Otter friend or foe

[Andrew]

I have nothing against Otter in our waterways, as I have said it is welcome, but I am concerned at the apparent loss of fish stocks which seems to point to the Otter, some rivers are almost devoid of quality fish that used to be abundant.

 

I don't know about the Deer problem, (leaves) but I do know Deer numbers can be controlled. As far as Carp are concerned, like it or not they bring a lot of pleasure to a lot of Anglers, I wouldn't say the Carp is not a problem, apart of course for the decline of our 'natural' Pond.

 

Thanks for the spelling correction

Carp do bring a lot of happiness to anglers, and carp puddle owners alike. Not a problem with that at all.

Otter decimating fish stock's ! it may point to them, but are they to blame ? who knows.

IMHO we, joe public, the average angler does not know what is fed into our waterways, perfectly legal stuff could be pumped in, but it may have an adverse effect on the fish stocks ?

 

Has there been amy other investigations into the decline into fish stock, apart from the otter situation?

[cannibalspinners]

Thanks for the spelling correction

Carp do bring a lot of happiness to anglers, and carp puddle owners alike. Not a problem with that at all.

Otter decimating fish stock's ! it may point to them, but are they to blame ? who knows.

IMHO we, joe public, the average angler does not know what is fed into our waterways, perfectly legal stuff could be pumped in, but it may have an adverse effect on the fish stocks ?

 

Has there been amy other investigations into the decline into fish stock, apart from the otter situation?

 

I think the otter is the easy option , A few decades ago when we Man , Almost wiped out the otter population

What excuse did we use then for low fish stocks , when there were hardly any otters

EVERYONE in this debate has valid points

I dont think anyone is totally right or totally wrong

Though i must say it is all proving to be an interesting read

It is healthy to see such varied opinions

[corydoras]

I know these fish are weak but they are still strong & i was watching 1 otter dragging 1 salmon over the river , The fish itself was longer than the otter.

Isn't that a bit of a contradiction in terms, how can they be weak, but still be strong?

[Anderoo]

...once the rivers are emptied.

 

They've managed not to empty the rivers in the 30 million years they've been around, why would they suddenly change now?

 

If otters are responsible for a serious reduction of stocks in certain bits of river, it's because of underlying issues like abstraction, canalisation, low fish stocks because of loss of spawning habitat and eggs lost to crayfish - all man-made problems. The otter knows what it's doing and has had millions of years of evolution so it's perfectly adapted to its environment, managing its territory precisely so fish stocks are not reduced. It's us lot who have stitched them (and the rest of the environment) up, and our response is to want to shoot them, as if they are the problem and that is the solution.

 

Amazing.

[corydoras]

Yes, practically every book on British Freshwater Fish says barbel roe is poisonous - wonder how true that is - any volunteers ?

It would appear that there are quite a few of our fish that have roe that toxic to some extent.

Yes, practically every book on British Freshwater Fish says barbel roe is poisonous - wonder how true that is - any volunteers ?

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf60163a043

[corydoras]

I have watched with disgust healthy fish ( well they looked healthy ) being part eaten and speared by fish eating birds.

I don't get this. This is natural selection in action. Do you watch natural history programs on the telly, or does the sight of a polar bear scoffing a seal; or a leopard seal dining on a penguin fill you with the same disgust as a penguin predating on fish? Edited November 10, 2011 by corydoras

[cannibalspinners]

Isn't that a bit of a contradiction in terms, how can they be weak, but still be strong?

Well , Weaker than they are normally But compared to other fish , Still very strong

They can still lie in rapid like water

You can see them lying in rapid water , As the bright white blotches on their skin( UDN ) gives them away

[corydoras]

This area where you think an Otter has killed some big fish could be actually inhabited by something else that likes fish, swims

exceptionally well and in many respects lives the same life as an Otter.

Anyone thought about Seals? On my stretch of the River Trent, at Laughterton, we have been plagued by them this year in far bigger numbers than before.

My friend has seen one first hand with a chunky Barbel in its mouth and at another time saw one chasing a large Common in the shallows.

 

Now they will happily munch on big fish.

 

 

 

There's an easy way out of this seal problem. In Scotland, where I come from you just give the seal a permit.

[Steve Walker]

There is an amusing irony that over on other forums, salmon anglers are insistent that the burgeoning populations of (introduced) barbel on the Wye and Usk are responsible for declining salmon fishing. Some of them are so convinced they think the barbel should be culled. Even more ironic that those rivers where barbel are doing so well are historic otter strongholds with thriving otter populations.

[Steve Walker]

On the Wye and Usk :

 

There have always been lots of otters.

 

There didn't used to be lots of barbel.

 

Now there are lots of barbel.

 

There are still lots of otters.