DEC destroys nests to manage cormorants

Spiel · September 25, 2009

DEC destroys nests to manage cormorants

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2009

MATTHEW CURATOLO / www.watertowndailytimes.com

The state Department of Environmental Conservation has destroyed more than 1,300 cormorants' nests on the St. Lawrence River and the eastern basin of Lake Ontario as part of its management program.

In an attempt by DEC to control the fish-eating cormorant population on the river and eastern basin of Lake Ontario, the agency received permission from landowners to remove nests and to destroy any eggs found on islands located on the American sections of the bodies of water.

DEC fisheries technicians, hired seasonally, worked with U.S. Department of Agriculture wildlife services staff during the effort.

"We are done with management for this year. Management in the eastern basin and on the river will continue in 2010, but we have already begun to shift emphasis in the basin towards maintenance rather than substantial reduction," said James F. Farquhar, DEC Region 6 wildlife biologist in Watertown. "We still intend to lower basin numbers slightly, but are nearing our target population. On the river, we plan to continue with nest removal as part of an effort to reduce numbers, or at least prevent population increase."

On the river, DEC worked on four private islands where DEC personnel reported approximately 450 pairs of cormorants attempting to nest and "most were not successful due to management," according to Mr. Farquhar.

On Lake Ontario, DEC observed approximately 2,500 nesting pairs distributed between Little Galloo, Gull and Calf islands. Mr. Farquhar stated that cormorants on Gull and Calf Islands did not produce any chicks due to the management program, and on Little Galloo Island most were not successful due to egg oiling, the preferred method of killing eggs.

"We destroyed 1,382 nests this year, 659 on the St. Lawrence River and 723 in the Lake Ontario eastern basin," Mr. Farquhar said.

Persistent high-tree nesters that could not be reached by other means were taken down by shotguns. On those occasions, some cormorants were killed. DEC reported that 59 birds were taken on the river, while 799 were killed in the eastern basin.

Cormorants can reportedly eat their weight in fish a day and anglers are concerned with their impact on the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario fisheries, especially the yellow perch fishery, which is a staple of the birds' diet.

A 2003 report by DEC showed that cormorants on just three islands on the St. Lawrence River consumed an estimated 23.52 million fish over a three-year period.