Hampshire business owner calls for otter cull (From This is Hampshire)
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Hampshire business owner calls for otter cull
4:21pm Friday 29th January 2010 in
A HAMPSHIRE fish farmer’s business has been left in ruins after otters ate £30,000 worth of his stock.
Mark Simmonds was horrified after discovering 105 of his 122 carp dead, dying or missing.
He is now warning that unless otters are culled river fishing across Hampshire could be wiped out within five years.
Mark, 54, who has bred fish for 35 years, said the problem has been getting steadily worse since the mammals were reintroduced to Hampshire in the late 1990s.
He said: “It’s a major, major problem. It’s like releasing wolves next to a sheep farm.
“The otters have got to be culled, it’s the only answer. They used to be hunted, destroyed and killed because they were vermin and destroyed fisheries. But there just isn’t the fish in the water to support them anymore.”
Mark, who has moved the surviving 17 carp to a site protected by an electric fence, has abandoned his fish farm in Romsey. He believes one family of otters was responsible for the attack.
He added: “It’s completely ruined me. Before I was one of the largest producers of British carp in the country.
“Up until 2004 I had never seen a fish damaged by an otter on any one of my fish farm sites but that has all changed and after the damage sustained this week another prime site for growing carp has been lost.”
This is the third fish farm Mark has had to close in the past decade due to otters eating his stock.
The environment Agency said many otters were now returning to southern England and believed it was a good indicator as to the health of a watercourse and the water quality.
A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: “We sympathise with the fishery owner and understand this issue has been occurring over a number of months. There is a national fund to assist fisheries owners with this problem and the Agency is happy to advise on specific issues relating to otter predation.
“Conservation work for otters, which started in the 1970s, concentrates mainly on protecting and improving river and wetland environments. The expansion of populations that we see today is due to natural colonisation, as we do not stock or reintroduce otters.
“In situations where fish losses to otters are particularly high, or are likely to be a serious problem, steps should be taken to prevent otters gaining access to the fish, while still allowing otters to travel freely along watercourses.’’ The agency also said it was important to establish the identity of the culprit before issuing blame and reminded people that it was an offence to injure, kill or take an otter.
The spokesperson added: “If otters are thought to be the culprit, there are several measures that could be taken, for example fencing and a small decoy pond.”
Comments(39)
Brite Spark
says...
4:33pm Fri 29 Jan 10
Much like the salmon we see in our supermarkets, they are not natural even if the mongers chalkboard says 'fresh from Loch Ewe' well that means they live in fish farm cages in the loch, they are fed rubbish food to fatten them up. Open up a wild salmon it will be healthy and red, farmed salmon is pink and fatty.
The otters are quite welcome to a free lunch if the farm is next to their river.
Carp Diem.
Smiley69
says...
4:35pm Fri 29 Jan 10
Spokesman for the Animals
says...
4:43pm Fri 29 Jan 10
freemantlegirl2
says...
4:51pm Fri 29 Jan 10
Brite Spark wrote:Agreed BS, and a licence to hunt or cull otters hasn't been issued since banning of hunting them in the 70s apparently. I feel sorry for the chap losing his livelihood but as they're being bred for 'fishing' he's going to have to live with it. I wouldn't agree with culling either way, otter population are on the up but nowhere near to what they were. Why should they be killed!
Hang on these carp were farmed, they are not breeding and growing naturally, they are fed on pellets and are obese man manufactured unhealthy specimens, made fat so carp fishermen (me included) can catch big, not necessarily fit fish.
Much like the salmon we see in our supermarkets, they are not natural even if the mongers chalkboard says 'fresh from Loch Ewe' well that means they live in fish farm cages in the loch, they are fed rubbish food to fatten them up. Open up a wild salmon it will be healthy and red, farmed salmon is pink and fatty.
The otters are quite welcome to a free lunch if the farm is next to their river.
Carp Diem.
Barbender
says...
4:52pm Fri 29 Jan 10
Lone Ranger
says...
4:55pm Fri 29 Jan 10
Spokesman for the Animals wrote:I know that you are a "spokesman for the animals"....but.....
These fish should be left to swim in the sea and take there chance where they belongs
aren't Carp freshwater fish. So dont return them to the sea where you MAY think they belong.
southy
says...
5:41pm Fri 29 Jan 10
Barbender wrote:more to the point. carp was interduce into this country by monks for food. you try and take one home for food and they will ban you from there waters.
The otters have more right to countyside than bunch of sad people with rods trying to hook helpless fish that would not have been there in the first place if they had not been put there for so called sport.
Brite Spark
says...
