Otter in trent sawley

[Simon Brough]

Tony yes there is. I haven’t seen it but I have seen a fish caught with Otter damage although this was in Ully Gully and not the river. Changing fishing clubs won’t make any difference as soon they will be all through the river. There is one on the Derwent too. I think the Trent is big enough to withstand an otter or two but the Derwent will be f****d if they breed. Personally id club every one of them on the back of the head, followed by the idiots that introduced them.

[Tracey Lacey]

Otters on the Trent

Simonb – don’t even think about clubbing an Otter on the head unless you want to spend six months in prison or pay a £5000 fine. The Pride of Derby disassociates itself from this view and would never condone it – any member caught in the activity of breaking the law on this issue would immediately cease to be a member of this club and the police would be notified.

It does though give us great concern and because of this you will have possibly noticed Otter fencing being put around our lakes at Sawley – hopefully this will protect this area. As for the rivers Trent and Derwent – we cannot protect these areas for obvious reasons and Otters have been in these areas for many years – or should I say “Otter” as it is well documented by conservationists etc. that Otters are very territorial with domains of around 20 km – at all times protecting their domain / territory from the integration of other Otters.
So the Otter that we have or may not have in our area perhaps travels between Attenborough and Burton on Trent – it will have places to rest at several locations – called “Holts” in the 20km territory – if this Otter was destroyed another one would most definitely take over its territory. The Otter is nocturnal – so anyone who thought they had seen one unless at night saw what was possibly a Mink.

If we consider this rationally then predation is an issue, but then consider the waterways that we have within 20 km of our section of the River Trent – in this area we used to have several hundred Cormorants – these numbers appear now to have decreased and the fish population has survived and is good – in some areas become very good.

Otters need to eat between 1 and 1.5 kg of fish per day – sounds a lot but divide that between 20 km of Rivers, Lakes, Canals and Ponds per Otter and it becomes more sustainable.

We are not happy with it but we have to live with it (The Otter)

See web site – http://www.nottinghamshirewildlife.org/animal-facts/otter

[Simon Brough]

Alan – I have no intentions of clubbing any otters, i’ll stick to clubbing the people that introduced them. Joking aside – I hear the stats about otters eating 1-1.5kg of fish per day to survive. What the environmentalists don’t tell you is that the Otter tends to only eat the heart and liver of the fish and discards the rest of the body. That’s an awful lot of hearts and livers of to make up 1.5kg. Also take into account they go for the bigger fish that are easier for them to catch. The ratio of 1 otter to 20km of water is fine until they breed, which they will.

Anyway, I don’t want to get wrapped up in an otter debate because it’s pointless. Yes they are here to stay and yes there is nothing we can do about it.

[Andy Lee]

Some good info there Alan.
Thank you for taking the time out to research and put this on the forum.

[Richard Cowell]

Those of us who know Simon also know that the “clubbing” comment was made ‘tongue in cheek. Simon is quite correct; Otters will kill large fish and only eat their internal organs. Otters are here to stay and they need to be managed.

[Tracey Lacey]

I am sorry i had to make the point about “Clubbing Otters” -This club has to disassociate itself from this point of view – i am sure Simon is a good guy who is drawn on a very emotive subject – Otters and the destruction of our fish stocks.

A lot of what has been said is correct – but we all have short memories – we have all heard of anglers in the past catching vast numbers of roach bream etc in the 50s and 60s ( but this is when Otters were prevalent in our rivers ) – we are told they only diminished in numbers in the 70s – so why did we catch so well in the 50s & 60s ?

The facts are often so different to the rumours – one note advises of the the breeding of Otters and the damage the young do – but if you research the adult otter when the young is old enough to support itself chases of the young to find its own territory.

On a more proactive note so we can distinguish the facts from the stories can our members advise when they see evidence of the Otter – i.e. dead fish remains partly eaton on the river bank and lake side – then we will know where they are active – also it is known they do not just eat large fish – they eat small as well but with these they eat the full fish.

Anyway sorry Simon for putting you in jail and fining you £5000 – it was just to make the point of how the law on this issue stands –

[Simon Brough]

No apology necessary Alan, the points you made were all valid.

[Richard Cowell]

http://www.fish-on-friday.com/2015/07/otter-kills-countrys-biggest-barbel/?utm_source=dragoncarp-150710&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=FishOnFriday-150710

[Stewart]

All being said the fact is this otter has been seen regularly now at all times of the day in the same place not up and down the stretch!! not many people fish these pegs but those that do regard it as the “hot spot” but unfortunately fish have become hard to find there already I can’t even imagine what it will be like in a few years time. I know some stretches in the country have been wiped out by otters, let’s just hope we don’t lose our stretch.

[Richard Cowell]

When the larder is empty the cute, cuddly little Otter will move on; leaving us with what’s left. There is a lot of misinformation out there regarding Otters. Otters do patrol areas in broad daylight if they feel confident enough to do so. I have seen an Otter just above Swarkestone bridge in broad daylight; it was not a Mink. I have also seen Otter prints on the Bank of the POD Derwent just below the Weir. Otters are here to stay; they have more rights than you or I. Otters are Mustelids; in the same family as polecats Stoats and Ferrets etcetera. What does a stoat do in a rabbit Warren or a hen house? It kills everything before it leaves.

[Tracey Lacey]

Good debate on this subject – i think we all know more than we did before – perhaps you can see the reason why we put Otter fencing around the complex hopefully protecting this area.
Again we do ask that if evidence of Otters is seen in the form of dead fish left on the bank you keep us informed – so we can possible track the movements.

[Dan smith]

Let’s hope they can’t drive as there ain’t much protection along the road side of the complex!!

[Author]

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