The fishermen and pond owners in Bavaria continue to push for otters to be allowed to be shot more easily. To this end, the EU Commission should lower the strict protection status of the animals – similar to what it plans to do with wolves. “We hope for the strong support of the state government,” says the president of the state fishing association, Axel Bartelt. However, the example of wolves also shows that lowering the protection status of an animal species is not so easy – and especially not so quickly. Fishermen and pond owners have been complaining for a long time about millions in damages caused by the voracious animals. For 2022, Agriculture Minister Michaela Kaniber (CSU) put it at almost 2.7 million euros, which corresponds to an almost tenfold increase compared to 2016.
Otters and wolves are not only protected under EU nature conservation law. But also according to the Bern Convention. This is an international treaty to protect wild plants and animals in Europe and their habitats. It would also have to be changed in order to relax the protection of wolves and otters. The Bern Convention was signed by 46 European states, four African states and the EU. Beyond the question of whether the downgrading of otter protection is capable of gaining a majority among them, it is clear that the process for this will certainly take several years. In the last initiative to weaken the protection of wolves in the Bern Convention, around five years passed between application and decision. Incidentally, the proposal was rejected.
The fishermen originally had high hopes for the otter regulation that the state government issued in spring 2023. It was limited to Lower Bavaria and the Upper Palatinate and only released a comparatively small contingent of otters for shooting. From the perspective of conservationists, however, it marked a turning point in how the Free State deals with protected animals. Until then, the pond owners were able to protect their ponds and the fish in them from the voracious predators with electric fences. If this was not possible or did not help, they should now be allowed to shoot individual otters. The conservationists didn’t want to accept that. The Bavarian Administrative Court agreed with them.
The pond owners’ frustration has been great ever since. “We are back to square one and still cannot protect ourselves efficiently from the otter,” says Alfred Stier, master fish farmer in Bärnau in Upper Palatinate and vice president of the state fishing association. “The existing compensation is far from sufficient to cover the losses.” He is calling for compensatory measures for companies that suffer particularly from otters. “Otherwise more colleagues will give up and pond management will soon be history.” Just 30 years ago, river otters had practically disappeared in the Free State, with the exception of a few specimens in the Bavarian Forest. In the meantime, stocks have recovered, especially in eastern Bavaria. It is estimated that around 650 otters live there.