Franz Kühn still remembers exactly what it was like when he first encountered the otter. “It’s maybe 15 years ago that there were always large, dead, eaten carps lying around on the banks of one of our fish ponds,” says Kühn, who runs an extensive fish farm and the traditional Schwan inn in Tirschenreuth in Upper Palatinate. “At first we didn’t even think that it could have been an otter that helped itself. We rather suspected an osprey.” After all, the northern Upper Palatinate and Upper Franconia are the only regions in Bavaria where the dark brown and white feathered raptors with comparatively long, narrow wings breed.
“But when we fished the pond later, there were a third fewer carp in there than we had put in,” reports Kühn. “It was then clear to us that it could only have been an otter. Because no osprey gets that many fish.” Today it happens again and again to Kühn that he has losses of 90 percent and more in individual ponds. “Most of them go to the Otter,” he says. “90 percent, that’s crazy.” He complains of 10,000 to 15,000 euros in damage a year from the voracious robber. Many pond owners in the Upper Palatinate and Lower Bavaria fare the same way as Kühn.
From the point of view of conservationists, the return of the otter is first and foremost a great success. This is what the head of the State Association for Bird Protection (LBV), Norbert Schäffer, emphasized again this Saturday in front of around 300 fish farmers and anglers. Schäffer was a guest at the state fishing day in Vilsbiburg, Lower Bavaria. The only topic there: the re-spreading of the otter in Bavaria and the problems that it causes with its greed for the pond owners and, more and more often, also for the anglers. After all, an adult otter eats 1.5 kilos of fish a day. “Of course, the otter is part of nature in Bavaria,” said LBV boss Schäffer to the pond owners and anglers. “His return is therefore a win.”
30 years ago the otter was practically extinct in Bavaria
About 30 years ago, Lutra lutra, as the otter is scientifically called, was practically extinct in Bavaria. There were only a few specimens of the strictly protected species in a few streams and rivers in the Bavarian Forest and the northern Upper Palatinate. In the meantime, however, the lightning-fast swimmers and persistent divers have clearly spread again. In the first official study for the Free State, the otter experts Steven Weiss and Tamara Schenekar estimate the population in East Bavaria at around 650 individuals. There could therefore be around a thousand pieces across Bavaria. However, practitioners like Kühn are certain that there are already significantly more.
In the Upper Palatinate, the pond owners and anglers speak of a “stock explosion”. They firmly believe that the predators will have spread throughout Bavaria again in the foreseeable future. In the meantime, the pond owners in Aischgrund in Central Franconia are increasingly having massive problems, and the area around Rosenheim in Upper Bavaria is another “hotspot”. Only in Swabia and Lower Franconia is it still comparatively quiet, according to the State Fishing Association (LFV).
For LFV President Albert Göttle it is clear “that the otter is no longer threatened with extinction in Bavaria”. Its strict protection status is “in no way justified” and “urgently needs to be adjusted”. From Göttle’s point of view, it is “high time to allow the removal of otters.” LFV Vice-President Alfred Stier even demands that otters, which cause problems for the pond owners, may be taken within a radius of 200 meters from the respective fish pond. By “removal” Göttle and Stier mean, of course, the launch.
Fischer President Albert Göttle is certain that the otter is no longer threatened with extinction in Bavaria.
(Photo: Bavarian State Fishing Association)
The fishermen and anglers justify their rigorous demands not only with the economic damage caused by the otters. But also with the protection of the unique cultural landscape in the Upper Palatinate and the preservation of biodiversity. The Upper Palatinate pond economy looks back on a centuries-old history. The business of the Tirschenreuth fish farmer and innkeeper Kühn has been in the family for at least 500 years. That is the reason why Unesco has declared the Upper Palatinate pond economy as an intangible world cultural heritage. “But if more and more pond owners give up their business because of otters, the world cultural heritage is in danger,” says Göttle.
From the point of view of the LFV President, the situation is similar with biodiversity. Because the otter also attacks nase, hucho and other rare river fish species. And he is even a threat to the extremely endangered freshwater pearl mussel, says Göttle. The brown trout needs it as a host fish for its spread. Göttle’s conclusion: if the otter now decimates the brown trout, the chances of survival of the freshwater pearl mussel decrease at the same time. “We can’t watch until it’s too late for nase, huchen and brown trout,” says Göttle. “All wild animals in Bavaria are worth the same. The excessive protection of symbolic animal species must come to an end if it is foreseeable that this will be at the expense of other endangered species.”
CSU and Free Voters have been calling for kills for years
The CSU and Free Voters have adopted the demands of the pond owners and anglers for at least five years. In view of the rapid spread of the otter and the increasing damage from year to year, the Greens and even the conservationists are now apparently also thinking. The Munich Greens member of the state parliament and long-time federal nature conservation official Christian Hirneis explained at the state fishing day that he “could imagine taking the otter in key regions” – provided that the species is actually no longer endangered there. After all, he wanted to “preserve both the otter and the pond economy”.
LBV boss Schäffer no longer categorically excludes exceptions for regulation in regions that are particularly affected. But first he calls for the definition of preventive measures and compensation payments to the pond owners. At the same time, he demands “an end to the downright demonization of the otter”. The LFV must reflect on the real reasons for the loss of species in streams and rivers. According to Schäffer, these are the many weirs and hydroelectric power plants that block the fish’s migration paths to the spawning grounds, residues of fertilizer and agrochemicals, but also washed-in soil, the increasingly frequent periods of drought that cause streams to dry up, and immigrated predatory fish such as the Black Sea -Goby.