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commercial fisheries. searching for an answer. please.

Graham Elliott

Senior Member & Supporter
With ongoing research I am carrying out I really need some help from the BFW community.

Those of you that fish commercial lake fisheries or live near one,I would ask you please to ask them a couple of questions and respond on here.

1. Do you allow pellets to be used on your water.

2. If not why not / or if so any specific type. Eg. Own brand.

3. What made you use/choose the ones you allow.

If applicable any known problems with pellet use in the past.


I know this is a lot to ask members to undertake but implore as many as possible to try to obtain information. I am trying to establish fish welfare issues employed on these commercial fisheries and any outcomes that might relate to barbel welfare.
Thank you

Graham
 
Graham

As I've said before I'm into match fishing and here's an extract on someone's opinion why they have fishery own pellets and ban high oil pellets. Some of the match guys know plenty about commercial fisheries.

High oil content, the fish can not digest properly in large amounts and the oil gives them fatty liver syndrome and kills them, I think that's why. Some Trout Salmon and Halibut pellets are 70% fish oil designed to fatten up stock and mill fish for the table in as short a time as possible. Farmed salmon for example can have as much as 28g of fat per 100g opposed to natural wild Alaskan Salmon that have .9g of fat per 100g. Most course pellets don't even have fishmeal as the main protein source these days its a vegetable or soya derivative, let alone any oil.
 
I know nothing about pellets but I understand they are often bought by the sack in order to save money,yet in Japan the feeding of fish with Silk Worm Pupae cause Ceroidosis of the liver if the oil in the pupae had oxidised and it must be likely that the oil in pellets would do so with age.
 
1 Yes
2 Any type
3.Unaware of any issues so can use any sort.

Not a large pro fishery,but v/pleasant family run.
 
I do remember years ago when the pellet fishing started and there were mostly high oil trout pellets used there were corners of fisheries with an oily scum covering the surface!

Dave
 
Most commercials have a fishery pellet only rule, mainly I think to get an extra £2 on each day ticket! Nearly always low oil skretting type pellets. As has already been said trout pellets were popular a few years back but most places don't alow high oil pellets now.
 
Lots of actual scientific research done on this subject by Sparsholt college around ten years ago Graham, the paper released was what drove many fisheries and some clubs to ban the use of pellets, I remember supporting you actually in your fight against London Piscatorials because they banned pellets on their stretch of the Loddon.
It was all to do with liver damage caused by high oil content, we convinced them, if you remember, that the testing done in a lab environment, ie in a tank was not representative of a river where water is constantly turned over and any oil diluted!!
Can't remember the exact details of the paper but look it up!!
 
Wouldn't the allegedly harmful oil have to have been inside the fishes gut to do any harm ? There would have to be a hell of lot of oil pellets going in to a river to have caused a problem , which I guess was your argument against the ban ?
 
Thanks for all your answers so far.

Yes Crooky. Vague recollection and my view at the time.

I must admit I never realised that breakdown of salmon feed pellets was so long and the uptake of them as main food was so high. The research on 4 rivers showing it consisted of up to
79 % really shocked me.

I am now convinced as Sparsholt were of the potential damage that might be caused.

It seems commercial fisheries listened in most cases and river anglers including me didn't.


Graham
 
Mike.
There were an awful lot going into some of the rivers around this way I can assure you.

Quite a lot of debates about restricting amount some years ago.

It wasn't unusual to see 1 - 2kilos going into 3 or more swims by one angler roving.

Bear in mind, 1/3 of the salmon feed pellet was simply oil ingested.
 
Mike.
There were an awful lot going into some of the rivers around this way I can assure you.

Quite a lot of debates about restricting amount some years ago.

It wasn't unusual to see 1 - 2kilos going into 3 or more swims by one angler roving.

Bear in mind, 1/3 of the salmon feed pellet was simply oil ingested.

Morning Graham . I understand the point being made about high oil content pellets being harmful to the fish when consumed , my comment was made in the context of the Loddon situation where an argument was being made not to ban them as the oil from the un eaten pellets would be diluted in the water and therefore not be harmful, which I can see . To contribute to your survey , I don't fish commercial still waters , the small club ponds / lakes I do fish have no bait bans . Observing the carp anglers they do fire in large amounts of bait , not sure if they are pellets or boilies , as well as shipping them out in stupid bait boats . It all seems completely OTT to me especially on a 2 acre pond , I think many anglers do it almost automatically , along the lines of' If I put more stuff in I will get more fish out ' . It doesn't seem to work ......
 
Cheers Mike.
Yes the more I am finding out the more enlightened I have become.

Mind you. The earth is still flat!

Graham
 
Graham,

I seem to remember there was an issue with ammonia, its built up in the water and the fish's ability to get rid of ammonia if in an already saturated environment, been looking for it but can't find it.

The guy we were in disagreement with at the time has written something though:John Baker Baits
 
Hi Graham.... Spoke to the manager of a commercial fishery on a clients farm. They only allow low protein low oil pellets. They also rear fish including Barbel.... He made some interesting points to me..... The barbel are very uninterested in feeding on pellets when the water is below 18..... At 20-21 they go silly. He told me that he knows of other fish farms that take stock fish from the Trent..... He also thought that pellets on most rivers, would not be going in in enough volumes to affect the fish.... Most actually never being eaten.... He reckoned that the biggest problem with the rivers was the level of dissolved oxygen. He said I could borrow his very expensive gadget to check occasionally but to be honest that data can be found from the EA. He said that often in there feeder stream the level was as low as 1 or 2 parts per mill! Basically so poor that a fish would just die.
 
Hi Rich. Yes re some rivers that may be true.

Could you go back to the research that PR was involved with re uptake of pellets to 79 pc and ask him his thoughts.

Big query re temp feeding. Not my experience when fishing.

Any answers from Calverton yet your queries?
 
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