News & Press Release 

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Official Notice to ECHO Members Regarding 2010 AGM

The re-arranged ECHO AGM will now take place on Friday April 9th at Horseshoe Lake and will begin at 6.30pm, the address is as follows;

Horseshoe Lake
Lechdale
GL7 3QQ

Agenda:

1. Chairman’s Address (Annual Review)
2. Treasurers report
3. Election of Committee Members & Officers (all applications for Chairman, Vice Chairman and Secretary to be received by March 31st 2010)
4. Subscriptions
5. Matters arising (proposals to be received by March 31st 2010) to include:
- Membership of Angling Trust.
- Membership of S&TA
- Extension of remit to include predation.
6. AOB

Julian Cundiff & Mark Walsingham Slideshows at Horseshoe - 9th April 2010

Come and enjoy an evening of carpy fun at the Carp Society HQ, Horseshoe lake, Lechlade, Glocs.
Slide shows from Mark Walsingham, writer and fishery owner and Julian Cundiff, carp catcher extraordinaire.
Friday 9th April. Doors open at 7pm.
Entry £5
Come and have a beer or two with us.
Prizes to be won. All proceeds to The English Carp Heritage Organisation.

Martin Gibbinson Talk and Slide Show 14th February 2010

This winters South Essex ECHO event saw long time carp angler Martin Gibbinson give us a wonderful insight into his fishing over the years.  From his early teenage years with his thoughts and use of particles to his development of the method for which he is well known, Martin kept over 70 carp anglers of all ages enthralled and engrossed not only with his wit and humour, but as he has never been shy of speaking his mind, his thoughts on illegal fish movements and the many aspects of carp fishing that he dislikes.  There were numerous superb aspects of Martin’s fishing displayed but for many the highlight was his exploits on a very private Essex water that he had permission not only to talk about but show some wonderful fish as well. 

Also attending were Essex Carp Baits showing a very professional set up from this fledgling company with their baits receiving a lot of attention and Russ Popes range of indicators got a lot of people talking.

‘Joined Up Thinking’ - Support For ECHO Grows, May 2009

After a nearly a decade of striving forward in relatively small numbers, April 3rd 2009 saw the English Carp Heritage Organisation reach another milestone and welcome their new team of Regional Organisers at a meeting hosted by the Fish Health Inspectorate at the Cefas Lab in Weymouth.

ECHO invited regional volunteers from the North West, North East, South West, London, South East, Kent & Essex to join the steering committee to meet with key supporters from the angling industry, the Angling Trust and EA/Cefas enforcement teams.

The aim was to demonstrate the close working relationships between government agencies and ECHO, and the real achievements those relationships have created to date.  The objective was to harness increased support for healthier carp stocks and join forces to assist in providing education and information to the angling community as a whole, support the drive for increased competency amongst fisheries industry, and maintain ECHO’s stakeholder status for long term solutions to many historic and emerging angling problems.

Ruth Lockwood, ECHO’s Chairman, described the benefits of a unified approach committed to exposing the illegal movements and introductions of fish, enforcing and improving regulations regarding those activities, developing a support network for responsible fisheries and stressed the over-riding need for wider support from the angling community for this direction.  Addressing these activities together will prevent disease from entering the UK and encourage a more responsible approach to fish welfare from the angling fraternity as a whole.

The threat of the deadly Koi Herpes Virus was high on the agenda.  Cefas explained that ECHO had initiated major moves in preventing KHV infected imports and further controls are anticipated later this year.  Despite these achievements, KHV outbreaks are expected throughout this Summer, and ECHO underlined the need for the angling communities across the country to act as the ‘eyes and ears’ and report all large scale carp mortalities along with information regarding illegal imports directly to the Fish Health Inspectorate (01305 206681).  Containment of affected fisheries will also be critical in moving closer to eradicating KHV from the UK fisheries, and Ruth called upon ECHO supporters to lead the way in promoting practical biosecurity and disease awareness.

