Mark Harrop
Senior Member
otters on there way to cheshire.
A short while ago, Northwich Angling Association recieved a document out lining plans to build an Otter park on the river weaver between Northwich and Winsford. With so many good waters connected by streams to the Weaver, some just a few 100yds long or so, its not hard to guess where the Otters will go when times are hard. The potential threat to the Weaver itself and to waters close to it like Top Flash, New Pool, Gale Green, Petty Pool, National Pit, Newbridge and the "Floods". Canals like the Shropshire Union and Trent and Mersey will also act like motorways for them as well as providing easy pickings in such shallow water. Otters have a territory radius of up to 25 miles and will happily cross miles of land to get to where they wish to go, which puts many other of our finest long established waters at risk.
If you want to help and do your bit for Cheshire and the future of your fishing, please read below and get writing it only has to be a few sentences but please do not state what you may or may not do to Otters. For us to prevent this proposal from becoming a potential nightmare for Cheshire its important that we all work together as one. Thankyou
The ‘Weaver Valley Management Board’ (WVMB) has issued a document which promises to turn the River Weaver into “A home for Tarka and Ratty”.
It states that a “a proposed Otter Park will run along the Weaver between Winsford and Northwich forming an attractive green space rich in wildlife.”
The document goes on to say that:
“The Environment Agency’s Otter habitat survey found that Otters move freely in the River Weaver as far as Winsford and signs have also been found at Northwich. New habitat will be created for these popular animals, creating a stimulus to improve water quality for people and wildlife, and improve fish populations. The key action points are:
1. Create the ‘Weaver Otter Park” between Winsford and Northwich, including backwaters for fish breeding, fish passes from meanders to main river, wetland habitat creation and interpretation.
2. Identify further sites in the lower Weaver Valley.
The Otter ‘Bio-diversity Action Plan’ is a national initiative which aims to restore the otter population in areas where they are known to have existed prior to the 1960’s, when many died due to ingesting herbicides and pesticides used in agriculture. However, the introduction of otters to new areas, including unsuitable areas like urban rivers, has caused havoc in other parts of the country. Many valuable specimen fish have been killed and, in some cases, entire fisheries decimated.
Northwich Anglers Association bailiff Neil McComb has first hand experience of the problem:
“At my syndicate lake in Hereford one pair of otters emptied a two acre stock pond which contained over 100 carp up to 25 lb. in weight. More carp were killed in the main lake, where many of the larger specimens sustained horrific damage with fins bitten off, eyes scratched out and chunks of flesh bitten away, especially from the tail wrist and back. All of this happened in just a couple of months between December and February”.
Some fishing clubs have been forced to close, or to slash their fees and there are, of course, wider implications for the tackle trade and for tourism. Anglers simply will not travel to, or pay to fish waters which have had their fish stocks plundered by otters.
The proposal to create new habitat in order to encourage otters to populate the lower Weaver Valley, including the area between Winsford and Northwich, could spell disaster for Northwich Anglers Association, and for angling clubs throughout Cheshire.
Although Otters are territorial animals they have a range of up to 25 miles and, if encouraged to breed in new areas, could spread much further afield by using streams and watercourses to reach other fisheries. The implications of this are painfully obvious. Consider the number of still water fisheries, either connected to, or lying in close proximity to the Weaver and its tributaries.
Some of these waters contain specimen fish which are priceless, not just in financial terms but as an asset to anglers. In particular, one of our fisheries (a SSSI) holds carp which have grown to weights in excess of 40 lbs. with many others now topping the 30 lb. mark. Some of the fish are believed to have been in residence now for around 60 years, and the venue in question is considered to be one of the most important in the North of England. We know that otters attack the largest, slower moving fish first. Often these specimens are badly mauled and left to die a slow and distressing death. The thought that this could happen here in Cheshire is devastating.
Recently we have developed and stocked a new complex of three still waters with a view to encouraging increased participation in angling by juniors, families, the disabled and other groups. This is a long term investment which has cost many thousands of pounds and has turned an area of wasteland into a place of tranquility and natural beauty. This is typical of our commitment to the countryside and the whole community, not just anglers, will benefit for years to come.
