The vehicle was stopped again in December, again full of illegal fish. This time they were returned to France. Although all imported fish are required by law to undergo health checks and only come from approved areas which have been free from certain diseases for two years, this is not stopping diseased stocks being released into the wild, with disastrous results. This highly contagious disease causes loses ranging from 10 to 100 per cent in infected waters and there is no cure. The number of cases in UK waters has soared since EU trade barriers came down in 1993.
Fish can act as carriers for the disease once they have recovered.
This is especially important with regard to illegal imports or movement of fish between venues, as fish may look healthy, but then infect a whole population. In May 1995, the NRA called on fisheries not to stock fish into their waters until after the SVC epidemic is over. Unfortunately fishery owners are not complying. Many losses due to disease are believed to be hushed up because they have been caused by illegally stocked fish. SVC contaminated venues are subject to a three year movement ban, but they are not forced to close to anglers, despite the high risk of transferring disease on infected keepnets, landing nets and even nylon line.