Inside britain’s biggest carp farm
We are fast approaching that time of year when fisheries around the country are looking to top up their stocks – but what exactly goes into farming these fish?
This week Angling Times takes an inside look at one of the largest carp producers in the UK – VS Fisheries.
Who are VS Fisheries?
Formed in 2005, VS Fisheries is the brainchild of former Sparsholt College fisheries management lecturers Viv Shears and Simon Scott.
Both men have made their mark on the angling world in other areas too, with Simon’s many appearances on Korda’s Thinking Tackle series leading to him now being known as ‘half man, half carp’. Viv, meanwhile, has recently hit the spotlight for his work with the Anglers National Line Recycling Scheme.
Since the farm’s inception, it has grown from 15 ponds across five acres to a mammoth project incorporating 60 production ponds across 50 acres – all with the sole purpose of producing carp for UK fisheries.
The list of waters stocked by VS Fisheries includes Linear Fisheries, Savay, Wraysbury, Horton Church Lake and the most famous carp water of them all, Redmire Pool.
But how exactly does farming carp work? Unlike some of the many other fish farms across the UK, VS Fisheries has the advantage of growing fish right from the start, from fertilising a small egg right through to adulthood.
This has allowed VS over the years to experiment and create strong strains of carp through selective breeding.
Every year in the hatchery, staff cross many different historic bloodlines in their quest for the perfect carp, resulting in a final product of attractive, healthy and fast-growing fish.
Spawning carp
Simon Scott’s expertise comes at this early stage of the rearing process, as he selects strains to cross breed from the established broodstock on site.
“These brood carp are then brought in from their outdoor ponds into a special hatchery tank, where the water is warmed to 23ºC and the fish are injected with a spawning-inducing hormone called Ovaprim,” he explained. “With the eggs from the female stripped into a bowl, a drip of the male’s milt is added, enough to fertilise the lot!”
After the eggs are stirred to remove their natural stickiness they are transferred to jars and within 72 hours they hatch into small larvae which travel through a pipe to a holding tank.
“Once the fish are hatched, we feed them a plankton diet called Artemia (brine shrimp) – as much as 10 times per day,” added Simon. “Just over a week later the fish are ready to go to a pre-prepared outdoor pond where they will really start growing.”
Growing carp
The ponds are prepared through a process of draining and liming, which kills any parasites or life that may be detrimental to the fish in the early stages of development.
Each pond is covered with netting to ensure the fish can grow quickly without the stress imposed by predators.
Within two growing summers the carp (C2s) will be averaging 1lb 8oz to 2lb, thanks to a regimented pellet feeding programme.
“After four growing summers the carp will be three years six months old and weigh up to 10lb – a perfect size for stocking into specimen carp fisheries, although we sell fish at each stage of development, from two-inch C1s right through to 25lb C6s,” said Viv.
VS Fisheries in numbers
850 Number of venues stocked since opening
30,000 The number of miles clocked up by staff while delivering fish
85 Tonnes of pellets fed each year. Five to eight tonnes of wheat are also fed
47lb 12oz The farm’s biggest stocked fish to date. ‘White Belly’ was stocked into Mustang at 15lb and is now 14 years old
SIX The number of staff who make it all possible – two full-time and four seasonal employees (plus Viv and Simon!)