The River Weaver itself is thriving, and a recent survey by the Environment Agency confirmed its importance as a first class mixed coarse fishery. The river holds roach, perch, bream, carp, tench, pike, chub, dace, gudgeon and eels, and further upstream there are even a few brown trout. The presence of so many fish, and the fact that the river is free from pollution, is largely due to the efforts of anglers.
The work we have done to improve fisheries, and the environment in the Weaver Valley, hasn’t just taken 5 or 10 or even 20 years. It has taken generations, yet all of this could be wiped out at a stroke.
We cannot turn the clock back to the days before the Industrial Revolution when the Weaver Valley was a very different place, and greater numbers of otters may have lived in the Winsford and Northwich area. You cannot simply reintroduce a predatory animal into an environment which has changed beyond recognition, and hope that everything will be alright. It won’t !
We have already seen the damage caused when mink are released into the wild without any thought for the consequences. The impact on indigenous birds and waterfowl has been horrendous.
In 2003, the last time a large-scale survey was carried out, the European river otter (lutra lutra) was present in more than five times as many areas as it was in 1979 (1). Despite this there has been a dramatic decrease in the availability of eels – once the otter's staple diet, during the same period. The eel population now stands at just 5% of what it should be, which is why otters are feasting on other species of fish which are highly prized by anglers.
The proposed ‘Otter Park’ appears to have been made without any regard for anglers, even though the WVMB has promised to “take into account all waterway users” and has acknowledged that “angling is very popular in the Weaver Valley area”.
We have to question some of the claimed advantages which WVMB says otters will bring. In particular, the notion that otters “will improve water quality for people and wildlife”; which simply doesn’t make sense. Also, the claim that otters will “improve fish populations”. Surely they will have the opposite effect ?
The only way to protect fisheries from otters is to install electric fences. However, these would be prohibitively expensive to install, costly to maintain, and would change the face of the countryside forever. Realistically, the only way we can save our fisheries is to stop more otters arriving in the first place.
What can you do to help ?
By far the best thing you can do is to write to WVMB and register your objection to the proposal. The more letters they receive from concerned individuals, the better our chance of success.
Please write to:
Mike Cooksley,
Chairman: Weaver Valley Development Board,
Cheshire West and Chester Council,
Regeneration
Backford Hall
Chester
Cheshire
CH1 6PZ
Alternatively, you can help by signing our petition, copies of which are available now in local tackle shops. We will do our best to collect as many signatures as possible.
and this:
thought you chaps might be interested to read this, its a joint statement from various bodies regarding otters
The Wildlife Management Group met recently to exchange information and to seek opportunities to resolve issues regarding otters and freshwater fisheries. The meeting was attended by experts from the Angling Trust, Natural England, the Environment Agency, the Angling Trades Association and others.
It focussed, in particular, on the problems involving predation on specimen-sized coarse fish in rivers, although a wide range of issues were also debated. The continuing issue of fencing for selected stillwaters was also discussed in depth.
The Group identified the areas of common ground, and it has started to explore how it can help anglers and the Environment Agency develop healthy and balanced river environments and habitats capable of supporting sustainable, diverse fish populations. Work is progressing on establishing the current distribution of otters, listing useful reference documents and producing guidance to fishery managers on creating sustainable habitats for fish and other forms of wildlife.
During the meeting it became clear that there are several, widely-quoted misconceptions about otters which need to be addressed and corrected:-
•‘The otter predation problem has arisen because of the reintroduction programme’. Otter numbers have increased naturally throughout Britain as a consequence of successful recolonisation and breeding following a major decline in numbers caused by pesticides. The reintroduction programme has simply increased the speed of recovery in parts of England, notably in East Anglia.
•‘The reintroduction programme is continuing unchecked’. Between 1983 and 1999 a small number (117) of captive-bred otters were released to the wild by the Otter Trust. The Vincent Wildlife Trust released rehabilitated animals between 1990 and 1996 (49), over half as part of a Yorkshire release programme, but also a few into East Anglia, Northumbria and on the Trent. No introductions of captive-bred otters have occurred since 1999. There have been releases of rehabilitated or orphaned animals, once they have been nursed back to health, which number no more than four or five a year. As far as it is practicable, rehabilitated otters are released back to the areas where they were found.
