In reply to Post #58
Sure that case got chucked out last year.......

In reply to Post #59
Are you sure there is no date on the article and it just came up on Facebook group thread?

In reply to Post #60
pretty sure that's an old case which never came to any good conclusion for the owner of the fishery

In reply to Post #61
I'm sorry . while I agree with everthing thats been said regarding otters and the fact that no one will take responcabilty for the damage they do or the real cost of the fish deaths for anglers fisherier owns and pond owners this thread and its pictures need to be in the public domain , your preaching to the converted ! the only people that will see it here are anglers !

In reply to Post #62
theres a lot more goin on than anglers mate....

hearts and minds....you don't win a war by killing everything.

a bit I read earlier

Otters now responsible for deaths of rare birds
The UK's growing otter population is not only working its way through our freshwater fish stocks, but is now affecting the breeding habits of our birds, too.

Angling Times can reveal that the RSPB's own ‘poster boy', the avocet, is having its breeding disrupted by the ever increasing numbers of otters in and around Norfolk's Wensum river system, leading experts to fear for other wildlife as the predatory mammal's numbers grow.

Having been an acute problem for the river's fish population for many years, the mass and subsequently unchecked reintroduction of otters across the UK is devastating fish stocks around the country. This latest revelation, combined with the statement by Fisheries Minister Richard Benyon reported in last week's AT that ‘otter numbers need to be regulated', adds further weight to calls for this apex predator's numbers to be checked.

Founder of Norfolk's Pensthorpe nature reserve, the home of BBC's Springwatch, Bill Makins spoke to AT about the issue.

“Otters have always been around this area, but never in these numbers. There are now so many that they're having a hugely disruptive impact on the breeding avocets we have at the Buxton Conservation Trust

I read this topic last night and this morning I called my friend, a local from Danube Delta, to ask him if the otters from Danube Delta catch big wild carp as I thought that only overfed carps from shallow ponds are vulnerable. I was wrong. He told me he knows a otter den and sometimes in winter he goes there early in the morning, before the birds arrive at the feast, and take the carp the other caught over night usually between 6 and 10 kg. He told me the otter used to eat the belly of the fish and the fish eggs. So he cleans the fish, cut the parts the otter ate and eat the rest of the fish. This story made my day! There are people stealing from otters not only otter stealing from people That otter catches the fishes in 8 m water deep.

In reply to Post #63
T strongly feel the angling community and the bird watching world need to join together on this and rather than two small-ish forces pushing , one large group one loud voice !

This thread is great for showing us the devastation , but it needs to be somewhere for all to see !

I've seen nothing on tv or radio for months ! the angling papers still run with the story now and then, but again everyone that reads those already know and understand the issues !


I know there are people out there that are working hard to get this message across , but it seems to me there not making much of an impact ! I feel there aiming to high up the ladder ! you need to convert and group more members of the public (non angling) to create a larger voice before shouting up the ladder .

maybe they should start with getting together with the rspb and joining formerly in this battle !

In reply to Post #65
the whole point of this thread was to gather as much evidence, fish, birds, anything that the otter is devastating in its tracks....there after the material posted will be made public, hence why fisherman on here CAN really help.

we have to choose our words carefully and not sound off as difficult and as passionate as we all are...but everyone HAS to remember, that fishing in all its forms is classed as a blood sport.

Hope that helps.

please encourage members, non members to post photos...

Regards Joss

Just read http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/Business/Otters_the_facts.pdf
It was a light and interesting reading as i don't know a lot about otters but it looks like it was written by a high-school pupil as a biology project.
It starts hilarious for an government agency relish(witch it is suppose to hire top scientist) even at Romanian low standards
"The Angling Trust, Environment Agency, Natural
England and others are working together to
improve understanding about the interactions
between otters and fish. This document
summarises our current knowledge and is
intended as a starting point for further work."
If this document "summarises our current knowledge" than you from UK have all the reason to worry.
Your first worry should be as the people who are paid to handle the situation are incompetent.
You have well protected natural water full of fish grown without commercial fishing, without poaching, without natural predators as soon as they pass the minnow stage, and extra fed by anglers. So maybe in some rivers the fish live stock is a couple of times more then normal. In this rivers i don't think the otters will be as territorial as described (as they don't have any reason) especially the ones grown in captivity and will bread well and live well for a couple of years till "natural balance" is back. They does say "their social
behaviour has some flexibility" . The real problems will begin i think in a couple of years when thousands of hungry animals well be banish from fishing grounds by the stronger otters when the fish stock will be below normal and had no place to go as the same situation will be everywhere.
I don't think environment-agency tested before releasing or when observing the explosion of otter populations what these animals do on land before dieing of hunger(as they said they will). It isn't cruel just to let a couple of otters away from any sources of water and monitor them. Maybe they won't die as soon as they predict. maybe the agony will take a few years maybe they can find pray on land and flourish. I'm pretty sure that they willl kill anything they can catch just not to die(i would do so if i were an otter)
But after all this will be gone, and of course, all private ponds surrounded you will enjoy these lovely creatures in your water. Personally i am proud that otters are living in the river near my town, here in romania. They came back slowly and they don't have condition to overbreed

In reply to Post #67
sorry....but I got so bored after the first 3 lines mate...

so....sum it up for us

apart from Romanians haven't got a clue

In reply to Post #68
Sorry about the long and boring post. I will delete it if you want as it is your topic.
I was saying as UK environment agency haven't got a clue either


And to get a clue sometimes you have to read...

In reply to Post #69
lucian please dont delete your post as you have made some interesting points

In reply to Post #67
Your first worry should be as the people who are paid to handle the situation are incompetent.

Now if someone from Romania can see this, why is it most in the UK can't???

One guy said to me the other day " The EA should be Prosecuted for wasting Taxpayers money! They take our money buy stock fish, then release them in known areas with large populations of predators, to feed the F#### things – to try and disguise the problem!”

How bloody true!

In reply to Post #69
i was being flippant...i apologise

In reply to Post #72
No problem Frenzy. Apologies accepted.