FISHINGmagic And The BRFC

The full story is this:

Following much debate in FM’s forum and articles on this website there was a firm conclusion that the identification of certain species, in particular roach, rudd, crucian carp, brown goldfish, silver bream, dace and bleak, needed to be put on a scientific footing.

This fish from Linch Hill was claimed as a true roach. Take a look at the anal fin. In this instance the fish is an obvious hybrid but DNA testing will ensure that less easily identifiable hybrids don’t make the record books

We then asked Andy Nellist if he would act as FM’s fish biology coordinator and help us to put together a proposal. We decided that this proposal should be submitted through the SAA to the NAA and the BRFC. The proposal was accepted with enthusiasm by Mike Heylin, secretary of the SAA and a document was circulated amongst SAA officers for comment. The proposal will be put to the NAA at their next meeting.

The essence of the proposal is this:

That the SAA provide £ 3000 of sponsorship (£ 1000 per year for 3 years) to part fund a PhD student whose research project would be to identify the genetic markers that uniquely identify the cyprinid species. With sponsorship from a recognised body such as the SAA the student should be able to obtain a NERC grant for the research.

The genetic markers would allow for accurate and relatively cheap identification of specimens together with the ability to identify post F1 hybrids, ie, fish who had parents who were themselves hybrid, and would provide a host of other valuable information regarding hybrids that could assist anglers, fishery managers and the EA alike and is a project that could have far reaching consequences for fishery management in the UK.

Unfortunately, the research will not now be able to commence until September 2004 as this year’s deadline for NERC submissions for research starting in September 2003 was 1st November 2002.

However, since it will be possible in the not too distant future to analyse scales to assess the identity of fish submitted for records we suggest that the BRFC immediately implement a policy of requesting scales for the species affected, ie, roach, rudd, crucian, brown goldfish, silver bream, dace, bleak, etc, so that these fish can be positively identified when the proposed system is up and running. This will ensure that any records claimed, and possibly accepted, in the interim, can be examined and either accepted or rejected on a scientific basis when the system is in place.

FISHINGmagic will raise the cash for the SAA and £ 1000 to cover the cost of the first year is already in place. In return for our efforts we would like the BRFC Record Freshwater Fish List be referred to as ‘The BRFC Record Freshwater Fish List, sponsored by FISHINGmagic.com’.

It should be emphasised that we do not wish to encroach on the work of the SAA or the BRFC. The only influence we wish to have is to provide a means to fund research that will lead to a scientific system that will accurately and inarguably identify certain fish species.

We also believe that there should be a system in place where a potential record claimant can be visited at the water by an officer of the BRFC so that this officer can expertly remove the scale from the fish. This will ensure that fish are subject to as little damage as possible. The replacement of scales is something that fish do naturally many times in their lives.

If our proposal is accepted FISHINGmagic will officially launch the fund and strive to raise as much funding as possible for this worthwhile and important project.

A brief report about this proposal can be seen on page 5 of today’s Angling Times.