Save The Bald Eagle, Destroy The Great Cormorant?

Hello Tom,

I stumbled upon your blog in a Google search for cormorants. I am an ornithologist and have been closely following some of the issues that have arisen alongside the increasing Bald Eagle population (I also study cormorants). In addition to Great Cormorants, eagles are eating eiders and terns, both of which are experiencing significant population declines as a result.

That said, I decided to write you because of your comments about the Double-crested Cormorant. Bald Eagles have, indeed, been eating them, too, and they have been experiencing a population decline in recent years along the coast of Maine.

While the Double-crested Cormorant is in absolutely no threat of going extinct, I wanted to point out an inconsistency in your posting: while you quite pointedly note there is no link to the article mentioning that there is no fish left for eagles to eat and that is because of humans, you did not state that there is virtually no scientific data supporting. The vast majority of research suggest cormorants are not a significant issue in declining fisheries.

I do not want to come across as suggesting cormorants are some idyllic bird that everyone should love. Rather, I would like to offer that the issues surrounding the Double-crested Cormorant are very complex and you cannot simply say that they eat too many fish.

Thanks for allowing me a chance to comment. Keep on blogging.

Sincerely,

Rich

The Associated Press wants to sue anybody and everybody should low-lifes like myself offer a link to articles they post.

I appreciate the information. If the article came across as insinuating that cormorants are causing THE fish shortage in Maine it certainly wasn’t intended to.’ The AP is one of those media outlets that blames anything and everything environmentally on us bad humans.

I do know first hand however, that cormorants can move into a private fish pond and clean it out in short order. That was more my reference than that somehow cormorants where destroying the fisheries statewide in Maine.

There’s also the issue that is so often overlooked concerning the Endangered Species Act and special interest groups. I haven’t all the data on bald eagles and cormorants etc., but it appears we are facing some situations where the bent is so focused on saving one species, we are overlooking the loss of another as a result of a burgeoning new population of something we just saved.

This is more a result of politics than science IMHO.

The idea of this article I wrote was to provide a starting point for anyone who might be interested in gathering more information.