6ft fences put up… to protect fish from otters
A FISHERY has had to put up two miles of 6ft-tall fencing to protect carp from being slaughtered by otters.
Surging numbers of wild otters are emptying the lakes of some of Britain’s biggest carp which can fetch up to £30,000 each.
A number of other fisheries have had to close after the pests plundered their stocks. The unsightly barriers at Wingham Fisheries in Canterbury are said to have cost tens of thousands of pounds, some of which is met by the Angling Trust.
Owner Steve Burke said it had been only a matter of time before otters targeted his prized fish – which include nine carp weighing up to 80lb. Now some of his club members have shown off damaged fish and a number that have been stripped back to skeletons. Mr Burke said: ‘It’s only a matter of time before otters arrive everywhere, and with the size of the lakes, and the terrain, we couldn’t put up fencing quickly.
‘We could have lost some historic fish. It was essential to act before otters returned to this area. Having spent over 20 years creating something beyond my wildest dreams I couldn’t stand by and allow it to be destroyed in perhaps as many weeks.
Otter numbers plummeted in Britain in the 1950s due largely to pollution from pesticides and habitat loss.
But since otter hunting was banned in 1978 and pesticides were phased out, they have successfully recolonised waterways with the help of wildlife conservationists.
Martin Salter, head of campaigns at the Angling Trust, said: ‘Individual specimen fish, especially big carp, are prized by anglers. The value of record or near-record breaking fish can be measured in many thousands of pounds.’