Hmmm... Comorant!
Posted on 05/27/2005 7:49:17 AM PDT by Pharmboy
Chris Anderson is only half-joking when he offers a solution for the hungry cormorants that are eating the fish in Leech Lake — and taking money out of his pocket. "Kill them all," he says of the voracious, predatory birds.
At Anderson's Cove, Anderson's resort on the western edge of the lake, just three of 11 cabins were rented for this month's walleye opener, after six years of strong opening weekends. Over the next month alone, Anderson figures he'll lose $40,000 or more through mid-June because of cabins standing empty.
Word has spread that walleye fishing on Leech Lake, one of the state's premier lakes, isn't what it used to be. That means fewer people will be staying at its resorts or visiting this lakeside town where livelihoods are tied to the elusive and tasty catch, prized above all in a state where fishing is king.
"People need fish, plain and simple," said Larry Jacobson, owner of Hiawatha Beach Resort. "They need walleye."
Prodded by resort owners and fishing guides, wildlife officials have reached a dramatic decision: Over the summer, they will kill 4,000 or more of the diving birds.
Shauna Hanisch, who leads the Fish and Wildlife Service's cormorant project, acknowledges shooting the birds is the most drastic measure being taken to curb the populations in the United States. Other states, such as Michigan, New York and Vermont, are also dealing with burgeoning cormorant colonies, Hanisch said.
Some wildlife biologists and animal-rights groups oppose the plan, saying research about the bird and its eating habits is incomplete.
Although cormorants were nearly wiped out by the pesticide DDT in the 1960s and 1970s, the waterfowl has made enough of a comeback to pose a threat to commercial fishing and fish farming.
The large hook-billed birds are considered voracious fish-eaters, and they are prevalent throughout North America, with the highest concentrations in the Great Lakes area.
Anderson has heard several theories about the walleye's low numbers: poor water quality or development along the 110,000-acre lake. He dismisses them with a wave of his hand.
"It's the cormorants," Anderson said. "You should see it when 600 of them fly in here. The sky is black."
Last year, an estimated 10,000 cormorants were living on Leech Lake. Seven years ago, the lake had about 150. So far, about 2,200 of the birds have been shot and killed.
"I don't like doing it," said Harlan Fierstine, the area fisheries supervisor for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. "But we think there is enough science to justify this. It's about finding a balance between preservation and management. That's not easy."
Though cormorants are protected by an international migratory bird treaty, the federal Fish and Wildlife Service determined two years ago states could curb their numbers if they were harming natural resources.
Wildlife officials and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, which owns the island where the birds nest, did an environmental assessment, then agreed to shoot the cormorants. Some of the eggs also may be oiled to prevent them from hatching.
Francesca Cuthbert, a University of Minnesota professor, said the action on Leech Lake was "being made without good science." She said a comprehensive study of the birds' effect on the walleye was pushed aside in favor of the culling.
On a recent trip out to Little Pelican Island with reporters, Steve Mortensen, a fish and wildlife biologist for the Leech Lake band, said he regrets the bird's fate.
"It's a human thing. We are dealing with who is going to get the walleye," he said with a shrug. "That's the bottom line."
In downtown Walker, where people filed into The Outdoorsman Cafe, residents have felt the drop in tourism. A local business association found that reservations at Leech Lake resorts in May were down 90 percent from last year.
Randy Ehlenfeldt, owner of the True Value hardware store, hasn't sold as many fishing lures, water toys and air mattresses as in recent years.
"The walleye issue is a big part of it," he said. "Everyone feels it, from the restaurants to the gift shops."
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On the Net:
Leech Lake: http://www.leechlake.org/
Fish & Wildlife Service: http://www.fws.gov/
Not true.
cormorants: the bird most likley to be caught while fishing, they love chasing bait fish dead or alive.
Can you elaborate? I had only heard that bal eagles were affected by DDT. What's the real story?
In my experience observing cormorants in the bays of Long Island and on Long Island Sound, they seem like solitary critters. In this story they sound communal. Can they exist in both manners?
Cormorants are the most butt-ugly bird on the Great Lakes. The like to sit in dead trees on Lake St Clair.
Hmmm... Comorant!
When they find bait fish they eat in large groups.
Cormarants look like Helen Thomas and eat fish the way Ted Kennedy drinks scotch. They should be wiped from the face of the earth.
Search around junkscience.com All of the scientific panels were against banning DDT, and there was never any evidence that DDT was causing any birds to have "thin egg shells" or any of that nonsense. The government banned DDT over the advice of scientists over political pressure. Since then, literally million around the world have died of Malaria, which had become practically non-existent by the early 70's. Malaria came roaring back when DDT was banned.
Yes, the eagles and such have made a come-back since DDT was banned. But that is also when it became illegal to shoot them.
Who needs walleyes ? There are plenty of perfectly good bullheads in Watertown, MN, home of the Bullhead Days Festival.
In some parts of the world, there are colonies where after many years, the cormorant poop is so thick that it is actually harvested as a nitrogen source for fertilizers. Hence the nickname "guano bird".
Incidentally, as an undergrad at UMass-Boston, I worked with the guy who wrote the Double-Crested Cormorant's entry for the "Birds of North America" (a set of reports that is intended to provide complete, definitive accounts of the biology of every bird species in North America).
Leech Lake and "Jeremy-bird" ping
I don't know where you were looking, but there are colonies of these garbage pails all over the Island.
-"Kill them all," he says of the voracious, predatory birds.-
I have to admire his decisiveness.
Down here in the Florida Keys they are nothing but air rats. Flocks of them abound and they mess everywhere. Just as bad as geese.
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