van de BBC website 9 december 2003
bericht ook te lezen op http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2640207.stm
Fish dealers admit carp smuggling
Two Essex fish dealers have admitted to smuggling more than 1.8 tons of live fish - some of which were later found to have a lethal disease - into the UK.
Mark Dallas and Lee Coles were arrested as they tried to take the consignment of 262 large carp through the Channel Tunnel last April.
It was the largest-ever seizure of illegally imported live fish, said a Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spokeswoman.
It is estimated that the fish could have fetched up to £85,000 on the market because British anglers are keen to catch large carp.
Disastrous consequences
At Folkestone Magistrates Court Dallas, of Premier Fish Supplies, Battlesbridge, and Coles, of Chelmsford, admitted smuggling the fish.
Both were committed to Maidstone Crown Court for sentencing.
After the consignment was intercepted, tests identified the killer virus, Spring Viraemia of Carp (SVC) in samples from the fish, which were bought in Belgium.
According to scientists, it is the first time this particular strain of the SVC virus has been identified in the UK.
The court was told that if the fish had been introduced into British waters it could have been disastrous consequences for wild and commercial fish species
[Gewijzigd door Tjander Meddocks op woensdag 15 januari 2003 @ 23:23]
bericht ook te lezen op http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2640207.stm
Fish dealers admit carp smuggling
Two Essex fish dealers have admitted to smuggling more than 1.8 tons of live fish - some of which were later found to have a lethal disease - into the UK.
Mark Dallas and Lee Coles were arrested as they tried to take the consignment of 262 large carp through the Channel Tunnel last April.
It was the largest-ever seizure of illegally imported live fish, said a Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spokeswoman.
It is estimated that the fish could have fetched up to £85,000 on the market because British anglers are keen to catch large carp.
Disastrous consequences
At Folkestone Magistrates Court Dallas, of Premier Fish Supplies, Battlesbridge, and Coles, of Chelmsford, admitted smuggling the fish.
Both were committed to Maidstone Crown Court for sentencing.
After the consignment was intercepted, tests identified the killer virus, Spring Viraemia of Carp (SVC) in samples from the fish, which were bought in Belgium.
According to scientists, it is the first time this particular strain of the SVC virus has been identified in the UK.
The court was told that if the fish had been introduced into British waters it could have been disastrous consequences for wild and commercial fish species
[Gewijzigd door Tjander Meddocks op woensdag 15 januari 2003 @ 23:23]
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