An announcement by Natural Environment and Fisheries Minister Richard Benyon has been hailed as 'victory' by the Angling Trust in their long-running campaign for relaxation of the law relating to the control of cormorants.
Details have still to be clarified, but it seems that a catchment-based approach will be adopted in future. Control will be based on regional needs rather than arbitrary national limits, and three regional advisers (funded by Defra) will be appointed to support fishery managers. Cormorant numbers will be assessed annually by catchment and the scheme will continue so long as the conservation status of the birds is not threatened.
Despite being a lifelong angler and a member of the Angling Trust, I sincerely believe the stance against cormorants is wrong and based on dubious evidence. Let's hope those regional advisers take a more rational view of the situation.
Having just seen this post makes me want to comment as today I visited Loompit Lake, Levington, Suffolk this morning, this is a well known fishing lake, without it we would not have the chance of seeing much wildfowl
With this hot weather, the algae has multiplied enormously since my last visit 6 weeks ago, in fact the algae is so thick that I didn't see one fisherman present, the only fishing was being conducted by the colony of Cormorant that roost here
Why can't anglers and cormorants live side by side, surely each have a common stake on this planet called Earth, I have just finished a Youtube video of the lake from this morning
http://youtu.be/3b1jGyzEPRk apologies in advance for the wind sound
http://www.flickr.com/photos/16304936@N06/
http://suffolk.activeboard.com/f528553/birds-of-suffolk/