Healthy Rivers

[Worms]

"otters are quite welcome to as many fish as they want. its all part of the cycle of life, get over it."

 

Would that be YOUR fish, or the ones that belong to someone else? You and anyone else has no right to make judgements on what should be allowed to eat someone else property. Otters should be treated the same as any other predator, and where they are seen to be a threat to someones stock of fish, then the owner should be allowed to take steps to protect his stock.

 

I used to fish a little river and each little twist and turn held a couple of chub up to about 2.5 lbs and maybe a roach or two. How long would it take a pair of Otters to clean them out? Persistantly hunting a short stretch every day and night.

 

Den

They don't persistently hunt a short stretch every night. An otter may have a range of 12 miles of waterways in which to eat all of your fish.

 

The reason that they are successful and have been a part of the British countryside for thousands of years (and why we still have fish) is precisely because they don't eat everything in an area. Unlike mink!

 

Who owns these fish that are free to travel up or downstream as they will?

 

Do you have the right to make a judgement on a (legally protected) animal you seem to know little about?

[corydoras]

"otters are quite welcome to as many fish as they want. its all part of the cycle of life, get over it."

 

Would that be YOUR fish, or the ones that belong to someone else? You and anyone else has no right to make judgements on what should be allowed to eat someone else property. Otters should be treated the same as any other predator, and where they are seen to be a threat to someones stock of fish, then the owner should be allowed to take steps to protect his stock.

 

I used to fish a little river and each little twist and turn held a couple of chub up to about 2.5 lbs and maybe a roach or two. How long would it take a pair of Otters to clean them out? Persistantly hunting a short stretch every day and night.

 

Den

I'd always thought that fish were wild animals. What does the 'owner' do if the fish all decide to eff off to someone else's part of the river? Edited March 17, 2009 by corydoras

[gozzer]

Would that be YOUR fish, or the ones that belong to someone else? You and anyone else has no right to make judgements on what should be allowed to eat someone else property. Otters should be treated the same as any other predator, and where they are seen to be a threat to someones stock of fish, then the owner should be allowed to take steps to protect his stock.

Den

 

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong Den, but I thought that fish in rivers are not anyones "property".

The fishing rights, yes, but not the fish.

 

But assuming you're right, then as far as you're concerned, anyone who runs a river fishery should be allowed to eliminate anything that he thinks will threaten 'his fish', be it pike, perch, chub, trout, mink, otters, carp, kingfishers, herons, or any other creature that eats fish.

Is that really what you're saying Den?

 

John.

[Andy_1984]

"otters are quite welcome to as many fish as they want. its all part of the cycle of life, get over it."

 

Would that be YOUR fish, or the ones that belong to someone else? You and anyone else has no right to make judgements on what should be allowed to eat someone else property. Otters should be treated the same as any other predator, and where they are seen to be a threat to someones stock of fish, then the owner should be allowed to take steps to protect his stock.

 

I used to fish a little river and each little twist and turn held a couple of chub up to about 2.5 lbs and maybe a roach or two. How long would it take a pair of Otters to clean them out? Persistantly hunting a short stretch every day and night.

 

Den

 

 

No it wouldn’t be MY fish it would be WILD FISH and i assume by someone’s property you mean a fishery.

 

Fishery owners should take care to protect from otters if they don’t want THERE fish to be eaten by an otter who can’t tell the difference between wild fish and private property. If a cull of otters was requested by a fishery owner. Who is the bad one in this situation the otter or human?

 

The otter is only doing what it is meant to do. The same goes for all wildlife i believe they have more right to it than us mere anglers.

 

So what if it eats a bunch of chub on a small river, the difference between your pleasure and an otter’s survival out weighs that of YOUR pleasure.

 

Nature is a wonderful thing and demands respect

[poledark]

You know something? I don't really give a damn about whether your fishing gets decimated or not. You want Otters, then you can have them. But, don't keep making smart arse remarks about what I know or don't know. I know that in law river fish are deemed to be wild, so does that mean you are quite happy to see your licence money being wasted as Otter food?

 

Does that mean that you are happy to allow Otters to roam freely and eat someones livelyhood? Would you be happy for a few Otters to be set loose on Wingham? And what about a lake dug out and stocked in an area where Otters were extinct? Those fish are owned by someone.

 

I have maybe 10 years of fishing left, and rarely fish rivers now, so why should I be concerned? Maybe because I happen to think that fish are also "wonderful creatures"

 

Den

[Andy_1984]

You know something? I don't really give a damn about whether your fishing gets decimated or not. You want Otters, then you can have them. But, don't keep making smart arse remarks about what I know or don't know. I know that in law river fish are deemed to be wild, so does that mean you are quite happy to see your licence money being wasted as Otter food?

 

Does that mean that you are happy to allow Otters to roam freely and eat someones livelyhood? Would you be happy for a few Otters to be set loose on Wingham? And what about a lake dug out and stocked in an area where Otters were extinct? Those fish are owned by someone.

 

I have maybe 10 years of fishing left, and rarely fish rivers now, so why should I be concerned? Maybe because I happen to think that fish are also "wonderful creatures"

 

Den

 

dont be silly den they wont decimate a water, if they did it would have happened thousands of years ago. this begs another question, what of other prey animal whos diet is mainly fish ? what would you propse was done to them.

 

what exactly is your rod license spent on, im actualy asking a legitimate question as we dont have it here ive never bothered to see what its actualy for. i hardly think its spent on feeding otters. if so the EA should stock private pools with 24hr guarded otter proof perimeter so you can catch private fish without those viscious blood thirsty otters stealing fish.

 

leave the otters to the wild fish which they are 100% entitled to and ill fish along side them and enjoy watching a magnificent creature in its natural envoirnment and maybe catch a few fish.

Edited March 17, 2009 by Andy_1984

[Guest tigger]

Maybe because I happen to think that fish are also "wonderful creatures"

Den

They are but otters ae more wonderful

[tiddlertamer]

Might I just add that if we advocate the persecution and hunting of 'Tarka' that it might not be the most sensible of public relations strategies for angling...

[Anderoo]

I read a good piece in one of the monthlies recently on this subject. The thrust of it was, if we lay the table (i.e. stock loads of fish into lakes or rivers for the sole benefit of paying anglers to catch) why are we surprised when creatures that eat fish come to dinner?

 

If I was at Wingham and saw an otter it would make the special extra-special. It would make a refreshing change to watching motionless bobbins

 

Left alone, Nature sorts all this out. In the grand scheme of things, people having the opportunity to easily hoik out a few fish and return them because they find it enjoyable is pretty low on Nature's priority list!

 

That's the way I see it, anyway.

[Grandma]

Might I just add that if we advocate the persecution and hunting of 'Tarka' that it might not be the most sensible of public relations strategies for angling...

 

Quite right.

 

It's a bit of a quandry. As an angler, I like seeing otters but I also like catching big fish. Otters obviously aren't going to wipe out fish stocks entirely, but I think the balance they end up achieving may have a dramatic effect on stocks of specimen fish.

 

A number of 'celebrity' barbel and carp have been taken by otters, which may not be a concern, depending on your viewpoint, but it does nevertheless illustrate the point that they are very capable of decimating the stocks of bigger fish in a given water. Obviously non-anglers won't be worried whether the otters are taking 20lb pike, 2lb roach or 5lb chub, but personally speaking, if I'm targetting any specimen fish of any particular species, I'd prefer to not have to compete with otters.