S ince 1994, the Conservation Department has received a steady stream of complaints about otter damage and the negative impact of otters on fishing success. Those complaints also have appeared in letters to editors and articles in newspapers. Otters have been accused of invading private fishing ponds and commercial fish hatcheries stocked by individual landowners. Otters are notoriously adept at catching fish and can clean out a small pond in a matter of a few nights, sometimes leaving dead fish on the bank to rot. Landowners claim they are left with no sizeable fish to catch, and they aren't keen to invest in restocking ponds in the presence of numerous otters.
Otters are lovable creatures and an important feature fo Missouri's ecosystem.
But if their population is not carefully managed, they stand poised to become viewed as damaging pests. The otters are also accused of preying heavily on smallmouth and largemouth bass, goggle eye, catfish and suckers. Anglers fishing clear Ozark headwater streams are reporting a dramatic and rapid loss of keeper-sized fish and believe that otters are responsible. Anglers in other parts of the state have also complained about otter depredation. Anglers contend that river otters locate and prey upon the larger bass in headwater Ozark streams.