Mink invading our waters

I was fishing on thursday evening on the river derwent a few miles below Matlock,in derbyshire.I was suprised to see on the otherside a mink.About half an hour later there was five scurring about the bank.But how big a problem are they to our fisheries? How many are there?If so how do resolve the problem?
cheers Daz

Daz,
They have been around on the rivers in our area for many years. The numbers balance out in time and I do not think they represent too much of a problem. I also see a few when I visit the Ouse. Otters pose a far greater threat and seem to be increasing in numbers.

Mink are simple to catch. They are very inquisitive and also very arrogant.

You need a big landing net and some bait.

I had better not descibe what happens next or the red button will be pressed.

The best mink trap I ever saw was shown to one of my clubs on the weaver by a local farmer...it involved burying a length of drainpipe vertically into a slope was best...less digging. drop in a fresh roach....wait a few days and then go round with a steel bar!!!! get the drift.

Mink might not be a problem for the fish I don't know but they are a problem for everything else that lives on the riverbank thats for sure. They are a killing machine probably without equal in our countryside.
This is another legacy of these animal rights activists who broke into and released the mink from mink farms. Do-gooders who excel in everything except doing good, they should be put down along with the mink!!!!! Now I'm getting wound up so I'll stop. I well remember an angler on the Trent a few years age who was attacked by mink and received something like 28 stitches to his arm so beware...rant over!

Dave, I've seen you write some rubbish,but Otters greater threat than Mink,come on!!
Proof?

Fred,
Mink do not seem to do too much damage to the fish on my local rivers. There are increasing numbers of otters on the Avon and the Stour. They have killed several big chub and barbel. I don't get the comics but a friend of mine, Mark Callaway, did a feature on this fairly recently. I have also seen Fred Sykes's slide show of what otters did to his carp fishery. I hate the f***ing things. I do not mind mink but, as you seem to think I talk rubbish, I sincerely hope you get otters in your area and they f*** up your fishing.

Dave,like you I saw Mink on the Ouse and surrounding areas,like the Grand Union,there are hoards of them doing a great deal of damage to all species of small wildlife,including fish.
The occasional large fish to an otter is little to pay for this natural and original wild inhabitant of our countryside.
No I haven't seen Fred Sykes slide show,but if you put fish in a 'goldfish bowl',surely you will attract predators out for an easy meal?

The simple truth is this. Otters are indigenous to England and I have no objection to them.

Mink are interlopers that can destroy a natural ecosystem. They do not belong here and must be eliminated.

i first saw mink on the river severn in the 70s and i have only seen black ones.i have with my own eyes watched them bite their way out of strong wire cages.when i told people that they were on the dane as well i think they thought i was seeing things.they are now rampant on these waters and they are bold and nasty.last season i had one come up the side of my keepnet and onto my foot.they have no known predator to take them and i am sure the otter as been blamed for the damage that this nasty little killer is doing. the mink kills for fun.phew.

a couple of otters have had a few fish out of horseshoe (hardly a goldfish bowl) including 30lb+ fish, but as fred says, they are natural to the country.
mink on the other hand.....

thers been mink on the ribble and hodder round here for at least thirty years.A chap from MAFF used to trap them but they gave up as it was proving impossible to eradicate them completly.they are easy enough to trap as they are so inquisitive.They dont seem to fear anything they will stand and look at you as if you shouldnt be there.cage traps baited with fish are as good as anything to catch them.but thers to many people round here who will smash your traps up if they find them.bloody nuisance,otters are lovely creatures they have a right to be on our rivers and streams and its good to see them making a comeback.eveb if i have a night or twos sea trouting spoilt its good to see them about.mink have no place on are waters they are very distructive to all manner of things.

It's about time the otters had a few carp. There are too many of the bloody things in this country.

boring

Its definitely not nice to be harassed by mink when you're fishing especially at night.

