Shooting Cormorants !!

scuby

Does anyone have a view on shooting cormorants due to the destruction that they cause in the rivers and lakes in Ireland. We have shot them for a number of years and since then the number of trout and other fish have risen in the rivers... dam vermin......for a 16 gage shot gun you need a number 5 to get em and on a 12 gage a nice BB or a number 5 cartridge !!..... this can either be a fishing or shooting question ????

macnas

I do...... lead on them a bit more, they're deceptively fast.

civdef

Cormorants are a protected species...

Dáil Éireann - Volume 499 - 27 January, 1999

Written Answers. - Review of Legislation.

Mr. McGuinness Mr. McGuinness

764. Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands if her Department will examine the law in relation to cormorants to determine if the activity of these birds can be monitored to determine the damage, if any, they cause to juvenile salmon and trout. [28298/98]

Miss de Valera Miss de Valera

Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands (Miss de Valera): The cormorant, like all wild birds, is a protected species under the Wildlife Act, 1976. As a protected species, the cormorant cannot be hunted, captured or killed except under licence or permission granted under the Wildlife Act, 1976. The impact of cormorant feeding on vulnerable fish stocks is subject to control under permissions granted by me under section 42 of that Act. These permissions are granted where there is evidence of serious damage to fish stocks. The resultant impact on cormorant populations is minimised by the imposition of restrictions on the permissions granted.

Bona fide research on the cormorant can also be facilitated by licensing under the Wildlife Act. Some limited studies have been carried out here and in other European countries to examine the impact of the cormorant on fish stocks. However, the results have been inconclusive.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

Sorry but could you describe these "cormorants"?

Would I be wrong in saying that they are like herron? Could someone post a picture please? Thanks...

Clare gunner

Black with a white bib under the bill to the chest area.Non waterproof feathers,so its common position is sitting with outspead wings to dry.Is also a communal bird.Herons are solitary and much bigger,[stands appx 3.5 feet tall] and are non diving birds,the cormorant is a diver.The Heron hunts by stalking and using his bill like a spear.

scuby

hey cidef...
thought the government changed the law a few years ago to allow a few people from each gun club to shoot the cormorants as they were being very destructive in the river systems. They eat 6-10 pounds of fish a day, min.......
Anyway there are millions of them around the coast, more than seagulls at this stage.... i would rather protect the trout and other fish life in the rivers......
about 3-4 years ago my father shot a cormorant, after he shot him he went to pick him up and he had a big bulge in the bottom of his throat, and my father stood on his chest to squeeze out what ever was in him, and an 18 inch rainbow trout came out of him, he was just about covered in the cormorants stomach saliva and it was starting to digest him..... he kept it on a piece of cardboard and frooze it to show it to the other local clubs as they always said that they did no harm !! soon after all the local clubs shot some and the trout started to be plentiful again... and the nearest stocked rainbow trout was about 20 miles away from where we got him.....