I received a flyer today from Total Flyfisher today; part of it included this picture and text

Coping With A Killer

Harley Smith has been fishing Grafham
for 30 years but it’s this season he’s
most looking forward to – and it’s all
thanks to the killer shrimp.

I haven't read the article (which admittedly gives a very poor basis for this post) but from the flavour of the introduction "all thanks to the killer shrimp" I get the impression that Dikerogamarus villosus may be being portrayed as a mixed blessing at Grafham.

Shouldn't TFF - along with any other responsible angling publication - be promoting the closure of Grafham and every other watercourse that harbours this invasive species until a solution to its removal it is found?

The threat D.villosus poses to the ecology of British rivers and lakes is absolutely massive, the damage to its negative connotations by articles that promote imitative patterns of the very creature that could wipe out the aquatic insects fly fishers have been striving to recreate for centuries is extremely short sighted.

The movement of visitors between Grafham, Cardiff Bay and Eglys Nunnyd Reservoir has already infected these three bodies of water and presumably the River Taff. Isn't it time to wake up and look for a solution rather than complacently fishing with a copy of a species whose abundance at Grafham only underlines the overwhelming impact it could have on the future of fly life and fly fishing?

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Musha rig um du rum da

You must be joking - there IS no solution, so why close the water indefinitely ? What do you think someone is going to do, go and pick them out individually or poison the whole venue killing thousands of endemic specimen fish of all species. Either is an equally ludicrous proposition !

Do you work for Severn Trent

Charlie

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Sonik Sports Team Pitsford Pirates

There lies the problem Col' .

Diawl Bach is simply asking if something can / should be done - doesn't deserve to be hounded for it.

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Help fund the WTT study of the Softmouth

Cheers STD.

The idea of closing these infected waters is to isolate the outbreak pending a solution. Removing D.villosus one by one would not be a viable control measure but water treatment could be an answer.
I think governing authorities, anglers and boaters need to get over their selfish interests and realise the potential harm to the greater good posed by this creature.

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Musha rig um du rum da

Hi Charlie,

Solution? as you say; there isn't one! But people are trying to find a solution; and I for one agree with Diawl Bach. We need a positive approach to secure the future of our lakes reservoirs and waterways! The killer shrimp is being spread throughout the UK by Boating Clubs and Angling clubs! The solution could be to close the waters that are known to have this invasive killer shrimp present. This action could at least stop or halt the spread of this nuisance? It's a hardship to endure today, but one that we need to consider! Or the future of our waterways and natural aquatic life could be ruined; and all because we became complacent about the seriousness of this situation. Lets leave something for future generations of anglers!

What we do now will reflect on us in the future.

Sorry, I was not intending to "hound", I just doubt there is a practical solution, so cannot see how you could take such drastic action without a viable plan ?

I, also, am not clear exactly what the impact is anticipated to be ? By the way, I think you can be sure that the horse has already bolted to many other waterways across the country.......................

Charlie

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Sonik Sports Team Pitsford Pirates

No prob's Charlie, we're all a bit touchy on this one, being Taff river fishermen.

Fair point about having a plan and I believe there are cleansing measures in place etc but it would be a shame if folks regretted not doing anything in the future if it might have helped.

...and the possible extent is worrying.

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Help fund the WTT study of the Softmouth

Glad to see some support for closing these waters but the point of the post was that magazines publishing articles on fishing with D.villosus patterns alters the perception of the problem and begins a gradual acceptance of its presence, the very last thing our sport needs.

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Musha rig um du rum da

Well said diawl bach! 'Mixed blessing' my ****.

Next we could well have one or two Dikerogammarus enthusiasts stocking other waters because - look at the vandalism of salmon rivers by barbel enthusiasts for example -they will have found some killer [sic.] patterns, so deadly that they will want to use them closer to home.

I won't ever buy Total Flyfisher again, the article so ill judged and timed that they deserve to be hit by a markedly lower future circulation.
Mind you if EA Wales and DEFRA were serious about tackling the infestation, shouldn't they have drained Cardiff Bay to wipe that population out?

And you can prove this conclusively, can you??