The fact that cormorants are illegally shot will not come as a suprise to readers of this column. In the absence of sensible procedures to control the birds anglers and fishery owners will take whatever steps they believe are appropriate in order to protect their interests. But nothing I have heard of in England comes near an incident I discovered while researching the cormorant problem. It happened, not so long ago, in the States, where Double Crested Cormorants are wreaking havoc in the Gt. Lakes, and serves to illustrate graphically the lengths that some fishermen there have gone to, in order to highlight/resolve their problems. It's a tragic story, that should not have happened, but there are many parallels with the situation in the UK and although I believe that it could never happen here, desperate situations bring desperate measures.. Twenty seven years ago, according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) statistics, the island of Little Galloo, in Lake Ontario, in New York State, had 22 nesting pairs of Double Crested Cormorants. By 1996 their numbers had grown to a staggering 8,410 pairs, in line with a general increase in the Gt. Lakes region of 29% average every year since 1970. ( In the UK the inland nesting cormorant population is growing at an average 35% from zero in 1980!) And the island became a lifeless, other than cormorants, guano encrusted wasteland. Now this island lies approximately 10 miles, as the cormorant flies, from a small resort town Henderson Harbour. A town of 1200 people whose whole economy revolves around sport fishing, where there are some 40 charter boats, and where in season the population can rise to 10,000. Here the cormorants were viewed not only as a threat to the fish but also as a bigger threat to their local industry. ( Has anyone similarly counted their cost in overall economic terms here?). And as the numbers rose, so too did the frustration with the Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) who were asked to help. Indeed the DEC had, in the mid 80's, already removed nests from an island 40 miles away, but this wasn't for the fishermen, it was to protect a threatened species the common tern! In 1994 too, they had also destroyed nests on two other islands 'to reduce competition with black-crowned night herons and prevent habitat degradation'. But still nothing was done for the fishermen, despite the DEC's own studies of cormorant food habits confirming anglers' claims . (Any similarities come to mind?) Later that autumn, a public hearing was arranged in Syracuse, which was attended by 400 people, but the DEC who were invited to attend, declined, sending instead two biologists from the USFWS. The last straw for charter boat skipper Mitch Franz came when one of them made a statement to the effect that 'if cormorants are eating so many fish, then perhaps the anglers bag limit should be reduced, so that the cormorants didn't suffer.' In Franz's words 'That's what loaded my gun' But it wasn't just Mitch's gun that was loaded. For when wildlife biologists were called to Little Galloo in July 1998, dozens of spent shotgun cartridges told the tale of a mass slaughter the likes of which had never been seen in the State before. Federal Agents investigating the incident reported the death of 856 double crested cormorants. Ten arrests followed, including Mitch Franz. Most of the culprits were boat operators from around the town, and all of them pleaded guilty to violating the Migratory Bird Treaty of 1918. The penalties were high, 2 years probation, 6 months in-house confinement, and up to $2500 in fines. In addition the men had to make a joint contribution of $27,500 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Back in Henderson Harbour however the shooters were acclaimed as heroes. The local business community hosted fund raising dinners, and sold T-shirts, hats and the like for the cause. Strangely, some five months after the shootings, DEC studies confirmed that the birds were indeed eating 87.5 million fish/year including 1.3 million small mouthed bass, one of the fishermen's favourite's, while fishermen caught just 36,000. In 1999 the DEC agreed to cut the population to 1200 pairs by coating eggs with a vegetable oil, destroying nests and shooting 300 adults. The incident, which also initiated complaints from Lake Eyrie, Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, Lake Champlain and Cape Cod, finally brought the problem to the attention of Washington. Later in the year the USEWS announced it's intent to develop a national management plan for the birds and a bill was to be introduced to Congress to allow cormorant hunting. As soon as I get to know the result I'll let you know. One problem facing the US however, if their programme goes ahead, is what their neighbours in Canada will do. Dr. Lee Harper, the director of the St Lawrence Bird Observatory and himself a fisherman and duck hunter fears that local controls will just drive the birds away, pointing out that the biggest cormorant colony on the Gt Lakes is in Canada. It seems that even in the US they have the same game of ping pong that we have here, but on a much larger scale. There too, as in Europe, an international co-ordinated approach is required, but I'm not the first to suggest that! Of course a similar situation couldn't happen in the UK, could it? I hope not, but just as in the US, clubs, fishery owners and individuals livelihood's, sport and enjoyment are being affected. Can I suggest instead you all keep getting the signatures on those petitions and lets hope we can persuade our Government to take some action on our behalf by peaceful means. Petitions are available from Jim, on 01246 410601. FISHERY OWNERS AND MATCH ORGANIZERS CAN HELP TREMENDOUSLY, IF YOU HAVE GOT ANY FORMS YET, RING JIM TODAY.