Discussion
This chap thought he would save money and was above the law and shoot an Otter
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-51801...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-51801...
got what he deserved.I have had this conversation so many times with fellow anglers who just don't get it. If you want to fish in an artificial environment, fence the predators out of your livestock / pet carp. If you want to fish in nature, accept that nature includes predators and that big, old, senescent fish are likely to get eaten and that's OK.
garyhun said:
Lazermilk said:
His caravan park and fishery is no doubt going to be getting some great reviews online now, nice way to save money eh... bellend!
Let us hope so. He's nothing but a useless, vile .If anyone else feels like it join in here
https://www.google.com/search?q=Lyons+Gate+Caravan...
Lazermilk said:
garyhun said:
Lazermilk said:
His caravan park and fishery is no doubt going to be getting some great reviews online now, nice way to save money eh... bellend!
Let us hope so. He's nothing but a useless, vile .If anyone else feels like it join in here
https://www.google.com/search?q=Lyons+Gate+Caravan...
Local newspaper site link to more detail on the story... https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/18293545.ba...
Daily Echo said:
The court heard Jones had run the fishery for 17 years but has recently sold the business and is no longer involved at all.
That's not to say the new owners are entirely Otter-friendly, and not to say they're entirely unconnected with Stuart Jones, but it would appear from the report in that link that scumbag Jones isn't involved, and if that's true then the new owners ought to be given the benefit of starting in the business with a clean slate. Surely they wouldn't be stupid enough to repeat his actions...?I keep hoping to spot otters when I'm out on a bike ride. There are a number of sites on a local river where they are regularly seen, but the riverside path is out of commission due to the run of rotten weather we've had, so I've stayed away so far this year.
I googled the news story, and several journalists have used the phrase "killed otter stealing his valuable carp". This deeply offends me. The otter is doing what otters do. They don't have any concept of ownership, or of theft. These are human traits, constructs of society. Hungry otters eat fish. It's that simple. Jones was manipulating his park's position within nature to encourage visitors to part with their cash for his own enrichment. Otters, and other wildlife, are part of nature and a naturally occuring risk to his business plans. But to state that otters "steal" is utter ballcocks. It's anthropomorphising these animals. My son, a zoology graduate, was ranting about another story on the local news recently. This was about Beavers. Apparently "Beavers are vegan" according to the story on the news. 'Boy' heard that and looked up from his Nintendo Switch to question exactly how a Beaver could be regarded as being "vegan" when veganism is a choice, exercised by omnivorous human beings, to restrict themselves to a wholly plant-based diet. To quote him - "interesting? How's that then? Was the beaver going to fry itself a nice juicy steak for supper, only it had a change of heart and decided to give meat up?" He tells me that beavers are physiologically ill equipped to eat meat, and couldn't process it even if their big, evolved for felling trees, teeth could bite it off and chew it.
As for Stuart Jones?
I know they say "never judge a book by it's cover" and all, but looking at him, I can't say his actions come as that great a surprise...
ETA: Another aside. I know Carp are valuable, and expensive to replace, but the Daily Mirror want to do some fact checking before publishing. In this article... https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/fishery-boss... ...they claim...
Daily Mirror online news story said:
Fishery boss who killed otter stealing his valuable carp is jailed in UK first
Stuart Jones, 54, who owned Lyons Gate Campsite and Fishery in Dorchester, set traps for otters killing carp worth up to £40,000 each
I had a WTF? moment upon reading this. "How can a fish be worth £40,000?" I thought. Turns out they aren't. A brief Google revealed this site... https://www.combleycarpfisheries.co.uk/carp-for-sa... ...and a couple of seconds later I'd done some maths to work out that I could buy a 40lb (Pound) Carp for £4,800, at £120 per lb of fish. Seems to me the Mirror have read the park's own website, where the claim that "you can hook a 40 pound carp" is made, and possibly grabbed at the wrong end of a stick? £4,800 is still expensive for a fish, but £40,000 per fish is a huge mistake to make, and could lead to some sympathy for Jones and his .308 calibre otter management methods.Stuart Jones, 54, who owned Lyons Gate Campsite and Fishery in Dorchester, set traps for otters killing carp worth up to £40,000 each
Edited by yellowjack on Wednesday 11th March 11:27
AW111 said:
Over here carp are vermin - you're not allowed to return them to the water, dead or alive.
They are boring fish anyway - no fight, and they taste muddy.
They're pretty much the core of recreational freshwater angling here. And of course taking one to eat is a faux pas along the lines of shotgunning a royal swan in front of Her Maj and Bill Oddie. They are boring fish anyway - no fight, and they taste muddy.
Unlike some of the warmer countries they've been introduced to, natural recruitment in our climate is modest, so they don't get particularly verminous - except to the extent that the current obsession with them as the be-all and end-all of angling means that they get farmed and chucked into every bloody fishery where when stocked to excess they do the things that get them treated as vermin elsewhere - stir up the sediment and grub up the plants and create a muddy puddle.
They don't pull as hard, weight for weight, as a trout, barbel or mullet - or even a tench for my money - but they are large, powerful fish.
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