by gruffergreen » 10 Dec 2013 02:43
Didnt mean to open a can of worms bout barbel stocks or lack of em, and do agree that otters especially in hungry numbers can cause havoc, as mentioned in my first mail, ive seen it, but now retired I have walked the Avon a lot recently around Limpley-Claverton etc and seen virtually no one fishing, although I admit mostly weekdays. My point is, is it the chicken or the egg, fisheries like the royalty or throop have stocks reliant on feed, without it those stocks would crash. The hampshire avon has stocks of barbel sure but not like the royalty where food is persistent and plentiful, hence well fed numbers.I just believe there is more in this than may meet the eye, although I also see that introducing large numbers of predators into rivers just because they make good television is truly irresponsible and destructive.