Cormorant control

[james bonawitz]

Did anybody catch the Watertown newspaper or news today? My friend that lives up there said that they are it will be no oiling of the eggs or any controls for that matter on the cormorants this spring. So between the gobies and the cormorant and God only knows what else is decimating our fish populations Kama Maybe something should be addressed. Any one smarter than me have any thoughts on this

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[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

Horrible decimation of fish stocks, both natural and costly yearling stocked trout. I've been told NYSDEC wanted to step up lethal control, but the brilliant federal gov threatened to sue. Of course this made NY turn tail. I've been told that our only hope is a different type of administration.

[Sk8man]

I'll bet if those damned things were messing up the private lakes where the Fed legislators have their cottages they wouldn't be so "attached" to them. They have polluted a number of ponds on Cape Cod....totally worthless bird and they damage many things in the ecosystem.

Edited October 4, 2016 by Sk8man

[stlhdr1st]

i agree the cormorant population is totally out of control!the main nesting area appears to be the spit ,under the burlington skyway,ont..there are at least a thousand birds there and in the immediate surrounding area...was thinking of maybe a couple of hungry raccoons let loose in the spring might at least slow the  population explosion we are experiencing...what is wrong with our MNR??they have been stocking browns  at the boat ramp in Jordan harbour for years...the very next morning literally  hundreds of these birds are lining the walls...

[rlconverse]

good cormorant control would be a one day open season on the darn things!! bet thier would not be many boats fishing that day

[hossenlopp]

They have them here in Irondequoit Bay.  They kill all the trees they nest in as well.  They have been trying to control the population by shooting them.  I was boating near that, and then decided to move after the shooting started!  Doubt this will do much to the overall population though.

[stlhdr1st]

check  this out!...is this a case of" too little too late?"

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2016/06/20/cormorants-face-vigilante-justice-in-new-ontario-bill-walkom.html

Edited October 4, 2016 by stlhdr1st

[fisherdude]

i think i remember some years ago when the dec wouldn't do any thing about those fish eating nasty birds the charter caps out of henderson made a run at night and did a number on them while nesting up for the night . my hat went to them , but i think the feds got involved 

[A-TOM-MIK]

I frequent the general area with the most nests on the lake, Galoo and north, I do about 40 trips each fall, been doing this for many years. All I can say is ITS NOT GOOD, I'm seeing more and more, situation is horrible

Tom

[Peave]

The problem is a Federal judge issued a ruling this past Spring that legally stopped the ability of the DEC and similar organizations in other states, from oiling eggs or killing double breasted cormorants in an attempt to control their population.  A terrible decision which the DEC and others are trying to get changed.  Unfortunatly, for now, their hands are tied and all they can do is harass birds.  Here is a brief explaination of what happened: http://www.newyorkupstate.com/outdoors/2016/05/federal_court_ruling_halts_nys_lethal_cormorant_control_practices.html

 

I suggest we all write letters of support for ongoing cormorant control to our elected officials, state & federal agencies, etc.  That's what I did anyway.   It may help and can't hurt. 

[skipper19]

Out there on little galloo at night would have been good if no one opened their mouth in a bar. It's pretty remote. Nite scope clicking the trigger and walk away, picking ones teeth.

Of course not today...too much surveillance.

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[ut_falcon]

Up on the north shore kingston area they have taken over all the islands and killed off most of the trees. In the laSt two years new colony's have moved to the shorelines killing off more tree and taking over the few good spots to fish from shore. In the spring box nests are placed on some of the island, I'd assume for some of the other bird species but the cormorants take them over. Great to see our government helping to spread their population.

There was a bill introduced to allow hunting but haven't heard much about it lately. Hope a couple of raccoons get released on those islands, they have no predators to contol the numbers.

[shorething]

Counted well over 500 of the things flying over the lake yesterday morning without really trying. Way too many of these things around .

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[Traveling Circus]

http://www.peer.org/news/news-releases/court-finds-cormorant-mass-killing-policy-illegal.html

 

PEER is at the root of the change to stop controlling cormorants. They appear to be a Washington based Environmental Activist group that uses a "whistleblower" spin on their efforts to "protect" the environment. The quickest way to jam things up is to threaten/apply litigation.

 

Of course, the situation on the Toronto Islands, Galloo, etc..... is crystal clear from Washington.

[james bonawitz]

Does anyone know who I could direct letters to names and addresses would be greatly appreciated. That would be on the south side of the pond. American side

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[james bonawitz]

Or maybe set up some good old-fashioned petitions at some businesses and sports shops. Might just be blowing smoke but will you really should try to do something here over the winter. I'm on point peninsula and you can smell the damn things after a rain and the islands 7 or 8 miles from my camp

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[eriesalmon]

Thank the Feds, we have them here in the western basin of Lake Erie and Michigan. They will literally strip a small island of all vegetation from roosting and feces. Go look at Little sister island lake Erie, stripped. Here is an interesting article where the feds are involved in the cormorant control..  http://michiganradio.org/post/judge-rules-federal-agency-overstepped-its-bounds-cormorant-control

[chinook35]

The 1998 cormorant shoot on Little Galloo island brought attention to the cormorant problem on  Lake O . I remember it well . Unfortunately ,the men involved paid hefty fines and some did time in fed prison . The egg oiling is a viable control method and needs to be continued . The feds have to change the laws protecting these birds . They fall under the migratory bird treaties and are protected by fed law . Back in the 80's , They were seen in flocks of hundreds . After the egg oiling program started the flocks seemed to be much smaller . This past season ,all over Mexico bay and north ,the flocks have grown again to large size . I am writing the DEC and my senators and congressmen to bring attention to this problem before it gets to the point of no return . Just for the record . The body count on little Galoo in 1998 was over 850 cormorants . Good shooting guys !

Edited October 8, 2016 by chinook35

[muskiedreams]

From the comments here, and from discussions I have seen in the past on this subject it seems that south of the border we were taking measures to control them when north of the border, nothing was being done. Now it looks like the situation is turned around and they are taking measures to control them north of the border while efforts are now being blocked to the south. Since they are migratory birds, it seems like it would make sense to have a coordinated effort to control them.

 

One of the things that may have been a contributing factor in their population explosion and their impact on fish populations, could be the clear water due to invasive mussels and other factors. The clear water may be making it easier for them to devastate fish populations in some areas. I wonder if there are less cormorants around waters that are naturally turbid.