The Otters Are Coming - The Otters Are Coming

[albertaflyfishing]

Al Brice here in the Crowsnest pass .. I first saw ottersguiding on the Upper Bow river in the late 80,s ... But they have become A PLAGUE ON THE STEAMS down here ..as far as I can tell we have lost a lot of fish in all our small streams .. we still catch good fish , but numbers are way down from what I expect to see in my favorite fishing spots ..the Local Fish and Game club started complaining about the lack of whitefish on the Crow a few years back (but the suckers went first) I have seen Otters on the Crow ,Livingstone ,Oldman ,Michelle, West Castle ,Waterton , Gold creek , I think there is at least and dozen otters on the Crowsnest itself , judging by the little familly groups I see .. The bad thing about the Otters is they just kill trout for fun .. they can only eat so many trout and it,s a long day... I have occasionally seen a half eaten trout and half a dozen dead trout bitten behind the head in a pool... A couple that come into the shop have a house on Gold creek over looking the lower falls and they watched a familly of 5 otters play all day diving bellow the ice and bringing up trout just to be left to rot ..needless to say the fishing in the lower gold creek has really been poor and I counted 4 reds two years ago and none this year... that whole Frank area has been missing it,s big fish .. in the winter when you can count trout in a pool , I think there is only 25% the fish numbers as of ten years ago...It makes sence that they are most evective in small streams.. The other bad thing about this is don,t expect fish and wildlife to do anything about it , because it,s really all about them , their union and their lack of funding for studies If common sence was used for fisheries management most of us could do it !(starting with catch and release on all flowing trout water ) and if they did do a study we would be out of trout on our small streams by the time they get it together ...we can.t really fight nature ,that is why all streams need to be catch and release... (common sence again ) because that is the only thing we can really manage .. or hey! they might not let us fish at all ..??? Al B. name='DonAndersen' date='Aug 5 2011, 01:08 PM' post='148104']

OH Crap - they are already here.

 

Folks,

 

 

In the 56 years I've fished all over western Alberta I never saw an otter till 3 years ago. Now the count is 17. So for 53 years, the graph registers "0" - in 3 years it goes to 17. And I've seeing them in a whole lot of places. Both streams and lakes. What does it mean. Well, Otters like to eat - fish mostly - trout, whitefish, suckers et al. But by in large whatever they can catch. Well, I've seen otters four different occasions on Ironside Pond reflecting, I would guess, their fondness for trout.

How many do they eat depends on their size and whether or not they are feeding young. One estimate is 5 lbs./otter/day. Am I the only one seeing them - hardly. One nice thing about living in the area is I know people who are in the bush a lot. They are also seeing them. A friend saw a group of 5 cross the Pr. Creek road, others have been seen from east of Spruceview to Buck Lake. I've been told of Otters on the Carbondale and well as some tribs to the Elk in BC. Frankly, they are everywhere and they are spreading.

What’s the concern? Well, for some folks not much but there are hot spots of concern in the Rocky area where some species of trout exist and are barely holding on. The Swan Lake lake trout is an example followed by bull trout spawning areas located in CutOff Creek or Falls creek. The concentration of bull trout or lake trout in the spawning areas makes the population vulnerable. As far as the fishermen, the over-wintering pools for cutthroat are really @ risk as well as brown trout spawning areas in both Pr. Creek and Stauffer Creek.

 

What is to be done? Well, I contacted SRD both fisheries and wildlife folks. The Fisheries folks told me that monitoring was a low priority as neither staffing or resources was available although if such became available streams would be done before lakes. The Wildlife Biologist told me that they need a management plan for the otters in our area. She went along to say “It would be completely irresponsible management to proceed with possible changes to harvest regimes & management strategies without first establishing otter population trend, potential impacts on fish populations (if any) etc.”

 

But, and this is where it gets weird. Trappers in Alberta and elsewhere have taken Otters for about 200 years without a management plan. None when the Hudson Bay Company ran the trapping, none where the Federal Govt ran trapping and none for Alberta’s Provincial Govt who have been able to increase the population of Otters w/o a plan. In fact, in Alberta, there are no management plans for any furbearer. Good thing or bad – I haven’t a clue. Looks like the Beavers and Otters are doing OK So the question: Is a management plan really necessary? Facing the fact of decreased staffing and resources within SRD and the fact that Otters seem to be doing quite well w/o a plan one is left to wonder why a plan is needed.

 

For a article on the issue written by the Wildlife Biologist, see: http://www.srd.alberta.ca/FishWildlife/ ... un2010.pdf

 

And what can you do? The Biologist needs to know about Otters. She’s not in the field like you and I. Lets tell her. She asks for sightings, location and pictures and send to Anne Hubbs or Chiara Feder at 403-845-8230 Anne Hubbs <Anne.Hubbs@gov.ab.ca>

 

Thank folks - we need to have something done about the infestation.

 

regards,

 

 

Don

 

[jonny5]

Theres only one solution. Start fishing for otters.

[speyghillie]

Been watching Otters at a Trout fishery i manage for over a year now and have found them to be very selective in their hunting, most of the year they seem to hunt Frogs and eels, and when taking trout they take one per night, i have a holding area with Hundreds of Rainbows which the otter could easily kill 20 a night............... but doesn't, i have much more fish damage from Herons and sawbills.

Gordon.

[DonAndersen]

Speyghillie,

 

What part of Alberta you getting eels in? Always wanted to catch and eat some of them.

 

And how big are the trout each otter takes?

 

 

regards,

 

 

Don

[duanec]

wow, read this thread last night and then today saw my very first otter in alberta upstream at bearspaw.

someone transplant one near me today?

[Guest tallieho]

are you sure there members of the skunk family....

[zed]

what do otters taste like?

[Taco]

what do otters taste like?

 

fishy

 

[Ricinus]

fishy

 

Not if you eat them fresh.

 

Mike

[Weedy1]

What’s the difference between a large pizza and an otter

A pizza can feed a family of four.

 

What’s the difference between a pizza and an otter?

A pizza doesn’t scream when you put it in the oven.

 

What do you call a food stamp inside of a taco?

An otter fortune cookie

 

What’s the difference between a pothole and an otter?

You’d swerve to avoid a pothole, wouldn’t you?

 

An otter and an otter are in a car, who’s driving?

The cops

 

How do you save an otter from drowning?

Take your foot of its head

 

An otter was walking with a parrot on his shoulder and on his way he meets an otter.

”He is so cute! Does he speak?” says the otter.

”I don’t know I just bought him,” says the parrot.

 

What happens when an otter with an erection walks into a wall?

He breaks his nose.

 

How’s Christmas celebrated in otter homes?

They put parking meters on the roof.

 

Why are otters getting stronger?

T.V.’s are getting bigger

 

What’s the difference between an otter and a letter?

You can send the letter back where it came from.

 

Why do otters stink?

So blind people can hate them too.

 

How does an otter get into an honest business?

Usually through the skylight.

 

Did you hear about that one otter that went to college?

Yeah, me neither

[EvilWeevil]

roflmao hahahhahaah that was awesome damn otters anyway