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Human - Wildlife Conflicts in Europe pp 81–106Cite as

Otters Causing Conflicts

The Fish Farming Case of the Czech Republic

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Part of the book series: Environmental Science and Engineering ((ENVSCIENCE))

Abstract

In the Czech Republic fish farming is common throughout the country with a stronghold of carp production in southern Bohemia. The conflict arising from otter predation on commercial fish rapidly increased due to the political and social changes since 1989. Nature protection authorities undertook a set of measurements to appease the conflict. It included compensation schemes for losses, public relations etc., however, the conflict has continued. Within the FRAP project, social and ecological research was carried out and provided further recommendations how to mitigate the conflict. These are a continuous assessment of the compensation scheme, a simplification, differentiation and decentralization of the compensation payments, joint data collection, and setting up an organization of small pond farmers, a better involvement of stakeholders in conflict mitigation and further ecological research to better understand the biological background of the conflict.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The Eurasian otter is a medium-sized carnivore in the family Mustelidae with a high degree of adaptations for a semi-aquatic life (Kruuk 1995). In context of conflict resolution the following aspects of its biology are crucial: (1) otters are piscivore (= depend on fish as food), (2) they are mainly nocturnal, thus direct observations are only seldom possible and excrements give the main cues (3) they may breed all year round and thus any kind of regulation is highly controversial.

  2. 2.

    The derogations and conditions under which they apply are listed in Article 16 of the Habitats Directive (Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora).

  3. 3.

    Personal communication with Hlaváč V. and Roche, M., Toman, A.

  4. 4.

    The Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) of the EU.

  5. 5.

    The survey had been carried out before the compensation law 114/2000 was introduced.

  6. 6.

    On average two persons took part in a single interview.

  7. 7.

    Especially families (females with dependent cubs) do significant damage simply because they are more individuals together and because of learning to catch prey.

  8. 8.

    The most comprehensive data about the claimed compensations are available in the Czech Otter Foundation Fund, which provided expert reports for most of claims.

  9. 9.

    Currently, both local and regional authorities are involved in the review of the compensation claims, though at different stages (see Box 2).

  10. 10.

    e.g., the otter surveys carried out for the Ministry of Environment.

  11. 11.

    Lump-sum compensation is based on an estimation of the expected loss, independent of actual damage.

  12. 12.

    Presently land use planning does not take the otter into account when new fish farms are built. The otter is not considered as a factor that affects future farming and some people, who build a fish farm, are not even aware that otters live in the area. In the course of land use planning and granting licenses to run a fish farm, mitigation measures and incentives for environmentally friendly management should be suggested respectively be a prerequisite.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financed by the EU 5th Framework Program (5th FP) Project “FRAP” (Development of a procedural Framework for Action Plans to Reconcile conflicts between large vertebrate conservation and the use of biological resources: fisheries and fish-eating vertebrates as a model case), contract number EVK 2-CT-2002-00142-FRAP.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Wildlife Biology and Game Management, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Gregor Mendel Street 33, 1180, Vienna, Austria

    Kateřina Poledníková, Andreas Kranz & Lukáš Poledník

  2. Department of Economics, UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Permoserstraße 15, 04318, Leipzig, Germany

    Jaroslav Myšiak

  3. Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, and Euro-Mediterranean Center for Climate Change, Castello 5252, 30122, Venice, Italy

    Jaroslav Myšiak

Authors
  1. Kateřina Poledníková
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  2. Andreas Kranz
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  3. Lukáš Poledník
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  4. Jaroslav Myšiak
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Correspondence to Kateřina Poledníková .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Conservation Biology, Helmholtz Centre for Envrmnt Research, Permoserstraße 15, Leipzig, 04318, Germany

    Reinhard A. Klenke

  2. Environmental Research, Department of Economics, UFZ—Helmholtz Centre for, Permoserstr. 15, Leipzig, 04318, Germany

    Irene Ring

  3. Management, University of Natural Resources, Institute of Wildlife Biology and Game, Gregor Mendel Str. 33, Wien, 1180, Austria

    Andreas Kranz

  4. Research (DIFRES), Dept. Inland Fisheries, Danish Institute for Fisheries, Vejlsoevej 39, Silkeborg, 8600, Denmark

    Niels Jepsen

  5. Department of Environmental Politics, UFZ Helmholtz Centre for Envmnt Resrch, Permoserstraße 15, Leipzig, 04318, Germany

    Felix Rauschmayer

  6. Leipzig-Halle GmbH, Department of Conservation Biology, UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Envrmnt Resrch, Permoserstraße 15, Leipzig, 04318, Sachsen, Germany

    Klaus Henle

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Poledníková, K., Kranz, A., Poledník, L., Myšiak, J. (2013). Otters Causing Conflicts. In: Klenke, R., Ring, I., Kranz, A., Jepsen, N., Rauschmayer, F., Henle, K. (eds) Human - Wildlife Conflicts in Europe. Environmental Science and Engineering(). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-34789-7_5

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