Otters have devastated our fish stock, say anglers (From Darlington and Stockton Times)
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Otters have devastated our fish stock, say Teesside anglers
5:00pm Sunday 17th March 2013 in News
By Chris Webber, Reporter (Stockton/Hartlepool)
OTTER ISSUES: Paul Atkinson and Lee Bouttell.
FISHERMEN have solved the mystery of what happened to all the fish in their lake after finding a family of very fat otters.
Ian Bouttell and Paul Atkinson say the return of a substantial otter population is causing problems for fishermen across the country.
The pair have fished a Tata Steel-owned lake, known as The Stell, at Coatham Marshes nature reserve in Redcar for carp for years but noticed a dramatic decline in numbers.
One night they stayed out all night and saw a pair of otters playing in the river. The otters led the fishermen down the lake away from their holt, or nest, but later the fishermen discovered the otters had young.
Paul Atkinson and Ian Bouttell both called for the Environment Agency to manage the otter population. They pointed out that fishermen must pay the agency for the right to fish but argue fishing is not protected.
Mr Bouttell said: “I would say there’s no fish left in there at all. There’s rare birds in the marshes and it wouldn’t surprise me if they went after them too. Some of the carp were 40 years old.”
He said it would be very difficult and expense to install an otter fence and restocking the lake the lake would cost thousands of pounds.
Coatham Marsh Nature Reserve is owned by Tata Steel, but managed by Tees Valley Wildlife Trust. Jeremy Garside, chief executive of the Trust, said otters had not been deliberately reintroduced but had come back to the area naturally as rivers became cleaner.
He said: “Otters were pretty close to extinction and we didn’t have a confirmed siting on the Tees until 2002. It’s a good, natural process that they’re recovering naturally and we all have to learn to live with them again.”
Peter Barnett, secretary of the Tata Steel Angling Club which manages The Stell, also known as The Fleet, said he had been alerted to the problem but so far the club had not been able to find the otters.
A spokesman for The Environment Agency confirmed the otters had not been deliberately introduced. A spokesman for Tata Steel said the company simply leased the lake to the angling club.
A Welsh fishery owner is trying to sue the Environment Agency for £2.5m for loss of stock after otters were reintroduced, in what would be a landmark case.
Comments(14)
outragedofmiltonkeynes
says...
8:26pm Sun 17 Mar 13
TFI Friday
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8:56pm Sun 17 Mar 13
Darloresident
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9:13pm Sun 17 Mar 13
foss
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9:52pm Sun 17 Mar 13
"Otters were pretty close to extinction and we didn’t have a confirmed siting on the Tees until 2002. It’s a good, natural process that they’re recovering naturally and we all have to learn to live with them again".
Robert_
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10:07pm Sun 17 Mar 13
plain-man
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11:10pm Sun 17 Mar 13
they can`t go to the supermarkets for there fish
outragedofmiltonkeynes
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8:25am Mon 18 Mar 13
Lawman3
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8:53am Mon 18 Mar 13
chrisby33
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9:52am Mon 18 Mar 13
and since when has 1 otter family been classed as a SUBSTANTIAL POPULATION?
beckydawn
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5:20pm Mon 18 Mar 13
plain-man
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9:17pm Mon 18 Mar 13
beckydawn wrote:"most of this licence fees goes to flood defences. to safegaurd your homes so why is fishing not safegaurded?"
The otters are naturally a river mammal not a lake so if the rivers could sustain them then this wouldnt be a problem. The angler pays a fee to fish ( not just to fish rivers but to use his rods in any waters in country) bear in mind most of this licence fees goes to the flood defences , so safeguarding your houses in the nasty weather of late. So why is fishing not safeguarded? Which they pay for with the licence fee. If anglers are losing fish in lakes to the otters , then they wont be fishing so eventually no licences will be bought then how will they fund the flood defence system. Local tackle shops are also going to lose out too as they wont be selling any tackle and bait to people if no fish left to catch. This has a knock on effect for all different industries. So yes while it is good to see otters they are just saying they should be in their correct enviroment and not in the lakes killing all the fish for the anglers. It is not always appropriate to say fish elsewhere and local kids are also going to miss out in learning a skill such as fishing and then resort to hanging around the streets commiting crime.
same as the road tax for vehicles why are roads full of pot holes?
david_*
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10:23pm Mon 18 Mar 13
beckydawn
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8:01am Tue 19 Mar 13
argo2013 says...
5:24pm Sun 17 Mar 13