[Pharmboy]

How long will it take for the walleyes to come back in reasonable numbers?

[Rodney King]

Although cormorants were nearly wiped out by the pesticide DDT in the 1960s and 1970s,

Not true.

[handy old one]

cormorants: the bird most likley to be caught while fishing, they love chasing bait fish dead or alive.

[Mikey_1962]

Cormorants are the most butt-ugly bird on the Great Lakes. The like to sit in dead trees on Lake St Clair.

[billorites]

Hmmm... Comorant!

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Who needs walleyes ? There are plenty of perfectly good bullheads in Watertown, MN, home of the Bullhead Days Festival.

[headstamp]

(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."

This from a "Professional" wildlife biologist. Unbelievable. Just shrug and succumb to the emotional side of the argument instead of speaking from knowledge on game management. Why not state the birds are not going to be wiped out but brought down to more manageable numbers. When the over population of birds virtually wipe out the walleyes in the lake they will simply move on to another lake.

This is right up there with the geese overpopulation problems on most lakes and ponds in my area. The lakes and shorelines become a total cesspool from the geese but then there is the wailing and gnashing of teeth when the DEC tries to cull the flocks to get the bird numbers to a more manageable level.

The tug of war between wildlife management science and emotion continues......

Regards

[AmericanChef]

-"Kill them all," he says of the voracious, predatory birds.-

I have to admire his decisiveness.

[beltfed308]

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.

[freepatriot32]

ping

[Reo]

"How long will it take for the walleyes to come back in reasonable numbers?"

In addition to the cormorant removal program, the DNR is stocking Leech with walleye fry for the next three years. This past week they put 7.5 million fry in the water, of which they expect 15 to 30% to survive and grow to 5 or 6" long by September. Several years from now, when they reach game fish size, the surviving percentage will have dropped to about 1% to 2%. Recovery to pre-cormorant fishing conditions is expected to take 5 years or more. As a long-time resident of the area,I'm happy to write that the DNR, the tribe, and the local community have done an excellent job of addressing this problem. As for the hand-wringers who would continue to delay and study and delay and study some more, they are, as Don Rumsfeld would say: "Not helpful".

[freepatriot32]

"Kill them all," he says of the voracious, predatory birds.

[tubebender]

A fishy story...

[Jhensy]

Hope they take out a few starlings while they're at it.

For whatever reason, lots of "large" birdlife (and wildlife) have made quite a comeback in the Northeast in the last 20-30 years. Not just cormorants -- red-tailed hawks, turkeys, egrets, herons, etc. are pretty common now here in suburbia. They were rare sightings when I was a kid.

Other big comebacks: Bears, coyotes, bobcats, and the deer are out of control.

[wbill]

Kill some Cormorants.....

Hopefully we can get to kill a few #@$#@%%! Canadian Geese that keep #$@%@! Crapping all over my car. The things are a freaking nuisance, and hardly endangered. Jeez, you can't throw a rock without hitting one of the $#@%@! things around here.

[farmfriend]

Rights, farms, environment ping.
Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this list.
I don't get offended if you want to be removed.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

"Kill them all," he says of the voracious, predatory birds.

Speaking as a woman with a tummy full of Friday Night Fish Fry Walleye, I wholeheartedly agree; just don't make them wear panties on their heads. ;)