US judge: Gov’t can keep killing salmon-eating birds

seattletimes ^ | 2 Sept 2016 | GILLIAN FLACCUS

[DUMBGRUNT]

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife in 2015 authorized the Corps to kill about 11,000 cormorants — or 5,600 breeding pairs — and put oil in 26,000 nests on the island. In 2015 and 2016, the Corps culled 7,086 adults birds and applied oil on 6,181 nests, according to Corps documents.

[DUMBGRUNT]

Let's play GOD.

And they say the gods dislike hubris?

[Grams A]

Nature balances itself. These people are messing in yet another area they have no business in.

[Paleo Pete]

I’m not sure what to think about this.

On the one hand, salmon are in trouble, and as the article said, dams are the biggest problem, that’s been known for a long time. Something has to be done to protect the breeding adults, as well as the young fish on their way offshore, they are incapable of breeding until they spend a summer in the open ocean maturing then go back to freshwater to spawn.

On the other hand, Cormorant populations don’t seem to be in trouble. I saw flocks of hundreds in Louisiana, cruising a local lake, at times I wondered how the bait fish managed to survive the Cormorants alone ate so many. When a flock of at least 300 birds cruises the lake from one end to the other for the entire winter, plus Egrets, Herons and a few Gulls, before you even consider the larger predatory fish like Bass and Catfish, and at least 8 Eagles, I saw 4 adults at one time and 4 immatures. All of those live primarily on fish. The Egrets and Herons will take Crawfish a lot as well, might even prefer them but in winter bait fish like Shad are the most common catches I saw.

So with that many Cormorants that are there all winter, that’s a huge hit on the bait fish. I watched huge flocks feed several times, I’m sure they caught hundreds of fish. I took pictures where in a fraction of a second I got one shot with 15 Cormorants all holding bait fish in their beaks. And Shad is not the only thing, they eat any fish small enough to get down their throats, and I was surprised how big that is...I watched them swallow fish around 8 inches long. They eat young Bass, Catfish, perch, Shad, anything else not too big to eat.

I wondered how the native fish could live, with that big a hit on their finite food supply by a migrant bird. Eagles, Egret and Herons live there year round, Pelicans and Cormorants are winter visitors. Yep, a large number of Pelicans too, adding to the number of smaller fish taken by migrant birds.

So reducing the number of a bird that’s not a threatened species might be necessary, even though objectionable. I’m sure it’s the same in that area, Cormorants and Anhinga, their close cousin, are no the only birds that take small fish. (I don’t know if Anhinga range there though) They also have other fish eating birds, like Eagles, Egrets, Herons, possibly Ospreys, (I’d have to dig out a reference book) Gulls, Terns, Pelicans, and others I haven’t even thought of.

Then you have the mammal predators...Bears take a large number of Salmon, other animals too.

And what of the dams? Those are probably the biggest problem, but if you tear down the dams, thousands of people are out of a water supply. Probably millions. So it’s a conundrum...Cormorants are probably the only predator that is not endangered, unless we can figure out a way to eliminate the need for dams. Or a way around them for the fish.

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

Cormorants are an invasive species from China ,that has decimated the freshwater fishery in the Great Lakes.
They dive and swim underwater and never seem to be satiated; they are to freshwater what the bluefish are in saltwater.
In China, the fisherman goes out in his boat with a cormorant on a leash just tight enough that it can't swallow its catch; the fisherman allows the cormorant to eat every 10th fish.
I can only imagine what damage they are doing in the saltwater fishery since they can swim underwater for a minute or two with their webbed feet.

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

DUMBGRUNT :" Let's play GOD. "

THe FEDs already have played god by putting this invasive species from China
on the 'endangered species list' for several decades.
They breed like rabbits and have decimated the small mouth bass fishery in many areas of the Great Lakes area.
Some people speak of the balance of nature, however due to their protected status by the Feds
and the lack of a natural predator their numbers have exploded.
This action by the Fed is l-o-n-g overdue !

[blackdog]

My daughter is an attorney representing parties against the government in this case. She has been on it for two years now.

