We also have the mitten crabs, which i think will cause massive issues when fish spawn and could possibly be the biggest issue river fish stocks face in the near future .
Hi Simon Mitten Crab have been prevalent in the Middle level system for over 15yrs now. Zander are the species that suffer most as they nest. The crabs find these nests as they move along the drains during the spring and devour the protein rich eggs. Zander populations in the fens are very low these days. It looks as tho the silvers etc have no issues. The middle level system has a healthy stock of Skimmers, roach & Rudd. The Crabs also cause huge damage to drain & river banks. Obviously a huge issue for flood defences.
@FenlandFishingTV that is true but it seems to have got far worse recently . I see them all over the fens and now much further up the Nene than previously . We will have to wait and see what happens . The zander have had a hard time recently in the fens but seem to be returning in a few areas .
Hi Alex, Jimmy Ellis hear Interesting debate around predation. At Beccles we have seals, huge otters and comorants. The old Otter Trust near Bungay went bust and basically 'opened its doors' and the otters went into the Waveney. As you quite rightly quoted these were not all the old native strain, there are a few dog otters as big as me down Beccles (as you know I am vertically challenged). Otters have predated the re-introduced Bitterns at the River Yare (the RSPB were not too happy). The northern broads are being decimated by predation, a distinct lack of ground nesting birds, they even take swans and geese.= (there was some footage on line at one time of an otter dragging a goose about in the middle of Wroxham). Any lake not fenced around Norfolk and Suffolk has been decimated, in addition, they have now found Diss Mere and 'clearing' it out. The comorants site in the public park, in middle of town, and basically are not scared of humans. I do hope they dont get to March, it will be carnage
The cormarant issue is definitely happening on the South Holland. They've chased them into one area. Other areas a void of fish that use to produce in the winter.😢😢
Was fishing a section of the Nene around Splash Meadows/Castor recently and I had a family of 4 otters come through a few times. It’s a hard venue to catch a specimen fish out of at the best of times, and god only knows how much irreversible damage they are doing. Really worried for the future of our rivers, especially since all these seals have moved in.
It seems as though the reintroduction of otters on this mass scale has caused devastation. A slow…carefully managed reintroduction into small pockets of the UK would, in hindsight have been the way forward. 🤷🏻♂️ Thank you for your view & comment 🙏
I’ve lived in Worcester for 42 years, and until 3/4 years ago I had never seen an otter. Now the bloody things are everywhere! There’s a family otters working the shallow canal, the match weights have plummeted. In the town centre on the river Severn there’s 2 different groups of otters. There was a photo of an otter eating at duck in town, everyone thought it was cute. There’s the same problem over at Evesham, A family of 4 otters. Everyone seems to love them and go out looking to take pictures.
We were fishing a club match last summer and could've believe our eyes when a mink dragged a 6lb carp out of the margins during spawning 😮 the carp was twice the size of the carp so god knows what an otter could handle? It's a big problem especially for our rivers which are impossible to protect?
I’ve certainly seen them in pairs and once three. Perhaps offspring….. it’s not just the drains/rivers and lakes. Like was stated, people’s garden ponds are a proverbial banquet for them. I don’t know anyone with a pond near the coronation channel in Spalding who have not had their ponds wiped out. I’m also confident that my guard cat even had a fight with one when an otter visited my pond twice in one week judging by the amount of blood on it.
I fish a section of the Nene around and about Wellingborough which has Otters and Mink, plus all the birds and yesterday I was catching pound plus Rudd. So we can all live in harmony if we all work together to keep the rivers and lakes in the best conditions.
Its certain humans interferring with nature, by introducing them. and other species too, whenever they do this, other established species suffer badly.