•‘Trapping or culling is needed to control otter numbers’. There is no call or case for the culling or trapping of otters, which enjoy full protection under international and national legislation. Otter numbers will be constrained by available breeding habitat and prey.
• ‘Otters are eating coarse fish because of the decline in eel populations’. Otters are opportunist predators which tend to catch and consume fish most readily available to them. There is no evidence that they ‘prefer’ or select particular fish species.
It was agreed that the over-arching strategy should be to create and maintain healthy aquatic environments where balanced populations of fish and otters can co-exist in a sustainable manner. The majority of complaints about otter predation on rivers have arisen where fisheries are suffering from one or more environmental problems - over-abstraction, pollution, habitat damage, etc. The Group recognised that there are and would continue to be site-specific problems involving levels of predation which may reduce the amenity and fishery value.
The Group is exploring areas of possible applied research which might be usefully undertaken to enhance knowledge of otters in the wild and their impacts on fisheries with unbalanced fish populations. It would appear that problems are localised to certain rivers, rather than being universal, and it is important to understand why this is the case. Part of that process will be to identify fish populations which are considered to have been adversely affected by otter predation to assess the nature and severity of the problems and to cross-reference this information to historic fisheries data sets. The Environment Agency is to examine a programme of priority fish restocking to restore sustainable fish populations to these fisheries.
In addition, it was agreed that an information pamphlet will be prepared and issued, setting out the facts about otters and fisheries and providing guidance on how specific problems can be minimised, especially on stillwater fisheries where the impacts on economic and social benefits arising have been most significant. This will complement the recent publication of a joint advisory booklet by the Environment Agency and the Wildlife Trusts on ‘Otters and Stillwater Fisheries’.
These will be among the matters for discussion when the Wildlife Management Group meets again, in the next three months.
sign the on line petition :
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/abolish-plans-for-an-otter-park-alongside-the-river-weaver.html
A short while ago, Northwich Angling Association recieved a document out lining plans to build an Otter park on the river weaver between Northwich and Winsford. With so many good waters connected by streams to the Weaver, some just a few 100yds long or so, its not hard to guess where the Otters will go when times are hard. The potential threat to the Weaver itself and to waters close to it like Top Flash, New Pool, Gale Green, Petty Pool, National Pit, Newbridge and the "Floods". Canals like the Shropshire Union and Trent and Mersey will also act like motorways for them as well as providing easy pickings in such shallow water. Otters have a territory radius of up to 25 miles and will happily cross miles of land to get to where they wish to go, which puts many other of our finest long established waters at risk.
If you want to help and do your bit for Cheshire and the future of your fishing, please read below and get writing it only has to be a few sentences but please do not state what you may or may not do to Otters. For us to prevent this proposal from becoming a potential nightmare for Cheshire its important that we all work together as one. Thankyou
The ‘Weaver Valley Management Board’ (WVMB) has issued a document which promises to turn the River Weaver into “A home for Tarka and Ratty”.
It states that a “a proposed Otter Park will run along the Weaver between Winsford and Northwich forming an attractive green space rich in wildlife.”
The document goes on to say that:
“The Environment Agency’s Otter habitat survey found that Otters move freely in the River Weaver as far as Winsford and signs have also been found at Northwich. New habitat will be created for these popular animals, creating a stimulus to improve water quality for people and wildlife, and improve fish populations. The key action points are:
1. Create the ‘Weaver Otter Park” between Winsford and Northwich, including backwaters for fish breeding, fish passes from meanders to main river, wetland habitat creation and interpretation.
2. Identify further sites in the lower Weaver Valley.
The Otter ‘Bio-diversity Action Plan’ is a national initiative which aims to restore the otter population in areas where they are known to have existed prior to the 1960’s, when many died due to ingesting herbicides and pesticides used in agriculture. However, the introduction of otters to new areas, including unsuitable areas like urban rivers, has caused havoc in other parts of the country. Many valuable specimen fish have been killed and, in some cases, entire fisheries decimated.