There was a mink farm less than a mile from my home. When the loonies released all the mink there was a big panic. At first they were a nuisance. I heard reports of them attacking anglers, but I have never encountered this myself. After a very short period of time they seemed to thin out and now only a few are seen. They are territorial and I think the numbers even out over a period of time. I have never caught fish showing signs of damage from mink on the stretches they are present on.
Otters, cute and cuddly , belong here etc. There are several otters near a trout farm on the Avon. They are fed surplus trout and cause no problems as they are well fed. They have now spread upstream and downstream. The stretch upstream was a very good chub fishery. There are now hardly any chub there. It can't be pressure as hardly anybody ever fishes there. The stretch downstream is a very popular one. Several large chub and barbel have been found, killed by otters. These big fish are not as common as people think and may never be replaced. As the otters spread I fear for the future of the fishing. Ask Mark Callaway about the otters on the Avon. On the Stour the problem is worse. People have been releasing captive bred otters, which they are not supposed to do. Even the bird watchers, hardly friends of angling, have complained about this. I have experience of a few stretches with otters present. The mink cannot be blamed for what happens on these stretches as they do not exist there, mink and ottters do not mix and the otters kill off the mink. On one of these stretches the barbel are now very few and far between. The Stour record barbel, prior to the Throop fish, was damaged by an otter and eventually died. On two stretches I fish regularly for chub I now catch badly damaged fish. This is not due to pressure as the stretches are lightly fished. Also the fish were pristine when mink were present. It always seems to be the big chub, often 6lb plus, which are damaged. I am not a lover of mink or a hater of otters, just reporting what I see. I hope no more otters are released or I fear for the long-term future of our fishing. When otters were plentiful many years ago there were probably far more fish around for them to eat so the waters were able to sustain them. Fred, I did not want to be so blunt in my previous posting but I have seen the damage otters can do. I have not seen this from mink. I don't want to worry you but I saw two otters on the Ouse last season. Fortunately I haven't seen them this year so, hopefully, they may have gone. The person I believe released these built a dam below a weir which stopped the chub from getting to their spawning areas. Fortunately she does not own both banks so the dam is no more. I hope otters do not spread on your river or your fishing will undoubtably suffer.

Dave,I can understand your bluntness as an immediate response to my post.
There was a film on the box recently on mink, showing their affects on wildlife,and water vowls in particular,even taking Kingfisher as they perched on their fishing 'posts',nasty pieces of work.
Your right that their only predator is the Otter,perhaps the loonies should release a few more to keep the Otters away from the fish!
Are there Otters on the Trent? this is now 'my river'having moved t'up norf(?),still to try the Witham,which may well have them!

Dave,
Otters, mink, nothing mate we?ve got seals in the Tidal Thames. With regard to the loonie released mink I doubt they?ve thinned out just spread out. I have seen mink on the Kennett, Loddon neither a million miles from the Ringwood area where I beleive the mink were ?liberated?. My friends have also seen them on the the Tidal Thames at Teddington, no idea where they came from as it?s 70 odd miles to Ringwood. Would they travel this sort of distance I don?t know. Otters? only seen one on the Kennett, though I have been told that they?ve been reintroduced along much of the middle/upper Thames, though in numbers much greater than an area would support naturally, so obviously they are going to look for other sources of food (Carp in ponds..). Yes it is unfortunate if they damage and kill big fish on the Stour and Avon but they would have always done that in the past it?s just that no one cared that much when there were stacks of fish about. I have no problem with otters but if they are to be reintroduced it has to be at a level that is sympathetic to everything else in the food chain. Remember the only predator they ever had was us and that should also be allowed for. Apparently their preferred fish is the eel but they said that about cormorants.

Tony

Cheers Tony

Tony,
Sounds about right to me. The problem is how do we keep them at the right level? There are nowhere near as many eels around on the Avon and Stour these days which may be why they are taking big fish. I must admit I like Fred's idea of using mink as otter food.
cheers,
Dave

Dave,
Perhaps Nash, JRC et al could produce a range of ?Mink lined 4 seasons extreme sleeping bags? and Nutrabaits could produce ? Extract of mink coat oil? (obviously approx 30% dearer than a rivals identical product) Seriously though what is the right level for otters? it has to be a level at which they inhabit a suitable habitat without serious detriment to other wildlife. In other words if they become too dominant/prolific they need to be managed, culled, call it what you want. It seems this point was overlooked when they were reintroduced or have they just thrived beyond all expectations and adapted far more successfully than previosly imagined. There must be data available on release locations and the EA fishery staff must have be aware of any potential detrimental effects these reintroductions could cause (assuming of course they were informed). I think what we need as they say in political parlance is ?joined-up thinking? or failing that some commonsense from the agencies concerned. If the otters eat the mink, and the asylum seekers eat the otters, the swans are safe.

Tony