The fist publicity on otter predation of specimen fish, in this case carp. Fred Sykes wrote an article for us which was published in CarpWorld, and sums up as well today as it did then, all the problems that we face. Fish deaths of large carp, which destroyed 20 years of effort to create a fishery. We used this case to highlight the issue, and get feedback from anglers.

View the Article
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SACG (forerunners of SAA), opened dialogue with the Otter BAPS Group, Wildlife Trusts, Otter Trust, Environment Agency, & English Nature, ACA, MAFF, DETR, S&TA & carp Society. We agreed that the resurgence of otters in the UK had led to the deaths of some large carp, and that our KEY OBJECTIVES were;

• Avoid conflict between anglers & conservation bodies.
• Encourage sustainable otter populations in the UK.
• Protection of  large valuable fish, which are particularly vulnerable on stillwaters.

To that end the AGREED ACTION POINTS were;

• EA Guide on otter predation and stillwater fisheries publish early 1999
• Wildlife Trust Otter Officers to be trained to give practical advice to fisheries regarding the need or otherwise for protection from otters on their water including fencing
• To establish funding sources for fishery protection from Government etc.

Press Release from above meeting

Press Release 18.1.1999 (Word Document)

Submission made to John Prescott for funding to combat otter predation. No reply received…….

John Prescott 25.10.99 (Word Document)

Otter BAPS Group reject our stance that the onus is on Government to fund Fisheries protection measures, even though it is through Government support for re-establishing the otter that they are now killing specimen carp. See;

Press Release 17.7.2000 (Word Document)

Update Article 17.7.2000 (Word Document) - incorporates and expands on the above Press Release

Environment Agency fully backed us on this.;

“The Fisheries Department of the Environment Agency support the SACG stance. It is a very sensible approach as we feel anglers are not getting a fair hearing to find solutions to the problems (for fisheries protection funding)”

Press Release 27.7.2000 (Word Document)

SACG were pleased to report that no further introductions of captive-bred otters will be taking place... …all in agreement that further releases are no longer appropriate as the UK otter population is now sufficiently widespread to continue its natural recovery. Captive bred otters have in certain circumstances been responsible for some well publicised incidents of predation of large carp, and of trout, possibly exacerbated by the these particular animals lack of natural fear of man.

Press Release 1.12.00 (Word Document)

Presentation made to DETR for funding

DETR Presentation 3.01

Update article

Update Article 17.9.01 (Word Document)

Update article

Update Article 23.3.02 (Word Document)

DEFRA paper prepared with the help of the EA, submitted to Sport England for funding.

Press Release 19.3.02 (Word Document)

Martin Salter Brief 5.6.02 (Word Document) 

Major presentation on funding for fisheries protection measures made to the Head of European Wildlife Division of DEFRA, and Head of Fisheries of DEFRA, with the EA their to back us and the full support of the NAA. We gave a full justification for funding of £750,000 pa, for an initial 10 year plan, explaining that this would part fund the fencing materials we so badly need to guard against the incursions of otters. We centred on the fact that whilst the otter enjoyed full protection under EU and UK law, anglers had no means to prevent the damage they can cause. We pointed out that other mainstream sports could no doubt bring more political pressure to bear than we could, and other areas of public interest such as the Arts capture enormous funding from the public purse, perhaps for a relatively small minority. That did not however change the fact that the impact of otter predation on anglers is an unfair and heavy burden, which will only increase over the coming years. Government funding for fisheries protection measures is imperative.

Martin Salter MP also backed us in the petition for funding.

DEFRA Presentation 13.1.03

Update article

Update Article 14.3.03 (Word Document)

Submission made to Moran Committee for recognition of otter predation problems to be included in the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Review. Subsequently agreed that “no further releases of captive bred otters were appropriate in the UK and also identified the need for control over release of otters into the wild”. This now looks likely to be adopted within Secondary Legislation 2007/2008.

Moran Submission 15.7.03 (Word Document)

Bid to DEFRA again made for funding

DEFRA Submission 26.3.04 (Word Document)

RIVERS

We have one major regret-we have no real solutions for rivers

• Fencing is very impractical
• It is only a partial answer, but throughout the period we have stressed that river habitat must be healthy enough to support fish in numbers, effectively as food for all predators, including otters
• We had early reports when the issue first arose that the river Derwent had suffered considerably with barbel kills by otters
• Now we have the reports at Adams Mill that The Traveller may well have succumbed to otters, although this has not been confirmed it is likely to be the case (rather than mink etc.!)
• If anyone has constructive ideas on how we can assist on rivers, please contact us, we would welcome your input

Thanks to substantial support from the Environment Agency, SAA & the EA are working closely with various experts on fence construction & otter behaviour to define the most cost effective fence specifications, for different bankside conditions.

Update Stand 14.3.04 (Word Document)

Pleas for Government funding for fisheries protection again rejected by DEFRA, and we have not been able to alter their stance.

February 2005

FENCING REPORT

Full report and recommendations on recommended fence specifications published on the SAA website.  These cover the most cost effective fencing to keep otters out of specimen stillwater carp fisheries, to guard against fish kills.  The proposed fencing will be as unobtrusive as possible, with variations designed to suit varying situations and soil types.

The fencing is not cheap but we would stress that half measures are very unlikely to be effective.

Press Release 11.2.05 (Word Document)

Fence Report Text (pdf)

Fence Report Photos (pdf)

August 2006

FENCE FUNDING

We reached agreement with the EA that the funding issue for protective fencing would be addressed by the EA, through their project bid funding. Bids are more likely to be successful if they relate to waters that are readily open to all anglers.

So the door is now open for a large number of waters at least to protect their fisheries from the ravages of otter predation.

The challenge now is to look beyond this to ensure all specimen fisheries at risk are able to obtain financial support, and we look to the EA to include a submission for much, much more funding, to cover fence costs for a wide range of waters. Without this many more large fish will be killed and we have no way of preventing it. 

Press Release 30.10.06 (Word Document)

Update Article 8.06 (Word Document) - incorporates and expands on the above Press Release

The Times feature anglers otter predation problems.

Read the feature online