Europe Looks To The US Model To Settle The Cormorant Fight Between Fishermen And Conservationists

Wednesday, June 4, 2008 - 10:42 in Earth & Climate

President Bush is having a tough 2008 but one group in Europe thinks the USA is the model of conservation when it comes to Cormorant management. The Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) is regarded by fishermen in Europe as the "black plague" that steal their fish and eat them in front of their eyes, while conservationists celebrate the increase in the number of cormorants as proof of the fact that the conservation measures of recent decades have been successful. The Cormorant breeds in the North and the Baltic Sea area but winters in the proximity of the Mediterranean - therefore it is an issue for the EU, not local government. But the fishermen impacted do not want other European countries determining their fate. And most of the countries agree that whether the cormorant population in Europe is half a million or one and a half million, depending on who provides the data, the focus of conservation work should be on endangered species. read more

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