Barstons lake KHV confirmed
This is the email i received from them
Yes it is true but you can still come to fish, below is a recent press release for you to read.
Fish Deaths, The Lake at Barston
20th September 2007
You may be aware that we have lost a number of Carp from both the Matchpool and Barston Lake over the last month or so, as have many fisheries around the Midlands and indeed around the country. We have lost around 50% of the Carp stock from the Matchpool and 10% of the Carp stock from the Barston Lake and the reason for this is a viral infection called Koi Herpesvirus (KHV). This is a serious virus and could have affected up to 80% of the stock, so we seem to have either suffered a mild occurrence or most of the fish have fought of the virus. The virus is contagious in fish, there is no danger to human health, birds or other animals or other species of fish other than Carp. The virus can be spread by fish to fish contact, and the flooding earlier on in the year has been blamed for spreading the virus, also fisherman using nets which are still wet from a previous session can spread the disease as could any other means of water contamination ie, birds going from one water to another or dogs swimming in lakes etc. Much is still unknown about the virus at the moment but much research is currently in progress. We have taken all precautions possible at this time and have notified the relevant authorities, the Environment Agency (EA) and The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) and we are taking their advise on the situation.
Following our meeting yesterday with Cefas, it appears that of the previous cases in this country (26 cases reported last year and 13 this year, note, reported and officially diagnosed!) a reoccurrence is unlikely following a winter.
Fishing is still allowed on all of the lakes (Nets must be dry) and we are considering our options with regard to restocking. Match weights are down due to the situation but the silver fishing is still good with up to 80lbs winning matches (inc some Carp) and the Carp fishing is still good as the bigger Carp have not been affected as much as the smaller fish.
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