scentific proof that the disenfectant makes any difference anyway... how about pecipitation? It rains, the fields get wet, the water evapourates, clouds form and it rains somewhere else. Insects can carry it, birds can, there is no way it is going to get better over night, we are in for a long drawn out process.... the reported incidents in which I would say are not all the incidents are going to keep rising untill all the herds are slaughtered. This is a sad time for Britain.
Tony
philchampion
13-03-2001, 20:25
with so many venues, being closed to fishing will this effect some venues that are at present still open. will it not encourage people to travel to find somewhere to fish. would this not be seen as a means of spreading the virus even further.could this also put extra pressure on some of the venues/ fish. What about spreading other forms of viruses into our lakes & maybe losing fish, what with spring upon us. just a few thoughts. can RMC afford to lose Mary, the Parrot
Big c, or many others.
I cannot see the relation between foot & mouth and fish diseases Phil.... I think you are worrying unecessesarily mate.
Tony
philchampion
13-03-2001, 22:53
was it not only last years that dip tanks were placed around venues to stop the spread of sv being transferd by landing nets ect. many lakes were closed in the coln vally & surrounding areas. with anglers looking for open venues anything can be transfered it dosn't take much to start a fish kill.
rhornegold
14-03-2001, 06:20
philchampian,
Yesterday I heard of a very well known Fishery that has lost over 200 fish in the last few weeks.
With the close season upon us many waters would close anyway, anglers will travel to new sites.
In the Colne Valley lots of the waters are interconnected,thus waterborn diseases can spread from lake to lake.
If there is an outbreak RMCAngling and many others would act quickly too protect thier stocks by closing waters.
Dips should be used regardless at all waters if control of waterborn diseases are is too be reduced.
Foot and Mouth is a much bigger problem being airborn, there should have been a complete ban on traffic in infected area's, as they are doing in France.
Bob Hornegold
Ian, just looking at The Foot and Mouth update in Catch Reports and I noticed that the list of closed venues has stayed reasonably the same, if not got shorter. With the outbreaks still growing does that mean a lot of the venues are fairly safe? Or have we been just lucky? I know this is an ongoing thing, but I thought the list would gradually be getting longer as time passed?
Clive
With the latest news that cullings are going to take place on herds that are close to infected areas, i'm sure this awfull disease will be over before to long. Also the news that abbatoirs are being given the all clear and that selected killings of animals are taking place in safe areas this can surely be good news, although not for the poor farmers.
Can I say to you all that although you cannot go fishing and remember the season is almost over that you must remember the farmer's, abbatoir owners and meat traders who it is really affecting ( although I may be biased due to my father owning his own company at Smithfield) Is it really worth putting thousands of people's livelihoods at risk for the sake of a couple of weeks left to fish?
I know that most venues are free to fish and that's great but let's all be sensible about it all
Symon
Swan_Vesta
17-03-2001, 08:48
Okay Sallers Hw do you do it.
What a nifty little icon you have there.
So as not to distract from your thread stick your answer in either membership or input.
Swan Vesta
I totally agree Symon, and honestly wouldn't want to harm anyones livelihood. But, as RMC Angling point out in their update most of the fisheries are open. It's that grey area, if things were dire and all the fisheries were shut, we would all know were we stood. You also mention that shortly the season closes, but, what about me and a lot of members who have Spring Permits? It's a tricky situation!
Clive
PS I imagine all of us hope your father comes out of this OK
As I thought Ian. Just interested in the situation.
Clive
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