Michigan May Double Quota for Cormorant Culling

June 16, 2010

By Chad Love

Cormorants might just be the wolf controversy of the angling world. Many anglers see them as Terminator-like fish-eating machines, and cormorant control is always a contentious topic. Now the state of Michigan has proposed to double the number of cormorants it kills.

From this story on Interlochen Public Radio:

Michigan wildlife officials are pushing for more control of a fish eating water bird. They want to double the number of cormorants killed in Michigan each year, to about 20,000. Cormorants nest in colonies on islands in the Upper Great Lakes and Canada, and they can gobble up a lot of fish. But, some other researchers are not so sure killing more cormorants will mean more perch, walleye and bass for anglers. Thirty years ago, the double crested cormorant was a poster bird for toxic contaminants like DDT in the Great Lakes. Wildlife biologists used to take live birds with crossed bills and other deformities to public meetings to press for cleanup of the lakes. Since then toxins have been reduced, and cormorant numbers have rebounded dramatically.

But that put anglers in an uproar about the large black duck-like birds. They charge cormorants are a plague on popular fishing grounds. Eventually, federal wildlife officials allowed about 10,000 cormorants to be killed in Michigan each year. Pete Butchko is the federal agent in charge of cormorant control in Michigan. He says he still hears cries to kill them all. "Some people may want Michigan to be cormorant free," he says. "It's just not going to happen. Cormorants are native and have a place here." But what that place is continues to come up for heated debate. In the last six years, wildlife officials cut the number of cormorant nests in Michigan by about a third. They did it largely by shooting the birds and spraying vegetable oil on their eggs, to smother them.

An area they hit hard was the Les Cheneaux Islands in northern Lake Huron. It's been a popular destination for perch anglers for decades. Dave Fielder, the lead fisheries researcher for the Michigan DNRE in that area, says as they knocked down cormorant numbers by 90 percent, he could see the fishery improve. People began catching more perch. "The Les Cheneaux Islands experience says at least in certain places there are real tangible benefits from cormorant control," he says. But not all researchers agree with Fielder's findings, including Jim Diana, a professor of natural resources at the University of Michigan and director of the Sea Grant program in the state. Diana says many other factors such as invasive species and changing water levels have contributed to fluctuating perch populations throughout the Great Lakes. But unlike those factors, he says, cormorants are highly visible. "And as a result now cormorants are being targeted for removal, I think without any good evidence that it's going to have any effect," he says.

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from Cgull wrote 1 year 49 weeks ago

I see large flocks of Cormorants (water turkeys) in some lakes and have always thought the birds had to catch and eat many fish species. I think more should be done to control these fish hungry birds. We could catch and relocate to nations that have a use for such a bird? I've seen paintings and photos from other countries where thier fishermen would put a collar around the Cormorant's neck (preventing it from swallowing the fish) then sending the birds down as a fish retriever.

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from countitandone wrote 1 year 49 weeks ago

Just like the Terminator, the Cormorants "are back." And back in numbers. I say the expense of exporting these gulpers is not cost effective. Besides, once relocated they will once again, breed like rabbits. So, here we go again, different locale.

The cost of one .22 to the brain, as they have been doing in Michigan and other states, is cost effective. Let the games begin.

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from labrador12 wrote 1 year 49 weeks ago

We should also kill all the brown bears in Ak because they eat a lot of salmon. We should kill all the loons, the otters, the ospreys, etc.

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from huntenthusiest wrote 1 year 49 weeks ago

Not only do create problems for fisherman, the destruction to vegatation in nesting areas on the smaller "Bass" islands for instance in the Ohio part of Lake Erie is amazing. I seen 5year before and after pics of these places and they are stripped of greenery.

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from SD_Whitetail_Hntr wrote 1 year 49 weeks ago

Cormorants have been exploding around where I hunt waterfowl. And I've seen a hoard of them diving and bringing up unbelievable amounts of fish. I'm almost positive they're completely protected in South Dakota but I guess I never looked into it. I never had much want to kill one except for extermination purposes but I remember being told they were protected. In my area we have numerous small perch lakes that were stocked by transplanting a decade or two back. The cormorants dominated those lakes and there's almost nothing left for perch fishing there.. I've harbored a hatred for them and I'll leave it that way for now.

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from as moeggs wrote 1 year 49 weeks ago

This is the best idea the Fed's and MDNRE has had in a long time. Please leave them alone. A lot of the deforested islands and fish are coming back.