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Bob Morgan
New Member
43 Posts |
 Posted - 30/10/2009 : 12:57:13
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Hi all,
I was flicking through the pages of this months issue and came across the article on otter populations and the issue of fish stocks declining due to predation. It seems that people feel like some sort of control measures should be put in place, ranging from fencing to culling. This comes hot on the heels of the cormorant issue where again, culling was recommended.Add to this the killing of mink and the efforts to reduce numbers of predatory fish species, we are giving our good friends in the animal rights groups plenty of ammunition. Back to the otters.I think most of us will have a good grasp on the idea of a properly functioning ecosystem.Some however do not understand predator/prey relationships.The otter populations are in a healty condition at the moment because the prey items are there to sustain them. Prey levels will fall (through environmental factors,impact of fishing pressure and predator/prey interactions)and the otter population will decrease accordingly.I have never come across a river that has been completely cleared of fish stocks because otter numbers were high.There are cases where human impact has destroyed stocks, with no mention of culling!! .
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Edited by - Bob Morgan on 30/10/2009 12:59:35 |
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JKissane
Starting Member
22 Posts |
Posted - 02/11/2009 : 08:35:35
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Bob is (...what's your term?) SPOT -ON in that there is a movement afott everywhere to re-intorduce species that have been depleated without realizing the domino-effect this has on the eco-system. Re-introducing a species that was held in quasi-equilibrium by predation and other factors without man's input, into a system that now has urbanization, removal of predators higher on the food chain, and diminished habitat is utter (otter?) folley. The re-introduction or even stimulated population growth of creatures like beavers, otters, mink, and cormorants does not consider taht the higher-level predators are both gone from the eco-system, and are incompatible with current social environs. Who would favor the re-introduction of European wolves into the UK to keep the littler furries from over-running the country? We have similar problems here, but the gun-happy nuts outnumber the PETA folks (and probably scare them to death), so there isn't quite so much outrage when nuisance racoons nesting in someone's attic or an unwelcome coyte is blasted away. I'm not advocating such a thing either here or in the U.K., but people have to bring reason into the discussion of these things - if nature's means of maintaining balance is gone, then the machine of the eco-system is running without controls.
It's almost like the introduction (unintended) of non-native species - without natural preditors, the population is unregulated. A virtual Pandora's box is opened.
Although prequalified by virtue of their brain size, trout have no politics. |
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Shooting ourselves in the foot?
