cormorant observations

[Gray-Catchpole]

the corm problem is our fault, not ours as in angling terms but our in human terms, chesters touched on this, our fish stock at sea are in depletion, exclusion zones dont really exist anymore and as such our sea fish are in decline, so the corm looks for an easy feed, our rivers, and even better for them our still waters are the target, ive mentioned this before, we all may hate the corms, but they are not to blame.

 

chesters, out of interest how do yo manage to fish the waters with tapes/nets.

[Bradford Angler]

That sounds a bit like the excuses they had in Nueremburg just after the war

 

maybe we should consider catchpoles comment . . how about after they have been beaten into submission and are flying off to where they belong . . Asia isn't it

 

I remember reading once that the cormorant problem we have here is not caused by an indiginous bird and had crossed over from the Asia continent. A mislead signature led to them being included on the protected species

[chesters1]

quote:

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chesters, out of interest how do yo manage to fish the waters with tapes/nets.

---

luckily or unluckily the pond is a dammed up stream so its long and narrow ,the tapes go straight across "dividing" the swims personally i hate them they obviasly dont work and the favourite place i used to fish ( a shallow depression on the bed ) is now on the other side of a tape but now because of overhanging tree cannot be reached from the other side of the tape ,hopefully they will realise that the tapes dont work and remove them ,the nets dont exist but were speculation the poor corms might (through no fault of ours ) "accidentally" get caught in one and drown

[Dunk Fairley]

Why doesn't someone tell the Chinese that Cormorant meat is a good aphrodisiac?

 

If they did, in no time the shelves of all the herbalists in peking would be loaded with jars of the things!

[stickfloatking]

We had a Cormerant once

[John Ellison]

Cormorants flit between two great havens for them where I live, both council owned and now almost devoid of fish of course.

How I wish that a dozen commercial fisheries would open between the two. I,m sure the problem would just melt away as if by magic.

[phil dean]

Chesters, your point about the cormorant being able to land on a post is well made, I watch them out of my office window most days, the effect of the tapes, ropes etc may be when the bird comes to take off. Their feathers are saturated and they can only fly low, if low obstacles are suspended, such as ropes, in a pattern to stop them taking off, ie criss cross, then the birds may well look elsewhere for food.

[waterman1013]

Gray

 

Although it makes a nice ecological argument to claim that cormorants are forced inland by lack of fish in the sea, I have used the argument myself in the past, it does not actually stand up to scientific exploration.

 

The subspecies of European Cormorant, primarily an inland bird, Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis is breeding inland, while the subspecies of Atlantic Cormorant, primarily a sea bird, Phalacrocorax carbo carbo is a winter visitor. It is P. carbo sinensis which has shown an exponential population growth throughout Europe on inland waters and was incorrectly included in the European Directive on Protected Species, which causes most of the problems on our waters. The winter population of cormorants does show a number of P. carbo carbo specimens present but not breeding.

 

I don’t think “blame” is a concept which can be attached to animals of any species. The reality is that with the impact of ever increasing population man needs to manage his environment to try to balance up the imbalances he causes by his presence and activities. We have a direct simple impact on our waterways through pollution and heavy stocking of fish. The heavy stocking, in some still waters, acts as an inducement to P.carbo sinensis to visit, feed and breed and the pollution effects our fish stocks through hindering breeding success (endocrine disruptors) and other impacts.

 

Without some control on P carbo sinensis numbers we will increase the pressure on fresh water fish stocks to the point where they will be insufficient to recover to natural levels on many rivers. I fear that on some of our rivers that point may already have been reached. Clubs will continue to face demands from members to stock stillwaters and will continue to invest heavily for most of those stock fish to disappear down

P c s throats.

 

Mike

 

[ 12. December 2002, 04:31 PM: Message edited by: waterman1013 ]

[Bradford Angler]

How I wish that a dozen commercial fisheries would open between the two. I,m sure the problem would just melt away as if by magic.

 

hmmmm . . . soluble ones . . aren't they the most expensive solution ?

[Gray-Catchpole]

thanks for that Mike, i didnt realise there where subs, puts a whole new slant on things for me, thank you.

 

are there any diferences in appearance Mike.

 

[ 12. December 2002, 08:33 PM: Message edited by: Gray-Catchpole ]