5:46pm Fri 29 Jan 10
Tallula
says...
5:51pm Fri 29 Jan 10
wossit
says...
6:22pm Fri 29 Jan 10
Elton
says...
6:50pm Fri 29 Jan 10
Often the carp will shoal around the entrance to the otter nest in January / February.
In a few well documented cases the dog otter has attacked the offending carp in an effort to save the pup.
Andy Locks Heath
says...
6:56pm Fri 29 Jan 10
Netley bloke
says...
7:10pm Fri 29 Jan 10
X Old Bill
says...
7:25pm Fri 29 Jan 10
The mink hounds which were formed out of the old otter hounds were quite effective in controlling numbers and restricting territories. They, of course, have now been stopped from hunting under the Hunting Act 2004.
So it is hardly surprising that mink numbers, the same as otter numbers, have increased in the last five years. Mink have no natural predator in this country.
And incidentally, because carp have a habit of 'basking' near the surface and near the bank they also fall prey to foxes. I have seen the result of such attacks and have confirmed by the evidence that foxes were the culprits.
X Old Bill
says...
7:27pm Fri 29 Jan 10
wossit
says...
8:28pm Fri 29 Jan 10
X Old Bill wrote:I think you will find carp at this time of year will be at depth in the warmer water and will not cruise on the surface until it warms up
It is well known in the Hunting world that the reason Otter hounds ceased working is the fact that Otter numbers were seriously declining and at the same time there were increasing numbers of 'escaped' mink living on the same rivers. This change-over occurred in some places before otter hunting was banned by law. Mink number have increased, and territory re-established, since this happened. The mink hounds which were formed out of the old otter hounds were quite effective in controlling numbers and restricting territories. They, of course, have now been stopped from hunting under the Hunting Act 2004. So it is hardly surprising that mink numbers, the same as otter numbers, have increased in the last five years. Mink have no natural predator in this country. And incidentally, because carp have a habit of 'basking' near the surface and near the bank they also fall prey to foxes. I have seen the result of such attacks and have confirmed by the evidence that foxes were the culprits.
southy
says...
9:07pm Fri 29 Jan 10
Andy Locks Heath wrote:very true andy.
Pleased to see Southy raised the possibility (probability?) that this devastation was caused by mink, not otters. Mink were released by "animal liberationists" from a farm near Ringwood and went to to devastate many waterside creatures including the little water vole, now almost wiped out in these parts. Mink also wiped out many of the water birds that lived at Paultons Park. As for the "animal liberationists" - perhaps that's who we should be culling.
if you walk along the river bank at night, mink eyes show up has blue. where has otters show up has red.
oh old bill mink do have natural predator in this country the eagle owl and snowy owl will take them. both are very rare now because of the poisoning of birds of prey that use to take place, in the pass.
X Old Bill
says...
9:13pm Fri 29 Jan 10
You are right of course, It is more common in the spring when the foxes are feeding cubs. I mentioned it because some people are not aware that foxes eat fish.
The one in the picture is not what I would expect from a fox taking.
stay local
says...
2:37am Sat 30 Jan 10
southy wrote:Nice to see the claimed true socialist wanting a return to hunting. Does the fellow member of what ever the party is called now really support this idea?
“The otters have got to be culled, it’s the only answer. They used to be hunted, destroyed and killed because they were vermin and destroyed fisheries. But there just isn’t the fish in the water to support them anymore.” they was not killed because they where vermin, they where killed for there pelts. minks have also know to do this damage too, and there is a very large population of minks on the river test, minks like carp was interduce to this country, and are not a natural species to this country.
southy
says...
9:12am Sat 30 Jan 10
stay local wrote:read it probley or are you doing your normal trick and twisting things round. the first part in between "" as in a quote.
southy wrote:Nice to see the claimed true socialist wanting a return to hunting. Does the fellow member of what ever the party is called now really support this idea?
“The otters have got to be culled, it’s the only answer. They used to be hunted, destroyed and killed because they were vermin and destroyed fisheries. But there just isn’t the fish in the water to support them anymore.” they was not killed because they where vermin, they where killed for there pelts. minks have also know to do this damage too, and there is a very large population of minks on the river test, minks like carp was interduce to this country, and are not a natural species to this country.
and i have nothing against hunting has long your doing it for food. and you find most socialist are not against hunting, has long its done for food. its most greens that against hunting.
Tirau Dan
says...
12:21pm Sat 30 Jan 10
If you want to fish for something worth while 2k for a carp... you must be joking Otter on a spit roast may be tastier.
freefinker
says...
