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Originally Posted by Simon Vicos  Otters have a place in the food chain, as an angler I am delighted when I see one, they are a beautiful creature, however, they have been released into some areas and gone on the rampage decimating fish stocks as they go
Why can't they just eat Signal Crayfish?
We'd all be happy then |
I think this releasing of otters has been over stated. The otter trust reintroduced them into areas where they we very low in number. The official site appears to be down, but I found this article.
The man who saved Britain's otters - Telegraph
I know its hardly a peer reviewed source but it looks like the journo has just parroted what he was told. It states:
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the Otter Trust otters have been released in Suffolk, Norfolk, Northants, Rutland, Hampshire, Dorset, Bedfordshire, Essex, Wiltshire, Cambridgeshire and the Upper Thames.
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Following the release of 117 animals between 1983 and 1999, the population is booming
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I pretty sure the otter population is still recovering and all these accusations of otter being at high level because of releases is basically nonsense. I remember reading that otters are still well below their natural levels before hunting and pollution nearly wiped them out.
The main problem is these fisheries were set up when there were no otters and so have no predator defences ie fencing. There is a guide for fisheries produced by one of the wildlife trusts which recommends the use fish refuges, which would also help with cormorants.
A chat with a local angler revealeled that many of these lakes are overstocked with carp which are bred to feed all year round and so the aquatic plants are pretty much absent from the lake. These then means the fish have no where to hide when a predator arrives.
So perhaps some of these fisheries at least should look into their management rather than blame the otter.
And while on the subject of otters, I wish some anglers would stop trying to claim the otter recovery has caused the decline in eels - sheer stupidity, it just gives the decent anglers a bad name!