Carp With ‘Human Face’ Valued at £40,000

The term ‘fish face’ has taken on an all new meaning after a British ghost carp owner discovered his fish possessed distinctly human features – and his prize carp has since been valued at £40,000!

Brendan O’Sullivan, 44, from Dagenham in Essex, noticed something fishy when catching a close-up glimpse of his carp which he has had for five months – and only in the past week has he noticed what looks like a human-esque mouth, nose and eyes.

“Because of the weather earlier this year I didn’t really get to have a proper look at it,” said Mr O’Sullivan. “Then, last week, as I was sunbathing in the back garden I poked my head over the pond and there it was swimming towards me.

“It was astonishing. I could easily make out from the markings two eyes, a nose and a mouth. I thought I was suffering from sunstroke.”

Carp fish have long been known to possess distinctive facial markings but it is rare to find pictorial evidence and to spot a carp sporting such intriguing features.

One commenter on the Daily Mail news site, Richard from New Zealand, said: ‘That would make it one very expensive fish supper!’

However other bloggers were less enthusiastic, with one commenter saying: “What sort of fool would pay £40,000 for a fish?”

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Fishing Usurps Football As England Triumph At Coarse Fishing World Championships

The footballers may have let us down but our country’s fishermen have restored some faith in national sport with a thrilling victory at the 2010 Coarse Fishing World Championships.

Sean Ashby ensured Drennan Team England returned to the top of the match-fishing tree in dramatic style with a 3lbs carp in the final few minutes of the final day to confirm their slender lead over the Italians.

The fish caught by Sean was enough to clinch the points and take England to gold,  though it was a true team effort with valuable points in other areas of the tournament backing up this wonderful last minute catch. A section win from “super-sub” Stu Conroy, a second place for “Mr. Consistent” Steve Gardener and a third-place finish for both Alan Scotthorne and Des Shipp meant that England racked up enough points to knock the Italians down a peg to second place. Ah, shaddap you face!

Mark Downes, Drennan Team England International manager, said after the glorious win: “After being involved for 27 years I think this team is possibly the best ever produced by any country in World Championship angling. The commitment and dedication shown by the team members cannot be faulted and they deserve all the accolades possible.”

Sounds to me like if in four years time we are greeted with the same half-hearted effort from our national football team at the World Cup, then we could always turn our attention to fishing and Drennan Team England to bring glory back to the country, even if it is only Coarse fishing…

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Obama on Standby as Asian Carp head for Great Lakes

Environmental groups in the US are demanding more direct Presidential control over the threat of the advancing Asian carp heading towards the Great Lakes.

A letter written to Barack Obama has demanded that the President takes more of a stance against the problem facing the Great Lakes as the so called “bighead” Asian carp moves ever closer. The letter contrived by environmental groups, is urging Obama to appoint a Federal Incident Commander to take control of the situation. At present there is no evidence that they are breeding, to which some may breathe a sigh of relief with no evidence of any juvenile population in the lakes.

There has been a find in the Chicago waterway system of a “bighead” Asian carp around 3 feet long, found just six miles from the shore of Lake Michigan. This find was the first confirmed specimen of an Asian carp above an electric barrier system. Environmental DNA tests taken since last autumn have shown the presence of Asian carp above this barrier in numerous areas of the Chicago canal system. One possibility of the Asian carp getting into these areas is that they have ridden the floodwaters, which will have taken them over and above the barrier.

Barack Obama campaigned on a slogan of “zero tolerance” on any new species invasions in the Great Lakes which are now home to more than 185 non-native species.

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