1:17pm Sat 30 Jan 10
I think it's the activities of the likes of Mark Simmonds that needs culling - there really is no excuse for causing such suffering to these aquatic vertibrates in the name of "sport".
As for the otters, surely they are just doing what evolution has honed then for - which is, er, EATING FISH.
What on earth did this guy expect?
freefinker
says...
4:33pm Sat 30 Jan 10
Therefore, the real culprits remain the original mink farmers for deliberately introducing yet another non-native species into the environment.
Andy Locks Heath
says...
5:24pm Sat 30 Jan 10
freefinker
says...
6:21pm Sat 30 Jan 10
southy
says...
7:02pm Sat 30 Jan 10
freefinker wrote:hargreaves was a great man for horses and the way of a farmer, that would be expected being a son of a yorkshire horse plowman, but he knew very little about river life or even the sea. he use to quote from books or get told by other fisherman, one of the people that use to tell him what to say ( andy might know this guy) was the late gerald aston-smith who use to run out off lymington boat name N.D. the late great ollie kite was the man for fishing and the way of the water life.
Perhaps he secretly aspires to be "a great countryman". Stranger thing have happened
freefinker the river test was clear of mink, till 4 years after animal liberationists release those mink near ringwood. like andy said. and you talk to any one that really knows the river test like i do, and they will all tell you the same
Andy Locks Heath
says...
12:04am Sun 31 Jan 10
Some of his programmes can still be found. I have 9 DVDs of them. They are a rare treasure and I enjoy them still.
southy
says...
1:45am Sun 31 Jan 10
jimbobbo
says...
8:31am Sun 31 Jan 10
Brite Spark wrote:This is a very unfortunate tale. It really touches my heart and "sole".
Some posters don't half carp on .........
freefinker
says...
9:51am Sun 31 Jan 10
Andy Locks Heath
says...
11:03am Sun 31 Jan 10
OSPREYSAINT
says...
11:47am Sun 31 Jan 10
freefinker
says...
12:53pm Sun 31 Jan 10
However, they had already become a major pest species throughout most of England prior to this release. You only need to look at hunting history. When otter hunting was banned (1970's?) almost all the otter hunts changed seemlessly to mink hunts and carried on as though nothing had happened.
The decline in otter numbers was caused by a variety of factors but mainly by pesticide pollution (organochlorines and polychlorinated biphenylsas - both now banned) combined with hunting pressures. Their decline created the ecological niche for the mink to take over their territories. Both have similar aquatic requirements, but where they are in direct competition for resources it is usually the otter that prevails.
Therefore, our most hopeful solution to the mink problem is to encourage the recovery of otter populations wherever we can.
Mark Simmonds and others of similar short-sightedness, in calling for an otter cull, are just showing their ignorance of ecology and our native wildlife. But what else would you expect from individuals in the "business" he is in?
southy
says...
3:46pm Sun 31 Jan 10
Andy Locks Heath wrote:my ex-wife was related to him, i use to have some books but over the years i lent them out and have not had them returned. i not sure if the bbc done any i try and find out later. thats why i ask if you had any. dont reckon you got any copys off the book, poacher tells or the keepers tells have you. another two books i lent out and not got back.
Hi Southy, no but I wish I had. I didn't know any existed. I remember Ollie Kite on TV as a very keen bird watcher and fisherman. Do you have any books or videos of him?
freefinker i posted up on the next carp article.
Condor Man
says...
8:08pm Sun 31 Jan 10
As for hunting, the stuff with dogs was only banned because it was a toff pursuit. Because fishing is more blue collar it was exempt.
Stoogi
says...
8:19pm Sun 31 Jan 10
forest hump
says...
9:33pm Sun 31 Jan 10
Andy Locks Heath wrote:Andy, I have a DVD of Ollie Kite. He made a programme depicting the "green belt" of the Fawley Refinery. It is fascinating. It can be bought from the New Forest visitors' centre in Lyndhurst. Also you can purchase online if you visit thier website. http://www.newforest
Hi Southy, no but I wish I had. I didn't know any existed. I remember Ollie Kite on TV as a very keen bird watcher and fisherman. Do you have any books or videos of him?
museum.org.uk/new-fo
rest-dvds/ It was produced in 1968 and still makes good watching.
OSPREYSAINT
says...
9:45pm Sun 31 Jan 10
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southy says...
4:31pm Fri 29 Jan 10
they was not killed because they where vermin, they where killed for there pelts.
minks have also know to do this damage too, and there is a very large population of minks on the river test, minks like carp was interduce to this country, and are not a natural species to this country.