Size does matter for fishing's macho men

... and smugglers who fuel their passion are endangering native stocks, writes Keith Elliot

The obsession of small bands of British anglers with catching enormous fish, particularly carp and catfish, is leading to a multi- million-pound boom in wild-fish smuggling.

In France, Germany, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Croatia and probably several other countries, rustlers are now catching huge carp and catfish to satisfy feverish demand for fish bigger than UK waters are capable of producing naturally.

The fish are then smuggled in and sold for as much as pounds 10,000 each before being released into lakes and ponds where anglers can catch them. Many fear that this ploy will have devastating effects on Britain's native fish population.

Illegal imports have probably been taking place since the early Eighties, but the trickle has become a flood over the past couple of years thanks to the Channel Tunnel and a refusal by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Maff) to take the trade seriously.

Tempted by huge profits, suppliers in this country have been ignoring import restrictions and bringing in hundreds of foreign fish. In one trip alone, more than 150 carp weighing between 16lb and 20lb (worth perhaps pounds 2,000 apiece) were smuggled in last year.

Many of these illegally imported fish are killers, through the diseases they can bring with them. Last year alone, 16 UK waters (and it could be many more) were wiped out by spring viraemia, a lethal viral disease common abroad but virtually unknown here. In almost all cases, illegally introduced fish were to blame.

"Bringing in these fish is like taking the common cold to Amazonian Indians," said Billy Makin, promotions officer of the Commercial Coarse Fisheries Association.

The fish are just a product to the people responsible, according to Kevin Green, press officer for the Carp Society. They are often transported in poor, cramped conditions, and sometimes the whole batch dies. They are then unceremoniously dumped by the roadside. On two occasions in the past year, carp weighing more than the British record weight of 55lb 13oz have been found dead in roadside ditches, and a huge catfish of about 100lb (almost double the British record) was left on top of an East Anglian hedge.

Two recent incidents have highlighted the ministry's failure to curb the trade and the Environment Agency's inability to halt illegal stocking. Two weeks ago, a large consignment of illegally imported carp weighing up to 48lb each was intercepted at Dover. The fish, believed to have come from France, were killed by officials at the dockside. A spokesman refused to comment, saying only: "The matter is under investigation."

Last November, a 7ft catfish weighing 98lb was caught in Oak Lodge fishery, a two-acre water in Essex, by the lake manager, Steve Bond. The fish has been entered for a British record and would exceed the existing best (57lb 4oz) by more than 40lb - which is comparible to somebody running a six-second 100 metres.

Mr Bond maintains that the fish was put in at about 10lb in 1976 and has grown very fast in a food-rich water. He is quoted as saying: "There have been many sceptics, but most are either envious or misinformed. If the Environment Agency wants to investigate the fish, then that is fine. I'll make them a cup of tea when they come."

Yet the sceptics have some reason for doubt. Fishery sources say they have been offered catfish up to 120lb around the end of last year. Billy Makin, who also runs an angling complex in the Midlands, said: "I was offered a 75lb catfish for pounds 5,000 just a few days after Bond's fish was caught."

He is regularly offered large carp which, he says, are undoubtedly foreign fish or stolen from other waters. "I have 17 lakes with about pounds 250,000- worth of fish in them. It would be madness for me, and any members of my association, to accept fish in such circumstances. It's not just big fish. If some kid dumps an illegally imported goldfish into my lakes, that fish could cause a 50-60 per cent wipeout. It is frightening, but there are idiots who will put such fish into waters without thinking of the consequences."

Mr Makin estimates that 90 per cent of the 40lb carp now caught in this country have been introduced illegally. "Four years ago I was offered two carp, the larger 57lb. I'm sure those fish are in a syndicate water now, and I am certain there are lots of record carp swimming around which a couple of years ago were eating spaghetti."

Kevin Green agrees. "The way things are going, virtually every lake in this country will have big carp that are not true native fish in a couple of years. It would not surprise me if someone phoned tomorrow and said he had caught a 70lb carp. I have spoken to several dealers and virtually all of them have been offered carp over 60lb. The present British record may be the last truly English one."

At the heart of the problem is the obsession of small bands of anglers with catching huge fish, particularly carp and catfish. Syndicates will pay up to pounds 600 a year to fish waters that hold exceptionally large fish, and anglers will willingly fork out pounds 30 a day to fish in lakes holding 40lb carp.

As a consequence on Italy's river Po, in large French lakes and especially in eastern Europe, there are anglers (many of them English) who just fish all day and night. When they catch a big carp or catfish, it is put into a cage. Even catching four big fish makes the trip worthwhile for an unscrupulous dealer. Within 12 hours of a carp being caught in France, it could be swimming around in an English lake.

Because coarse fish are always returned, the asset is there to catch time and time again. Small wonder that individual fish can command enormous figures. Mr Makin says: "For a 40lb carp, the bidding starts at pounds 10,000. Some waters have a dozen fish like that. I heard talk of pounds 17,000 being asked for one fish. No wonder idiots are tempted to import them, especially when the penalties are so insignificant. Bringing in one fish like that is better than turning over a post office with a shotgun, and far less risky."

The irony is that the huge sums being asked are way above the official price. Ken Ryder, who runs Humberside Fisheries in Driffield, the only farm that can legally import catfish, though he admits he cannot obtain 100lb ones or 50lb carp, says: "The two fish farms I deal with just don't get them that big. The biggest catfish I imported, from Croatia, was 43lb and it cost pounds 18 a pound. That works out at pounds 774. I charge the same for big carp."

Last year, Maff said it was impossible to stop illegal imports. But the recent Dover incident has forced it to address the issue more seriously. Most knowledgeable anglers, however, believe it is already too late. "As the Environment Agency and Maff have found out, catching and prosecuting and keeping track of fish movements is well nigh impossible," says Mr Green. Mr Ryder advocates more vigilance at the dockside and tougher penalties. "A pounds 2,000 fine is nothing when one fish is sold for more than that."

The Environment Agency says that anglers have to report anything suspicious. "Our clear message to fishery owners who take these fish is: 'You risk wiping out your livelihood.' But as long as anglers turn a blind eye to it, it is going to continue to happen."