Resource managment
Cormorant curb could be coming

By Robert Mongtomery
BASS Times, May 2003

The days of unchecked population expansion could be over for the cormorant in the not-too-distant future.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — For fishermen across the country, the news is long overdue. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has finally issued a rule that, if approved, could help curb the exploding population of fish-eating cormorants.

For years, fishermen from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes have watched helplessly as cormorant populations have expanded and sport fisheries have been decimated. Fishermen and resource managers complained — to anyone and everyone who would listen. Their voices were apparently heard, prompting the FWS to begin the long and sometimes painful bureaucratic process that might change the law that provides blanket protection for cormorants.

The rule, which would implement the preferred "alternative" identified in a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) on double-crested cormorant management released in 2001, gives resource managers "greater flexibility to manage double-crested cormorants to reduce conflicts with human activities, such as recreational fishing and commercial aquaculture. Double-crested cormorants are colonial water birds whose numbers have increased substantially in the past 30 years," the FWS said in announcing the move.

"The new rule will give local authorities a more active role in double-crested cormorant management," explained Steve Williams, FWS director. "Since this bird's population is increasing and they have been shown to cause local impacts to natural and economic resources, we believe local management with national oversight is the best approach to reduce conflicts."

If passed, the proposed rule would establish a new public resource depredation order authorizing 24 state fish and wildlife agencies, tribes and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's wildlife services agency to implement a management program, while maintaining federal oversight of populations via reporting and monitoring requirements to ensure sustainable populations. Without this rule, agencies must first receive a federal permit in order to control double-crested cormorants.

Also under the proposed rule, a previous 1998 aquaculture depredation order would remain in effect and continue to allow double-crested cormorants to be taken at commercial freshwater aquaculture facilities and state-owned fish hatcheries in 13 states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas) and would be expanded to authorize winter roost control by wildlife services in those same states.

By the time cormorants were given federal protection in the early 1970s, their populations had dropped precipitously, largely due to DDT-induced eggshell thinning and human persecution. Today, the population is at an all-time high, due in large part to the presence of ample food in their summer and winter ranges, federal and state protection, and reduced contaminant levels.

Between 1970 and 1991 in the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, the number of double-crested cormorant nests increased from 89 to 38,000. By 1997, the Great Lakes population had reached approximately 93,000 pairs and was most recently estimated at 115,000 pairs. The total North American population of double-crested cormorants is approximately 2 million.

"The population resurgence of double-crested cormorants has led to increasing concern about their impact on resources such as fisheries, aquaculture, vegetation and colonial water birds," according to the FWS.

Following publication of the draft EIS in the fall of 2001, the FWS hosted 10 meetings at sites across the country to share the findings of the draft and to seek public comment on the resource depredation order alternative. Based on more than 1,000 comments received, the strongest public support was for this alternative, followed by the alternative of regional population reduction. The proposed rule will have a 60 day public comment period before the federal agency makes its final decision.

Double-crested cormorants are one of approximately 800 species protected under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, and subsequent amendments. This act was first passed to implement the terms of the convention between the United States and Great Britain (on behalf of Canada) for the protection of migratory birds. Excessive market hunting of migratory birds prompted this convention, which was later followed by conventions with Mexico, Japan and Russia.