Otters under attack?

The ancient sport is more popular than ever with a record 1.5m angling licences sold in England and Wales last year.

But while anglers are keen to talk tackle, weights and rods, there is one subject that they are much less inclined to mention. It’s the c-word, cull. For when it comes to catching some of the country’s most prized fish, the angling community has now got stiff competition – the otter.

But while one Hampshire fish farmer called for a cull this week after the furry creatures ate £30,000 of his stock, the wider angling community is not echoing his call to arms.

“This is a really big issue, angling has been hit really badly and we have been warning this could happen for the last ten years,” said Greg Whitehead, deputy news editor of the Angling Times. “We know lots of lakes that have had carp or fish stocks entirely wiped out. But we haven’t called for a cull. We don’t really want to make ourselves extremely unpopular in the eyes of the public because let’s face it, otters are lovely, cuddly animals and people think they’re fantastic. Cull is a really evocative word.”

The debate flared this week when Mark Simmonds, of Romsey, declared his fish farming business had been left in ruins by the protected creatures. He was horrified to discover 105 of his 122 carp dead, dying or missing. He has now moved the remaining 17 to a site protected by an electric fence and has abandoned his Romsey fish farm.

He believes one family of otters was responsible for the attack.

The 54-year-old warned that unless otters are culled, river fishing across Hampshire could be wiped out within five years.

However the Angling Times prefers to stress the need for scientific investigation.

“We just want some responsible, sensible research,” added Mr Whitehead. “To leave people with no management option is ridiculous. People are going to lose a lot of money, businesses are going to go under, angling clubs are going to go under. It’s just tragic.”

While he did concede illegal culls are undoubtedly “quite” widespread, he did not want to be drawn on the subject.

“We don’t really want to write about it because we don’t want to look like uncaring brutal killers only interested in catching fish.”

The angling community states that the problem has been getting steadily worse since otters were reintroduced in the late 1990s.

However Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust say just three otters were introduced to Hampshire in 1996 to re-enforce a virtually extinct population, in line with government guidelines.

In decline since the late 1950s, the otter – a heavily protected species since 1978 – had seen its numbers decimated as a result of chemicals used in agriculture amongst other factors.

The Trust states that the otter population – which has gradually improved since 1978 – has in fact grown naturally thanks to a number of measures, not least the improving water quality of our rivers and lakes.

“A lot of these fisheries developed without any predators,” said Graham Roberts, Otters and Rivers Project Officer at the Trust. “They have got used to running them without any protection measures in place.

“In Hampshire we have some of the most lucrative fishing industries in the country. If you have very high stocks of fish in high concentrations, it creates too much food in one place and the only way to secure it is to protect it properly. It is a temptation to otters and this is a growing concern.”

The risk of predator attack – said Mr Roberts – could be greatly reduced by custom-made fencing where possible.

“We need to work together to find the best methods of protecting fisheries and safeguarding otters for the future.”