The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) reported this week that positive samples had been found on farms in North Yorkshire and Northumberland.
The rural affairs and environment secretary added: "If Europe blows this golden opportunity to sail our fishing industry into calmer waters the consequences would be dire".
As a child, they provided an escape from a small ruralenvironment and fed my endless curiosity and thirst for worlds bigger and more fantastic than this one.
Will the new department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs force unrealistic ideas on the farming community or will they use this crisis for good and help with the restructuring that this industry desperately needs all the way up the food chain?