In addition to highlighting the threats from both legal and illegal imports of carp, ECHO reminded the audience that there was much work still to be done to eliminate illegal movements of carp within the UK.  From fishery owners and anglers ‘seeding’ waters without consent, to dodgy fish traders and organised large scale removals of carp from rivers to lakes.  Many parallels were drawn with the problems the French community had experienced with mass removal of specimen carp from rivers to stock commercial fisheries.

Steve Irving, head of Cefas lab, offered thanks to ECHO for their stance on responsible fishery management, financial contributions to disease research and ECHO’s continued efforts to lobby for more effective controls in the future.

Steve Maidment, senior enforcement officer at Cefas, explained how he had seen the value of working with ECHO over the last 10 years and continued to marvel at the great steps forward the organisation had made.

The outcome was an overwhelming desire to make ECHO more accessible and relevant and act as a trusted source for information and guidance to fishery owners and anglers alike in the future.

3 years ago ECHO began lobbying for Notifiable Status for KHV and this was acheived last year allowing infected sites to be known to the public. ECHO's continuous presence as a recognised stakeholder, during a pivotal legislative window of opportunity has led to stricter controls against diseased carp from next year.
This incredible success can be directly attributable to the level of voluntary commitment from members of the ECHO committee and the financial support achieved through the Fish Welfare Fund.
2 years ago, the intensity, complexity and regularity of the government consultations regarding new Fish Health regulations, drove ECHO to appeal to funding from the angling trade to support a full time political representative-Korda, Cemex, Bait Tech, Angling Pubs, Tackle Box, England Angling have created a vital and sustainable revenue source to protect and retain the health our carp stocks in the future.

For the last 3 years ECHO has been intensely focused on a successful strategy that has resulted in tighter controls for diseased imports in the future. The importation of KHV compromised carp will no longer meet the stringent controls that Defra has committed to implement. Sadly during that process voluntary resources were extremely limited and much energy was detracted from the many other aims & objectives of the organisation.
Communication with anglers has always been a major objective and failing to communicate nationally during the lobbying process has rapidly reduced ECHO's membership but thankfully not the organisations progress.
With political representation established and financed by the FWF, the committee can turn its attentions to finally addressing some of the misconceptions surrounding ECHO and hopefully re-build the support of the angling community.

The ECHO committee have a clear objective going into 2009:

To meet as many anglers in every region of the country to discuss local angling issues and appeal for support.
To create awareness of the risks of disease and create a network of greater understanding of local issues.
To act as a trusted and valued information resource
To recruit Regional Organisers and drive membership.

Therefore to kick start in initiative, ECHO is hoping to hold a series of "Workshops" across the country. The committee have prepared a short powerpoint presentation entitled "What is ECHO" and are currently organising a programme of discussion forums in key regions.
ECHO's aim is to visit as many regions as possible before Xmas as preparations for ECHO's AGM (Sat Feb 28th) will take priority in the New Year.

ECHO would like to hear from anyone who is interested in hosting an ECHO workshop in their local area please contact echocarp@hotmail.com

Details of the first ECHO Regional Workshop Confirmed:

1200hrs Sun Sept 28th-Lower Berryfield Fisheries, Wallingford, OX10 7ET

Other workshops planned North East region , North West region, & Essex -more details to follow.

PDF's regarding the spread of KHV throughout England and Wales:

http://www.efishbusiness.co.uk/news/080902a.pdf

ECHO is actively seeking volunteers to represent ECHO in a number of key areas across the country.

As part of the ongoing strengthening of the organisation, addressing the issues regarding national communication and to relieve to workload of the current committee, ECHO is appealing to anglers with good local contacts, a reasonable understanding of carp angling issues and the willingness to get involved!

Through the SAA, ECHO has been corresponding with the Pike Anglers' Club (PAC) for guidance on structure. Mark Barrett from the PAC and ECHO will be heading up a meeting in the very near future to define the role to those that have already volunteered their help in the past to promote ECHOs message.

If you are interested in finding out more and haven't already contacted me, please register your interest: FAO Ruth/RO to: echocarp@hotmail.com

Meeting details will follow in the next 2 weeks to all email contacts provided.