Northwich Anglers Association bailiff Neil McComb has first hand experience of the problem:
“At my syndicate lake in Hereford one pair of otters emptied a two acre stock pond which contained over 100 carp up to 25 lb. in weight. More carp were killed in the main lake, where many of the larger specimens sustained horrific damage with fins bitten off, eyes scratched out and chunks of flesh bitten away, especially from the tail wrist and back. All of this happened in just a couple of months between December and February”.
Some fishing clubs have been forced to close, or to slash their fees and there are, of course, wider implications for the tackle trade and for tourism. Anglers simply will not travel to, or pay to fish waters which have had their fish stocks plundered by otters.
The proposal to create new habitat in order to encourage otters to populate the lower Weaver Valley, including the area between Winsford and Northwich, could spell disaster for Northwich Anglers Association, and for angling clubs throughout Cheshire.
Although Otters are territorial animals they have a range of up to 25 miles and, if encouraged to breed in new areas, could spread much further afield by using streams and watercourses to reach other fisheries. The implications of this are painfully obvious. Consider the number of still water fisheries, either connected to, or lying in close proximity to the Weaver and its tributaries.
Some of these waters contain specimen fish which are priceless, not just in financial terms but as an asset to anglers. In particular, one of our fisheries (a SSSI) holds carp which have grown to weights in excess of 40 lbs. with many others now topping the 30 lb. mark. Some of the fish are believed to have been in residence now for around 60 years, and the venue in question is considered to be one of the most important in the North of England. We know that otters attack the largest, slower moving fish first. Often these specimens are badly mauled and left to die a slow and distressing death. The thought that this could happen here in Cheshire is devastating.
Recently we have developed and stocked a new complex of three still waters with a view to encouraging increased participation in angling by juniors, families, the disabled and other groups. This is a long term investment which has cost many thousands of pounds and has turned an area of wasteland into a place of tranquility and natural beauty. This is typical of our commitment to the countryside and the whole community, not just anglers, will benefit for years to come.
The River Weaver itself is thriving, and a recent survey by the Environment Agency confirmed its importance as a first class mixed coarse fishery. The river holds roach, perch, bream, carp, tench, pike, chub, dace, gudgeon and eels, and further upstream there are even a few brown trout. The presence of so many fish, and the fact that the river is free from pollution, is largely due to the efforts of anglers.
The work we have done to improve fisheries, and the environment in the Weaver Valley, hasn’t just taken 5 or 10 or even 20 years. It has taken generations, yet all of this could be wiped out at a stroke.
We cannot turn the clock back to the days before the Industrial Revolution when the Weaver Valley was a very different place, and greater numbers of otters may have lived in the Winsford and Northwich area. You cannot simply reintroduce a predatory animal into an environment which has changed beyond recognition, and hope that everything will be alright. It won’t !
We have already seen the damage caused when mink are released into the wild without any thought for the consequences. The impact on indigenous birds and waterfowl has been horrendous.
In 2003, the last time a large-scale survey was carried out, the European river otter (lutra lutra) was present in more than five times as many areas as it was in 1979 (1). Despite this there has been a dramatic decrease in the availability of eels – once the otter's staple diet, during the same period. The eel population now stands at just 5% of what it should be, which is why otters are feasting on other species of fish which are highly prized by anglers.
The proposed ‘Otter Park’ appears to have been made without any regard for anglers, even though the WVMB has promised to “take into account all waterway users” and has acknowledged that “angling is very popular in the Weaver Valley area”.
We have to question some of the claimed advantages which WVMB says otters will bring. In particular, the notion that otters “will improve water quality for people and wildlife”; which simply doesn’t make sense. Also, the claim that otters will “improve fish populations”. Surely they will have the opposite effect ?
The only way to protect fisheries from otters is to install electric fences. However, these would be prohibitively expensive to install, costly to maintain, and would change the face of the countryside forever. Realistically, the only way we can save our fisheries is to stop more otters arriving in the first place.
What can you do to help ?
By far the best thing you can do is to write to WVMB and register your objection to the proposal. The more letters they receive from concerned individuals, the better our chance of success.
