Cormorants - Fake News?

[Neil Kirk]

I seem to have posted 2 slightly different responses to the same issue because I thought the first had been lost

 

[Neil Blood]

I seem to have posted 2 slightly different responses to the same issue because I thought the first had been lost

Neil,

I never intended to be blunt/jump in, although I seem to find myself constantly defending the RSPB on other social media platforms against Hunters, Pigeon Fanciers, Anglers, Extreme Vegans, Animal Rights Activists and various Morons, with the latter not seeming to know what their argument/gripe is (I don’t put you in any of those categories). Maybe some of that carried over into this, as I’m still on my high horse from a recent discussion elsewhere, regarding raptor persecution, which apparently doesn’t exist

Re telling the 2 Cormorant subspecies apart, believe me the major established inland colonies have been well studied. The leg rings of shot Cormorants have also been returned to the BTO, this is a condition on the NE issued licences.

Re avian predation in general, we need to consider that in the last 30 years, we have witnessed the huge growth in inland cormorant numbers, per my original reply above. Goosanders are a problem too, during relatively recent history, they appeared in Scotland from Scandinavia and spread south. Originally on my local River Dane, they were a winter visitor, but now breed in increasing numbers. To watch a female and her well grown brood, fish out pool after pool, on a small river is quite frightening. We’ve seen a similar story on the River Dove too. I also recall a piece on Autumn Watch, about the Cormorant and just how adept it is, at fishing in small shallow rivers, it was a real eye opener! Neither the inland Cormorant phenomena or increasing Goosander numbers, has anything to do with sea fish stocks. There are still plenty of Carbo Cormorants on the coast, some simply followed Sinensis inland.

So given that in the last 30 years, we‘ve gone from limited avian predation, to full on avian predation, you have to ask yourself, do we step in to redress the natural balance or sit back and do nothing? This isn’t a sweeping statement, but some rivers are seriously struggling.

I also honestly believe that as the small fish stocks have collapsed on some rivers, this is why Otters are now coming into conflict with still water fishery owners. In many cases, the rivers they have recolonised cannot support them, so they look elsewhere for food. The renowned wildlife and angling filmmaker Hugh Miles, had an excellent video on you Youtube, which pretty much echoed the link between avian fish predation and otters, but unfortunately the video has lost its sound.

Regards,

Neil

 

[Neil Kirk]

I

Neil,

I never intended to be blunt/jump in, although I seem to find myself constantly defending the RSPB on other social media platforms against Hunters, Pigeon Fanciers, Anglers, Extreme Vegans, Animal Rights Activists and various Morons, with the latter not seeming to know what their argument/gripe is (I don’t put you in any of those categories). Maybe some of that carried over into this, as I’m still on my high horse from a recent discussion elsewhere, regarding raptor persecution, which apparently doesn’t exist

Re telling the 2 Cormorant subspecies apart, believe me the major established inland colonies have been well studied. The leg rings of shot Cormorants have also been returned to the BTO, this is a condition on the NE issued licences.

Re avian predation in general, we need to consider that in the last 30 years, we have witnessed the huge growth in inland cormorant numbers, per my original reply above. Goosanders are a problem too, during relatively recent history, they appeared in Scotland from Scandinavia and spread south. Originally on my local River Dane, they were a winter visitor, but now breed in increasing numbers. To watch a female and her well grown brood, fish out pool after pool, on a small river is quite frightening. We’ve seen a similar story on the River Dove too. I also recall a piece on Autumn Watch, about the Cormorant and just how adept it is, at fishing in small shallow rivers, it was a real eye opener! Neither the inland Cormorant phenomena or increasing Goosander numbers, has anything to do with sea fish stocks. There are still plenty of Carbo Cormorants on the coast, some simply followed Sinensis inland.

So given that in the last 30 years, we‘ve gone from limited avian predation, to full on avian predation, you have to ask yourself, do we step in to redress the natural balance or sit back and do nothing? This isn’t a sweeping statement, but some rivers are seriously struggling.

I also honestly believe that as the small fish stocks have collapsed on some rivers, this is why Otters are now coming into conflict with still water fishery owners. In many cases, the rivers they have recolonised cannot support them, so they look elsewhere for food. The renowned wildlife and angling filmmaker Hugh Miles, had an excellent video on you Youtube, which pretty much echoed the link between avian fish predation and otters, but unfortunately the video has lost its sound.

Regards,

Neil

I appreciate your reply Neil.

We clearly have a lot in common -apart from our names.

 

[Richard Barrett]

The point often overlooked is the birds find it easier to feed inland than at sea. It's the natural selection Darwin spoke about, even anglers have moved to fishing lakes full of fish like carp, because they cannot find enough fish in free, wild waters. I'm a naturalist and fisherman, and I'd put it to you we have a real challenge in finding a solution. I've been told of many methods that move the birds on, but they then go to someone else, and then its their problem. Culling is an answer, but would be hugely controversial, especially to the RSPB and other such organisations. I'd be in the second group only because i have seen the damage on three waters I know and have fished, its been devastating to the fishing guys. Fishing groups need to sit down with the RSPB people and talk about the problems they have, and the good fishing does in preserving water-ways? A compromise then could me found I believe.

 

[Joe Winstanley]

I seem to find myself constantly defending the RSPB on other social media platforms against Hunters, Pigeon Fanciers, Anglers, Extreme Vegans, Animal Rights Activists and various Morons, with the latter not seeming to know what their argument/gripe is

Much of the anti-RPSB guff and rhetoric in the press in recent years has it's roots in the untenable systematic illegal persecution of raptors, notably hen harriers on moors managed for commercial driven grouse shooting The Langholm Moor experiment demonstrated pretty clearly that it isn't feasible to run a driven grouse shoot on a moor where hen harriers are tolerated as the harriers, whilst not harming grouse populations, eat the surplus birds required to run a shoot. Langholm, a joint project between the GWCT and the RSPB, clearly demonstrated this fact, and since then some factions of the grouse shooting industry have been on the defensive and instead of attempting to clean their own act up, decided instead, to try and discredit the RSPB.

A classic example being the setting up of so-called grassroots campaigns such as 'You Forgot the Birds' headed by the Ian Botham, designed to do nothing but smear the RSPB by alleging a whole series of falsehoods.

Some coverage here: The grouse shooters aim to kill: the first casualty is the truth | Wildlife | The Guardian

And for the record I'm an angler, occasional shooter, naturalist (that's naturalist not naturist but hey each to there own), rspb member and agro-ecologist.