I want to make people aware that anglers want to be able to shoot cormorants at will, even if they are just flying or sitting near by. They want a law past so they can do this and I strongly disagree. I would like to start a protect the cormorant society from anglers as they are just living their lives as they should. Anglers as a collective havent a leg to stand on. They may have these fish filled ponds created which serve birds well but they them selves are the cause of many birds deaths. They catch fish for fun and are hating on cormorants (just cormorants) for over fishing their lakes. Well I say this is wrong. Cormorants are more native than anglers and fish to survive not for sport, how can that be a sport, if it is its a blood sport. But why hate the cormorant because it can fish better than them, they should save the thousands they spend each year and do something worth while with it, not harm innocent fish and birds. This subject makes me angry as I love seeing the cormorants where I live in shoreham west sussex, they spend most their time just sitting high up on light towers down the harbour or on old bits of wood down wide water lagoon. Its nice to see they have young juveniles with them this year, white bellied and all. I would hate to see them become endangered because of some grumpy, jealous ill temepered fishermen. I hope to see them in the future and I would like others to witness them as they are beautiful to see at rest, either with wings out drying or head tucked in. Their bumbling flight pattern is amazing to follow as they look so cumbersome in flight. I would like to think their are others out there who agree with me and i would like to hear your opinions.
Well I for one cannot understand how cormo is allowed to use abuse on here,others have been removed for similar offences.Must be because he is defending cormorants being killed.
michael s said: Well I for one cannot understand how cormo is allowed to use abuse on here,others have been removed for similar offences.Must be because he is defending cormorants being killed.
Pete
Birding is for everyone no matter how good or bad we are at it,enjoy it while you can
Final word on this. If anyone can find anything from me defending Cormorants being killed then please point it out to me and I'll remove it. What I objected to was comments being made against all anglers which is clearly ill conceived and badly worded. My point was many anglers, like myself have a passion for wildlife, put lots of hard work into maintaining habitat and don't condone culling of any sort.
Cormo is clearly very emotional about this and is unable to see beyond anything other than their blinkered view on the subject. Hopefully in time they'll understand.
i clearly wrote that i used the word anglers as a general overview, i wasnt accusing all of them. next time i will write anglers ,in brackets i will putnot all of them as some are kind hearted. i wasnt abusing anyone as im not in to abuse. i mearly disagree with humans taking control of others animals lives. never meant any offence. text is hard to judge emotions from so read how you would write.
Sunrider said:My point was many anglers, like myself have a passion for wildlife, put lots of hard work into maintaining habitat and don't condone culling of any sort.
Sunrider,I would put that remark a lot stronger,MOST, not many, anglers are passionate about wildlife.Many years ago I was employed as a part time water bailiff on a local stretch of river and the reports I got of all types of wildlife was brilliant,many of these folk sit for ages in the open air and much of the wildlife just ignores them.
I am a student at writtle college and am doing a study into different ways to manage cormorants. I am a fisherman but also a bird lover. I like to see them aswell specially at sea however the problem is not for one or two birds comeing to a lake but flocks of 50+ birds. They are able to decimate a lake in very short time. Aswell as this i would be very interested to hear more on your views on how fishing is a "Blood Sport"
Hi Benjamin,
Although the cormorant does spend much of its time at sea it is a species of both salt and freshwater and we do have an inland population and these are part and parcel of our countryside now and here to stay.
The UK cormorant population has increased since the 1970s, though the rate slowed during the 1990s and numbers in northern Scotland have fallen. Since 1981, the inland breeding population in England has increased considerably to 2,096 pairs, out of 9,000 pairs nesting in the UK. About 10,000 cormorants winter inland. Numbers of both wintering and breeding birds have stabilised in recent years.
Government research has found no evidence that cormorants damage fish stocks at a national level. We are opposed to removing/reducing the protected status of this species. There may be circumstances where cormorants damage fish stocks at a local level. This is more likely in artificial situations, e.g. where fish are stocked at high densities.
It would be interesting to know what fish populations they are decimating? Are they decimating populations of fish that either are non-native themselves (Zander for example) or fish that are being artificially reared and released for the only benefit of the angler? If so then it's hard to argue what destruction they are having on our environment as the fish they are taking are not really meant to be here.
I do however understand the financial implication for the managers and owners of these fishing lakes, and much like with Otters the onus is on the lakes themselves to manage the target species that are doing the damage in a non lethal way.
Ben A,our local fishing lake owner would like to know how to manage Cormorants in a non lethal way,he already manages Otters in a non lethal way with electric fence,think Cormorants present a bigger challenge.Lets be honest he provides a valuable service in a way similar to what the rspb do so that lots of people enjoy their free time.
Sooty,
I do not doubt that he does provide a valuable service, my local fishing lake is a wildlife haven (complete with Grebes and Cormorants) so not only do I benefit from it but so does the anglers, dog walkers etc.
The Environment Agency produce a decent document regarding this subject which is free for anyone to take a look at, here it is: www.environment-agency.gov.uk/.../protectingfisherya4_615574.pdf
Hugh Miles (RSPB member, ex-employee and also angler) makes a decent point here:
"There is more that should be done to restore natural refuge habitat on rivers, but these measures alone will not solve the problem affecting rivers and lakes right now. Unsustainable cormorant predation is only one of many problems for our rivers - abstraction, pollution, low flows, siltation, extreme weather patterns and global warming are just a few of the others. We need urgent action on these issues and anglers are pressing for this, often in partnership with the RSPB."
The RSPB accept the principle of licensed control as a last resort to protect fisheries at a local level. However, we oppose the reduction in the level of evidence required to demonstrate that serious damage is being caused to a fishery, as this could reduce the cormorant population in England. We believe that the law requires that the level of killing should not affect populations of cormorants.
A tricky situation and one that not everyone will agree on but if our rivers and lakes were in a healthier state then maybe the issue of Cormorant predation wouldn't be such a problem. And you still have to remember what are the Cormorants actually eating, are they mainly taken native fish/eels etc in rivers (which you could argue is natural predation and the food chain) or are they taking introduced fish stocks that are in lakes that are mainly there to service anglers?
Difference is, these creatures, whether they be otters, cormorants, sawbills, or indeed seals in coastal locations, need fish to survive. We don't! So I'll always take the 'creatures' side over that of the fisherman.
And, yes, I do eat fish by the way, but I'd rather go without, than have our wildlife go without!
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