Page 37 - Anglian angling on the broads

36 Environment Agency Angle on the Broads Environment Agency Angle on the Broads 37

Otters return

to the Broads

In lowland England, the European otter is currently recovering from a population crash
that started in the late 1950s, resulting from the use of organo-chlorine pesticides in

agriculture, land drainage and habitat destruction.

This massive decline continued the ban on the use of organo- In effect these releases sped up the
during the 1960s and 1970s, with chlorine pesticides, the recovery of colonisation process and we may
otters disappearing from most of England’s lowland otter population be up to 25 years further ahead
their range across eastern and commenced – firstly in more westerly than would otherwise have been
southern England and the Midlands. counties due to the presence of the case had we waited for otters to
In Norfolk the otter population adjacent populations in upland re-colonise naturally from the west, Back on the Broads
reached a low point in the mid- areas of Wales and the West without conservation intervention. It
1980s when it is thought that only Country and, very slowly, they have is important to stress that no otters
a few individuals survived and spread back through southern and were released in Norfolk after 1996
without intervention otters would central England. and that they were not introduced However, the conservation success begin. At this time carp and perhaps preventing their entry into a fishery.
undoubtedly have become extinct into any areas that did not formerly story of the otter has not been other fish species may become This can be done through the
in the county soon afterwards. Otters also have a stronghold support them. Their subsequent without problems and its recovery semi-torpid or torpid in the cold provision of appropriately designed
in East Anglia as a result of past success has come about naturally has brought conflicts with the water conditions and congregate at fencing and ultimately this is the only
As a result of this national decline, releases by the Otter Trust and in and, reflecting the fact that the otter angling fraternity that fishes in underwater snags, behaviour that long-term sustainable solution to the
hunting of otters with dogs was Norfolk they are now doing very population has recovered, people are enclosed still waters. This preference perhaps renders the probability of fish predation problem caused by
brought to an end in the late 1970s well; the descendants of these now seeing them more frequently among anglers for still water sites their discovery by otters and other otters at still water fisheries. Whilst
and today it is protected by both released individuals having re- in Norfolk. Those present in the developed as the quality of river predators more likely. Predation fencing can be expensive, its cost
the Wildlife & Countryside Act and colonised almost all of the former Broads are the descendants of a few fisheries declined and in Norfolk, incidents are sporadic and should be viewed against the value
European legislation. Following range of otters across the county.
individuals released into the area also at a time when otters were unpredictable, although there is of the fish that might potentially be
between 1984 and 1996. absent. To meet the demand, still certainly some correlation with spells lost and it can perhaps be erected
Did you know? The otter is a native mammal that water coarse fisheries containing of snow and hard overnight frosts in stages to spread the cost. Both

inhabits our rivers and wetlands large fish were created and stocked, during the winter period when otters ‘temporary’ and permanent fence
particularly with carp. The recently
types are very effective in preventing
undoubtedly struggle to find food
>> Where otter populations and which travels over quite large recovered otter population in the within natural habitats. otters entering fisheries and both are
have recovered on our rivers, distances, so individuals are widely Broads now lives in a different currently in use in the Broads area.
numbers of the feral American dispersed and actual numbers are landscape to that of its ancestors On the face of it, moving an
mink have declined. Following quite low compared with some other three or four decades ago. A larger individual otter might seem to be a Although no grants exist for fish
escapes from fur farms, mink mammal species. human population, increased logical step in preventing further fish losses or the costs of fencing, free
have devastated populations of road traffic and still water fisheries losses but this is not possible, as help and advice about prevention
our native water vole and taken Quite a large percentage of an stocked with high-value fish number otters are protected by the Wildlife is available to fishery owners and
large numbers of other wildlife, otter’s diet is fish, although the among the many differences. Where & Countryside Act, as well as at managers experiencing losses of fish
including fish. proportion, size and species of fish European level. It is unlikely that to otters. No one wants these fish
involved varies throughout the year unprotected by fencing, these the statutory conservation agency losses but at the same time we must
>> Otters can swim at speeds of and is at least partly dependent on fisheries are now visited by otters, would ever consider the trapping allow space for the otter, a rightful
12km/hr under water and can availability, abundance and the ease which often take very large fish, and removal of an otter (in any case, and natural denizen of the Broads
travel for up to 400m before with which prey can be captured. causing consternation and anguish it is likely that any otter removed rivers and wetlands.
surfacing for air. When it dives, Under normal circumstances, otters among those concerned. Incidents
an otter closes its nostrils and occur in such small numbers and are are not random and we know from will quickly be replaced by another Steve Henson
individual). Although trapping and
ears. Otters are the only truly scattered so widely that they do not recording these since 1999 that most moving otters is not an option,
semi-aquatic members of the impact on natural fish populations in occur between November and early preventing the loss of fish to otters Conservation Officer – Rivers &
Water vole Mustelid family. rivers, streams and the Broads. spring, following a plunge in water is readily achievable, simply by Wetlands, Norfolk Wildlife Trust
temperatures when overnight frosts