Otters a pest?

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Tony wainwright

Guest
I am claiming complete ignorance on this one.
I've just been looking at the SAA web site and it says that otters are a problem.
I cant understand this as I thought that otters were a rarity and there were schemes to re-introduce them to certain areas? Anyone enlighten me?
I can certainly go along with the cormorants being a problem.
If farmers had a problem such as the fishery owners do with cormorants I'm sure there would be something done about it.
Why cant anyone with a bit of clout see that the population of cormorants has exploded over the last decade(?)and is not a true reflection of the species natural habitat.
If pigeons can be culled as they are a pest, why not shags?
We dont want to make them extinct but control them.
 
C

Chris Bishop

Guest
The otter re-introduction programme has now restored them to pre-1970s level and so it's been suspended. Unfortunately - or fortunately for the otters - the last three decades have seen an explosion of lakes near the rivers and streams they inhabit, stocked with large, slow moving fish which are a doddle for otters to catch in the winter, just when the rivers are brim full of chocolate coloured water.
 
D

Dave Kennedy

Guest
they were restocked into their original waters with no thought as to how the environment they were being put into had changed.

many Otters did not survive the restock, but i dont think you will find the wildlife trust admitting that.

In Cambridge they found one dead otter up near the M11 motorway a few years ago, when they did the autopsy on it i heard it had died of malnutrition.

our own club controls some water that is very near to were otters have been restocked and i must admit they do not seem to have caused us any problems, though a stillwater nearby is blaming them for a lack of fish.
 
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The Monk

Guest
The wild otter is an absolutely lovely animal, but became limited in its distrobution because the environment in which it once lived was largely destroyed, the reintroduction of any animal (particularly mamiliar at the head of the food chain) brings with it ecological problems, problems which balance themself if generally left alone to nature. Of course man always knows better?
The Cormorant is a sea bird which in order to survive has had to find a niche inland, we demand low prices in the supermarkets, the seas are overfished and thus problems are created? Nature pays a high price for mans economic and leisure development and when things go wrong well we can always cull?
 
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Phil Hackett

Guest
Tony
On some waters (lakes & pits) otters are causing some problems.
The SAA has highlighted this at government level. It is NOT suggesting they should be cull or anything like that.
What it is saying is, where there is a problem, measures need to be taken to address it. Its proposals are that otter proof fencing should be erected and that some grant aid money should be made available to do this for the controlling club of the lake.

It is also saying that no more otters should be released into the wild, as the numbers released are now at the levels they were pre 1969.

It has had very constructive discussions with the otter trusts over this and both side see, hear and understand each others point of view and are moving forward together on the issue.

Phil Hackett
Conservation Officer SAA
 
T

Tony wainwright

Guest
Phil
What is the situation with cormorants then?
I know how big a pest they are so are there any reasons put forward by the powers that be as to why the population has been allowed to create many new colonies without a cull or even some attempt at controlling them?
 
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John Howard

Guest
Yes Otters can and do cause problems. Several years ago a breeding pair set up home on the upper Severn. A swim just down stream held a number of large chub by this I mean 5lb+. Once they moved in the chub disappeard. I'm not saying the Otters took them just that they disappeard. During this time I saw my first Otter, it had surfaced 20yds or so from me. In its mouth it held a fish. A barbel that weighed just over 6lb. How can I be so sure? Well minutes earlier I had caught and returned A barbel, a suprise capture from this swim.
Can any river stand fish of this size being removed????????
 
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The Monk

Guest
Over 100 years ago we had many wild otters and reading through the old angling book, plenty of large fish in the rivers too?
 
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Jon Moores

Guest
I'm sure it can stand it, as the Monk notes, Otters and big chub have been in the Upper Severn for a long time. On the plus side they do seem to see off the mink from their territory, which is a good thing for anything a mink can get in its jaws (particularly the poor old water vole). I chub fished a stretch of the upper Severn last year and was delighted to see a pair of otters on most visits.
 
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Bob Watson

Guest
Nature generally has a way of finding a balance. Remember the Zander issues when they were "stocked" in the Fens, no probs now right?? Too many Otters competing for limited?? no.s of fish, what will happen? Starvation? Declining no.s of Otters? Declining no's of fish at the same time? Cull, reduce otter population, will they breed "up" again? the variables are too many for me to draw a conclusion. Not qualified anyway!!
My tuppence worth.
 
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The Monk

Guest
Mink are introduced species/escapees with no natural predators to control them, another cock up by man! Otters through an evolutionary time scale are natural to Britain and have had time to find their natural ecological niche, or at least they did prior to us taking them to the margins of extinction!
 
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Bob Watson

Guest
Yeah, The vanity of women wanting nice coats has a lot to answer for.
 
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The Monk

Guest
Yea Bob., I'd never sleep with a woman who wears an animal skin coat, I also tell lies!
 
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The Monk

Guest
I think this threads degenerating again ha ha, think you must have this affect on me mate?
 
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Bob Watson

Guest
Wait til L8R Monk, I'm on the P155 tonight playing a match in my other chosen past-time. Of which, I'm not prepared to disclose the details here. There's already far too much p155 taking on this forum. Just to warn you not read the drivel I post after about 11.45.
 
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