AGA Group - Fisheries Management - Biosecurity

Protection against Otter predation.

Having good biosecurity measures in place includes excluding unwanted animals from the site such as the otter (L. lutra). Many fisheries and anglers groups work closely with the Wildlife Trusts and otter groups, and welcome the return of the otter, an indicator of healthy fish stocks.

There is, however, a growing concern amongst anglers and fishery managers that otters are taking fish, particularly large specimen carp from stillwater fisheries, where they are stocked at high densities. When some of these fish are worth several thousand pounds apiece, it is not surprising that managers may become hostile to otters.

At the same time, particularly when fish are torpid during the colder months, if they are left unprotected, otters being predators will take advantage of easy prey. Work has been done to look at ways of protecting fisheries, using fencing and decoy pools for instance. The Specialist Anglers Alliance has commissioned a report on otters and fencing, which can be viewed at www.saauk.org. The Wildlife Trusts are also working with the Environment Agency to produce a guide that will support those working with anglers and fisheries.

Fencing appears at the moment to be the most effective solution against otter predation but this is not cheap and can run into thousands of pounds. As such angling associations have been putting pressure on the Fisheries department of the Environment Agency to make funds available and is now starting to see some financial assistance being made available.

Fencing at the present time does offer the most suitable means of protection against otter predation, particularly for still-water fisheries and the A.G.A Group are willing to advise and install such biosecurity measures to help protect your fishery from predation.