Gooseberries stripped

Two of my three gooseberry bushes have been stripped bare, right down to twigs! 

I've never had this before and although I've always had a slug and snail problem, they never bothered before. I have just cleared my garden out. 

I'm gutted.

gooseberry sawfly are right bu@@ers...one minute you have a bush the next minute you have stems

Gooseberry sawfly - its happened to mine   Luckily though, I saw it when they had only stripped one little branch so I blasted them with bug killer (can't remember the name, but its in a yellow bottle).  Just spray your bushes.  I've heard that they can come back again in the next month or so.  So keep your peeps open

Basically the Red/Black Currant and Gooseberry Sawfly lays eggs in the leaf litter/soil at the bottom of the plants, when they hatch into very small caterpillars, they crawl up your plant eating every leaf and growing as they go, unless you keep a very close eye out for them, it's probably too late.

Spraying is the only real option as there are too many to pick off, but keeping the soil clean under the bushes in winter is probably a good idea.

Bob

can you not cover the plant in netting to prevent this ??