Again the fight against cormorants begins

Claims for the European Commission

Leon Kerosier, the head of the Association of Associations « Fishermen’s Palace », issued a letter regarding cormorant damage to fishery farms and nature.

The spectrum of his contacts is from the President of the European Commission (EC) to the President of the Republic of Lithuania, Government, Seimas members and media.

The letter is based on an article written a year ago that « cormorants are chopping fisheries. »

It is stated that March 12 this year At the meeting of the Seimas Committee on Rural Affairs, the number of cormorants in Lithuania was named about 8.5 thousand. pairs. The meeting talked about the salaries of the damage to the farms and the fact that Lithuania is committed to protecting 2 thousand. pores of cormorant.

The author of the writing independently calculated the damage to the Lithuanian fisheries and nature.

« There are over 2,000 couples (4 thousand) of the big cormorants in Lithuania – a total of about 12,000 units. They are about 210 days a year in Lithuania and 0.5 kg fish daily. Cormorants do damage to Lithuania every year for nearly $ 19 million. euros.

And that no one for it was « prosecuted and no one is responsible for the enormous losses suffered. »

These claims are surprising as they were informed about 2025 a year ago. the new procedure for control of the cormorant population and the number of fishery farms will be eliminated.

Dynamics: Based on official statistics, there are over 10 thousand in Lithuania. Hectares of ponds for fish, these areas have increased significantly over the last four years. / A. Ufarto / Photo by BNS

Performs a regulatory function

Žilvinas Pūtys, a senior researcher at the Fish Ecology Laboratory at the Nature Research Center, said cormorants in the natural system, like any other predators, perform a regulatory function, but the question of whether they can eat enough to influence natural resources to decrease.

The researcher, who has examined the lifestyle of these birds, claims that cormorants are mainly feeding on non -breed -sized fish, except for smelt and herring.

« I have not seen scientific evidence or recorded that in the Curonian Lagoon or Kaunas Lagoon, where cormorants are somewhat a bit to do some damage. Another question when cormorants fly to fisheries ponds, it’s the same as wolves to the farmer’s pastures. The same in the ponds. The depth there is small, the fish have no place to hide, the fish density is high, it is very easy to catch. In the ponds, cormorants can basically eat all the fish, how many of them are there if no birds are afraid and destroyed, ”said Pūtys.

Thus, every fish grown in ponds can be realistically assessed and the damage caused by cormorants to calculate.

« In ponds, cormorants can actually cause serious damage, no doubt about it. Part of the fish that are larger, they are unable to swallow and injure them. Then the disease begins, fish growth is worse, but that loss can also be considered, » the scientist did not hide.

Whether this is a topic that should be addressed to the EC, the Roman Pope or the US president is unlikely, I think there are bigger problems today.

However, there is a protection before each predator, which, of course, costs and is not completely effective.

Thus, after the transition period, cormorants flying over the fishery ponds are allowed to hunt.

« There may be some audio cannons, occasionally fired and scattered during the day when they feed. But cormorants are quite skillful, they quickly get used to that sound, realize that it does not harm. Bloat.

There are bigger problems

Cormorants are very active predators and were compared to other birds – penguins.

The investigation found that cormorants were able to catch two or three times more fish than penguins in the same time.

Cormorants mature in about four years. They usually fly to colonies in Lithuania in March.

In the colonies, they hold in pairs, and as long as the chicks leave the nest (late June), the adult offspring care and feed on a radius of about 20 km.

Further to fly to them, they would not be energyful, in which case they would not be able to feed the chicks.

« After the chicks start flying, they can already wander in a larger area, some of the birds then do not necessarily return to the colonies. But they have permanent accommodations, they are visible – coastal trees become white from their feces. Bloat.

Birds that are immature are not living in the colonies either, they can wander at greater distances.

Part of the cormorants in Lithuania remain for winter, where there is no ice, at the Kaunas Lagoon or in the Klaipeda port waters.

Everyone else is flying to winter to Central or Southern Europe, where warmer. Some of them migrate large squads through Lithuania, so they feed on the fisheries ponds on their way.

There are several cormorant colonies in Lithuania – the Nemunas Delta (southern part, at the border with Russia), at Juodkrante and at Lake Plaza.

Ž. A few years ago, the bloat was explored in the Juodkrantė colony of cormorants. The scientist said he had found very few residues of fish bone grown in ponds.

« It is certainly not possible to say that cormorants destroy the majority of fish grown in ponds. What real cormorant losses are pond, I do not know because I have not done such a study. You should contact the EC, the Roman Pope or the US president, hardly I think today there are bigger problems today, ”the researcher said.

Predator: According to scientists, cormorants in the natural system, like any other predators, perform a regulatory function. / S. The view / Photo by BNS

Worth to try culinary?

Ž. Presto said that when looking for certain solutions, it may be worth trying cormorants in culinary. The scientist himself claimed that they did not eat them, but according to connoisseurs, they had to be able to prepare them.

« It’s not a joke. For example, in Norway it is an old traditional hunting object. At some point, cormorant eggs are collected at some point. Hunting adult birds. As far as I know, they are not included in the list of hunted birds, except above fisheries ponds, » said Ž. Bloat.

About 1950 Cormorants in Lithuania were completely extinct, in 1989. The first couples began to move again in Lithuania.

They were strictly stored as an endangered rare species for some time, followed by a boom, and the population was growing rapidly in 2000, and then stabilized.

« Why did the populations grow? Probably influenced by commercial fishing. Cormorant food is small fish whose growth is regulated by predatory fish, which were massively fish. In other words, intensive commercial fishing has found many small fish and has more favorable cormorants,

Most fish are destroyed by people, not cormorants. Cormorants have as many food resources.

The bird population is not growing

According to Erland Paplauskis, the ecologist of Lithuania Minor Protected Areas, the attack on cormorants, which has begun again, is an attempt to cover the effects of commercial fishing.

« There are many birds of the fish. It is clear that they cannot cause some influence on fish stocks, but basically fish are destroyed by humans, not cormorants. Cormorants are as much as food resources.

However, in ponds that bring fish, farmers are not only allowed to apply scoring measures, where cormorants can be hunting unlimited.

According to the ecologist, the life expectancy of the cormorants themselves is small because most of them kill people.

« From the Plasa colony, the cormorant female named Julia, which was attached to the transmitter, was shot by the fishing pond in France. Returned to us. The cormorant population has not been in Lithuania for several years, ”said E. Paplauskis.