Cefas’ Fish Health Inspectorate (FHI) has teamed up with a number of its most influential partners to sponsor a new initiative with crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers that targets the theft and illegal importation of fish and the theft of expensive angling equipment. The project will go live on 17th  May 2010.  

Crimestoppers operates the 0800 555 111 telephone number and website Crimestoppers-uk.org to allow people to pass on information about crime anonymously. By providing complete anonymity to callers it is hoped that the angling community will be encouraged to take more responsibility for their sport/business and report illegal activity. The partnership includes many influential industry organisations, including the Fish Health Inspectorate, ECHO, The Angling Trust, Cemex, and the Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association (OATA).

In recent months there has been increasing intelligence to suggest that organised criminal groups now view the illegal importation of fish (and in particular carp) as a very lucrative business opportunity with relatively low associated risks. The profit margins are often substantial, with an illegally imported 50lb carp likely to be priced in the region of £20k. In a recent joint operation by the FHI and the UKBA (UK Border Agency) a lorry was intercepted with over 100 illegally imported live fish professionally packaged and with a market value in excess of £250k. These fish can be purchased very cheaply from sites on the continent, but almost none can be certified as being free from the diseases we control in this country. Should illegally imported fish manage to reach English fisheries then once again fishery owners can also reap huge rewards by imposing high daily tariffs upon anglers who are prepared to pay `over the odds` in order to catch larger fish than would normally be available. However the darker side of this type of illegal activity could see entire stocks of fish literally wiped out overnight through the introduction of disease.

• New Crimestoppers partnership