TMG

Due to the most rain the UK has seen for many years, the CLA Game Fair cancelled for the first time in 49 years representing a loss of 50 million pounds to the local economy.

That's no small disaster; but besides the financial implications of the loss of this year's CLA and the postponement of 'Singles Night', my mind has moved onto the long term environmental impact of the latest weather events. Specifically I was thinking yet again about the spreading of invasive species. Floods are a common vector in this respect.

Not wishing to be narrow in my angling outlook (mostly I'm a fly-fisher), I purchased a coarse fishing magazine at the weekend. Besides the expected mix of technical how-to and grip and grin items, I was drawn to an article about the top-mouthed gudgeon (TMG).The article's focus is upon the TMG's ability to grow its population quickly and thereby out-compete other species as it strips small food items toward the base of the food chain. The TMG also predates the eggs of other fish species. One detail left out of the article, something considered perhaps of more significance by the authorities, is the fact that the species carries a parasite that preys on the internal organs of other fish, Daily Mail. (Read a bit more at the Telegraph)

The TMG has been in Europe since the 1960s. Conflicting reports suggest the fish arrived with batches of carp meant for fish farms and also was seeded through release by aquarium fish enthusiasts. Where ever they came from the EA have been trying to keep them under control through the use of Rotenone (biodegradable poison), and standard species control procedures.

It occurs to me the recent flooding that has befallen UK waterways, 25 of which carry the species, may have undone the work of the EA and environmental voluntary organisations. With luck nature will restore some kind of balance, but if reports of fisheries balance of stocks are to be believed (100,000 TMG : 2 Roach) there is a real threat of ecological disaster...