[Grams A]

Thanks for the education. Given the info you gave me, it is obvious that I “let my mouth overload my ***! Have a great holiday weekend.

[Larry Lucido]

How do cormorants taste?

[US_MilitaryRules]

Like spotted owls?

[Secret Agent Man]

Econuts going crazy? Nope govt does it.

[null and void]

Mid-way between Bald Eagle and Spotted Owl..

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

Grams A :" Thanks for the education. Given the info you gave me,.."

I got my education while smallmouth bass fishing in the Great Lakes and have seen cormorants swimming 30 feet underwater chasing a fish I was trying to catch.
I have seen them chasing balls of minnows (including gamefish)in saltwater in Florida.
In all honesty, they are a wonder to watch as they swim underwater, as they are sleek and with their webbed feet acting as a flipper, they can turn on a dime.
I just wish they weren't so voracious in their appetite !

[catnipman]

I like the taste of wild salmon MUCH better than wild Cormorant, so if slaughtering millions of Cormorants keeps them from eating millions of baby salmon that grow up to be adult salmon that could wind up on my grill, then I’m all in favor of nuking the Cormorants.

[Cen-Tejas]

Well, the feds murder ranchers and moms holding babies why not a few thousand birds?

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

A.) you can't murder a bird
B.) This bird is a invasive species that is destroying the indigenous wildlife

C.)For once the FedGov is doing the right thing. Don't blink, you might miss it.

[PIF]

However many out migrating juvenile salmon the cormorants eat, seals and sea lions eat more - far more - cormorants near the river mouths are just the first barrier to juvenile survival incurring an 80% mortality rate.

Before the cormorants dine, they must get past the King (Chinook) and Silver (Coho) carnivorous salmon juveniles and and the resident populations (genetically bread for the sport fishing lobby) of the same, plus Steelhead. Pink, Chum and Sockeye are plankton feeders.

These together take make up the populations feeding on the out migrating salmon. On the return four or five years later, the pre-spawing adults face seals and sea lions, so that only 2% or so of the original pre-predation population find their way to the spawning grounds.

So if they kill off lots of cormorants then there will be more fish - nope. Just more food for the others. And if more fish return to the spawning ground, then there will be too many fish which will dig up and destroy other spawning fish nests resulting in a mostly destroyed population.

But wait there's more! Yous see if those fish are returning to a hatchery, then more fish returns means more egg sales for the hatchery system and more money to the General Fund, not to mention feathers in political caps.

So its not about increasing the salmon population - particularly in WA State where salmon sales by the State have been big money since the mid-70s - commercial and sport fishermen be dammed. (The Feds are part of this same system and have been for a long time).

Once upon a time both the State and Federal fishery managements were actually honest and sincerely tried to increase the salmon - they did an excellent job, but then the whole thing became a political issue with the initial Boldt Decision (US District Court) and locked into law with Washington vs Fishing Association (SCOTUS). This forced the Canadian Fraser River Sockeye commission to dissolve leaving the Fraser runs to the tender mercies of Ottawa which will likely follow suit in killing off sea birds.

[DUMBGRUNT]

Are cormorants native to North America?
A. The double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) is a long-lived, colonial-nesting waterbird native to North America . One of 38 species of cormorants worldwide, and one of six species in North America , it is usually found in flocks, and is sometimes confused with geese or loons when on the water.
Double-Crested Cormorant - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

[DUMBGRUNT]

As bad as that is, it gets worse.
Our great and glorious government has imported invasive and dangerous homo sapiens from around the globe, in great numbers.

We have a finite food supply, and low resistance to many diseases they carry.

[Afterguard]

I’ll stipulate that I’m neither an expert or a ecologist, but a single Cormorant pair may breed what, two or three hatchlings a year. Salmon spawn what, a couple thousand hatchlings per female each year (maybe more). I think the balance of nature sounds pretty good. Now I concede that there is no commercial value in Cormorant meat, but that doesn’t seem like a valid reason to destroy a slug of them to prevent them from doing what comes naturally.

[Larry Lucido]

Bald owl?