YOUR SUPPORT MAKES A DIFFERENCE.

Ruth Lockwood

From conception, ECHO has not only created awareness of existing and emerging carp diseases, the organisation also led the way for a unified pressure group to form and work with the relevant government agencies to protect our valuable carp stocks.

Since 2004, ECHO has been active in demonstrating the deadly effects a relatively new disease, Koi Herpes Virus (KHV), could have. Not only on our native fish stocks, but also on the recreation and industry that surrounds them. Such was the organisations commitment to preventing KHV outbreaks, ECHO commissioned a research project to develop a reliable and non-lethal test for the virus. This research was highly successful and led to a further £140,000 from Defra to take the project to it’s conclusion. This testing has now been adopted and more recently Cefas have been cited as leaders in KHV science.

2005 saw many fisheries in the UK devastated by KHV. The prophecy became a reality for some that year, while others in close proximity lived in fear of their fishery succumbing to the deadly virus too. Martin Salter MP, a long standing supporter of ECHO, once described KHV as the Foot & Mouth of angling. So much was misunderstood but little in reality could be done, mainly due to the lack of regulatory powers. The KHV situation became a little more complicated, when the introductions of KHV compromised carp started to appear from Israel. Many imports were subject to a vaccine not licensed in this country, originally used on carp bred for the table or ornamental stocking. ECHO stood strong on this issue and continued to express their concerns at the highest level.

A year later, ECHO’s input to government was instrumental in securing Notifiable Status for KHV in April 2006. Achieving this status was a rewarding milestone for all who had been involved to that point, but in reality it was no more than a statutory tool to enable further legislation and controls. For that, ECHO had to apply pressure on the EU Commission through Defra. The Aquatic Animal Health Directive that emerged as an original draft was not shaped particularly towards angling. The most recent version is, thanks to ECHO and the other committed members of the Fish Welfare Group.

Due to the sheer volume of work that was required to continue ECHO’s level of commitment to decision making processes, ECHO created the Fish Welfare Fund at the start of 2007. Appeals were made to the angling industry to support ECHO by contributing to this fund. The organisation now has Full time professional representation in place, financed by the Fish Welfare Fund.

With the final draft of the Directive entered consultation stage at the end of 2007 which ends in early March, ECHO met with Defra Jan 24th to determine the UK’s current KHV status and underwrite a national control policy to accompany the new legislation.

Following ECHO’s achievements to successfully establish the deadly Koi Herpes Virus (KHV) as a notifiable disease in April 2006, the organisation has continued to be instrumental at government level in the legislative steps that followed, all necessary to secure workable solutions to containing and eradicating the virus from the UK’s fisheries.

The past 2 years have seen a significant rise in KHV outbreaks in fisheries across the UK, whereas previously infected sites had mostly been garden ponds or aquariums.

In two meetings held with Defra on Jan 24th, and with full support of Martin Salter MP, ECHO entered the final stages of establishing new legislation to combat KHV introductions to the UK.

Following ECHO funded research to determine the distribution of KHV in the UK, early indications suggested that the disease was controllable and stakeholder groups including ECHO urged Defra to continue to work towards replicating the successful SVC controls for KHV. 5 years ago, imported SVC was a real threat to the UK’s carp stocks. Additional guarantees were sought, infected imports prevented and outbreaks were subject to a control and eradication programme. Cefas openly accept that the UK is now effectively SVC Free because of those stringent controls. Under the auspices of the new legislation, the same is now achievable by the UK to regain KHV free status in the future.

The new Aquatic Animal Health Directive clearly governs and in some cases restricts the possibilities that are available to Defra, as do funding issues. ECHO presented a strong case that maximum controls against KHV were in place and effective as soon as possible.

Under the new directive, it will be possible to prevent the introduction of carp from KHV compromised sources, and that will include those subject to KHV vaccination processes.

The Aquatic Animal Health Directive will be effective by May 2008 and implemented by August 2008. To read more, please follow the link: www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/aquatic-ah/consultation.pdf