The Otter Way of Wildlife Management - Fish-eating Predators and Fisheries

Once, European otters (Lutra lutra) were distributed all over Germany and most European countries. For centuries, this species was mainly seen as a threat of fish stock and therefore, hunting otters was quite common. In... [ view full abstract ]

Once, European otters (Lutra lutra) were distributed all over Germany and most European countries. For centuries, this species was mainly seen as a threat of fish stock and therefore, hunting otters was quite common. In addition, the manmade destruction of its habitat, especially destroying the natural course of many rivers by straightening them, together with water pollution, contributed to the fact that the otters were nearly brought to extinction in Germany in the 1970s.
Then this species became strictly protected via the FFH-Directive all across Europe. Since then, thanks to a huge amount of habitat-improving river projects, otter habitats could be restored in many parts of Germany and otters again slowly recolonize former distribution areas. This process can be called a huge success in the European otter conservation. But this recolonization does in turn also lead to conflicts with fish stock, fisheries and anglers. Additionally, other fish-eating predators like the great cormorant, kingfishers, European sea eagles and ospreys also show increasing trends in their populations. Thus, solutions for conflicts between fish-eating predators and human use of fish are needed. In this session we want to bring scientists, conservationists and fishermen together to get an overall view on the status quo of management and conservation of fish eating predators across Europe. We therefore encourage all participants of the session to bring information on otter distribution, conflicts and management in their countries. We want to talk about best practice, solutions and still unsolved problems in the management of fish eating predators.