Please write to:
Mike Cooksley,
Chairman: Weaver Valley Development Board,
Cheshire West and Chester Council,
Regeneration
Backford Hall
Chester
Cheshire
CH1 6PZ
Alternatively, you can help by signing our petition, copies of which are available now in local tackle shops. We will do our best to collect as many signatures as possible.
and this:
thought you chaps might be interested to read this, its a joint statement from various bodies regarding otters
The Wildlife Management Group met recently to exchange information and to seek opportunities to resolve issues regarding otters and freshwater fisheries. The meeting was attended by experts from the Angling Trust, Natural England, the Environment Agency, the Angling Trades Association and others.
It focussed, in particular, on the problems involving predation on specimen-sized coarse fish in rivers, although a wide range of issues were also debated. The continuing issue of fencing for selected stillwaters was also discussed in depth.
The Group identified the areas of common ground, and it has started to explore how it can help anglers and the Environment Agency develop healthy and balanced river environments and habitats capable of supporting sustainable, diverse fish populations. Work is progressing on establishing the current distribution of otters, listing useful reference documents and producing guidance to fishery managers on creating sustainable habitats for fish and other forms of wildlife.
During the meeting it became clear that there are several, widely-quoted misconceptions about otters which need to be addressed and corrected:-
•‘The otter predation problem has arisen because of the reintroduction programme’. Otter numbers have increased naturally throughout Britain as a consequence of successful recolonisation and breeding following a major decline in numbers caused by pesticides. The reintroduction programme has simply increased the speed of recovery in parts of England, notably in East Anglia.
•‘The reintroduction programme is continuing unchecked’. Between 1983 and 1999 a small number (117) of captive-bred otters were released to the wild by the Otter Trust. The Vincent Wildlife Trust released rehabilitated animals between 1990 and 1996 (49), over half as part of a Yorkshire release programme, but also a few into East Anglia, Northumbria and on the Trent. No introductions of captive-bred otters have occurred since 1999. There have been releases of rehabilitated or orphaned animals, once they have been nursed back to health, which number no more than four or five a year. As far as it is practicable, rehabilitated otters are released back to the areas where they were found.
•‘Trapping or culling is needed to control otter numbers’. There is no call or case for the culling or trapping of otters, which enjoy full protection under international and national legislation. Otter numbers will be constrained by available breeding habitat and prey.
• ‘Otters are eating coarse fish because of the decline in eel populations’. Otters are opportunist predators which tend to catch and consume fish most readily available to them. There is no evidence that they ‘prefer’ or select particular fish species.
It was agreed that the over-arching strategy should be to create and maintain healthy aquatic environments where balanced populations of fish and otters can co-exist in a sustainable manner. The majority of complaints about otter predation on rivers have arisen where fisheries are suffering from one or more environmental problems - over-abstraction, pollution, habitat damage, etc. The Group recognised that there are and would continue to be site-specific problems involving levels of predation which may reduce the amenity and fishery value.
The Group is exploring areas of possible applied research which might be usefully undertaken to enhance knowledge of otters in the wild and their impacts on fisheries with unbalanced fish populations. It would appear that problems are localised to certain rivers, rather than being universal, and it is important to understand why this is the case. Part of that process will be to identify fish populations which are considered to have been adversely affected by otter predation to assess the nature and severity of the problems and to cross-reference this information to historic fisheries data sets. The Environment Agency is to examine a programme of priority fish restocking to restore sustainable fish populations to these fisheries.
In addition, it was agreed that an information pamphlet will be prepared and issued, setting out the facts about otters and fisheries and providing guidance on how specific problems can be minimised, especially on stillwater fisheries where the impacts on economic and social benefits arising have been most significant. This will complement the recent publication of a joint advisory booklet by the Environment Agency and the Wildlife Trusts on ‘Otters and Stillwater Fisheries’.
These will be among the matters for discussion when the Wildlife Management Group meets again, in the next three months.
sign the on line petition :
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/abolish-plans-for-an-otter-park-alongside-the-river-weaver.html
of £100,000 for 2010 and £50,000 for 2011 to aid clubs etc with the costs incurred, wow how impressive that?!!
