Strange so far unanswered disease

09/02/2020

 

Long over due i will now up date on what i personally saw last season in respect of the outbreak of disease that occurred on the River Carron, there were reports of outbreaks on quite a few rivers mainly in the north of Scotland but also in other area’s of Scotland as the season progressed. i am only commenting on what i encountered on the Carron and what Info i have discovered.

Looking back to last season i was immediately aware of reports coming from Norwegian salmon rivers as soon as they opened  the reports were accompanied by pretty grim photos of dead salmon with horrific open wounds. some reports of similar incidents came out of Ireland and other North rivers. I caught a 7lb Salmon in the Lairds cast pool on June 10th. this one of four i caught that day all spanking fresh with the sea lice just off however the 7 pounder had thumb sized red bruises on the belly up near the throat with gradually smaller ones further down belly to almost a faint rash with very slight discoloured fin rays, this salmon was killed and handed in to fishery board office to let them see it. During this week i had also spotted a dead fish in the McKenzie pool a bar of silver with what looked like three fair sized red open wounds it was to deep to retrieve and river was rising quickly and it was subsequently washed away.

A few days later a pal Graham Grant who was fishing the Gledfield beat was just landing a salmon in the March pool and shouted across to me could i wade across to see this fish he had just landed, I did manage to wade across with some difficulty but it was worth seeing the salmon was in a horrific state, with open wounds up at throat, fins fraying and disintegrating and the beginning of  haemorrhages in the fins rays  this fish i would say had been in the river approx three weeks was not as silver and had virtually succumbed to what ever this disease is, it was amazing it was bothered to take a fly.  I have seen no satisfactory explanation for what i saw and encountered on the river last season i have had zero feedback, am i being cynical or has it anything to do with the fact this Scottish government just absolutely loves fish farms! I was also sent a photo of a grilse David Theaker caught on his own water at Mounthooly in August last year, again the pronounced rash is present and David seems to be struggling to get any worthwhile answers on the matter.

The week before last week in May Cornhill guests had seen a fresh dead salmon in a couple of the pools again with red marks and wounds easily discernible on pristine fresh fish.  On June 14th. I landed a 9lb salmon in the Raven pool this salmon was a sea liced bar of silver with strange circular open wounds, i could have lifted the skin around the wound and peeled back another approx 3/4 inch( See photo ) similar to Graham’s salmon just that Graham’s was a few weeks further advanced i have never seen anything like it before. That is until i looked up in detail about the mystery out break of disease in farmed salmon smolt’s in North West Norway in spring 2018 Tenacibaculum Dicentrarchi

Salmon fish farming has always been at the very top of my list of pet hates along with the complete bullshit about Global warming, so it was no surprise to me that this Tenacibaculum Dicentrarchi  is just another pretty foul disease to come out of a totally corrupt, morally bankrupt environmental disaster that is the fish farming industry.

It was first seen in fish farms in Puerto Mott Chile around 2014 causing severe tail rot, frayed fins, damaged gills, mouth erosion, skin lesions, skin and muscle ulcers, often 2 – 6 cms

Wheather the Norwegian disease is a mutated strain or is it just that its been found in Norwegian waters as its Called Tenacibaculum Dicentrarchi Finmark,

As far back as 2009 studies had confirmed wild Atlantic salmon migrating have been potentially susceptible to disease from fish farms in Scotland, Ireland, Norway, British Columbia, and Chile. As farms can cause mass infestations of Sea lice on seaward-migrating salmonids, and this effect can occur up to 30 km (19 miles) from the farms.   M. J. Costello (2009)

Several scientific studies have suggested that  “Caged Farmed Salmon harbour Sea Lice to a degree that can destroy surrounding wild populations ” These papers were published by The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, no less.

As a footnote sea lice being completely in discriminate in the way it attaches to a host has been been long accepted ( 1998 ) it is a major factor in transferring the disease Specific Salmon Anemia.  Which has been a major decimator of salmon farm fish stocks around Scotland and has been found in wild atlantic  Salmon and Sea Trout in Scotland and Norway.

Interestingly at least nine million fish have been killed by diseases, botched treatments, poor handling and other problems in fish farms around Scotland since 2016 according to official figures. Do Housewives really know what they are buying and eating from supermarkets or do they even care !

February

05/02/2020

Wed 5th February. I am delighted to report that Allan Donaldson landed a 9lb salmon this morning at 11.45hrs. in the McKenzie stream  on the Cornhill beat. It was a cracking fresh springer with the sea lice just off. It took a 1.1/4 inch Kyley tube and gave a very good account of its self the water height was 1 ft 2 inch. This was Cornhills first of the season and i believe its  the second springer to come off the River Carron this season.

First Salmon to come off the river Carron

03/02/2020

The First Salmon of the 2020 season came off the River Carron on Thursday 30th of January, my great pal Calum Beattie landed a 12lb salmon in the Gledfield pool on the Gledfield beat, It was spanking fresh but not carrying any sea lice, the water level was approx 2ft 6inch.

Thank god we have left the E U

01/02/2020