Yorkshire trout farmers (my local area) were relieved yesterday as a ban on fish movements from the Greater Ouse catchment area was lifted.
The first ever UK mainland case of viral haemorrhagic septicaemia (VHS) – a deadly disease to fish, but not humans – was discovered more than two years ago at a fishery in Nidderdale, North Yorkshire, in 2006, and a quarantine was placed on up to 33 fish farms as a result.
More than 250,000 fish were slaughtered as a result of the outbreak.
However, following more than two years of strict checks, the disease has not resurfaced, and all restrictions on fish movement have been lifted.
This is especially important for UK trout stocks because, as Regional CLA director Dorothy Fairburn told the Darlington & Stockton Times (story here):
“Few realised until the outbreak the value and contribution of Yorkshire aquaculture.
The region provides an estimated 50 per cent of all the UK’s re-stocking trout and 20 per cent of trout for the table.”
This is news will surely be a boon for fisheries managers in the area and highlights just how much an outbreak such as this one can threaten not only the businesses concerned, but also fisheries much further afield.
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