minimizes negative impacts on recreational, fishing-dependent economies. Cormorants are not typical hunting quarry, but the DNR believes their unmanaged populations overfeed on and threaten fish. These are all species protected by wild bird legislation. Cover image: Michael Stubblefield/Thinkstock. In 2014 the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources sparked controversy when it permitted a select group of 1,100 volunteers to shoot double-crested cormorants—federally protected, fish-eating aquatic birds—on lakes Marion and Moultrie for a one-month period, a decision that ultimately claimed more than 11,500 of the birds. Where cormorant numbers are high, they can negatively affect terrestrial habitats by chemical and physical means through corrosive acidic guano, and stripping/breaking tree branches. They were eventually brought to justice, but another group that killed more than 500 cormorants two years later on Little Charity Island in Saginaw Bay, Michigan, never was. The US Fish and Wildlife Service endorses the managed removal of cormorants from South Carolina and other states under a federal depredation order, but critics believe such action is unnecessary and unfounded. , but critics believe such action is unnecessary and unfounded. I cover 2 lake lakes to shoot Cormorants but am only allowed to take 6 per lake per season. The group claims that allowing state agencies to shoot the birds violates the National Environmental Policy Act by way of championing a significant environmental measure with little understanding of its effect. The illegal killing of fish-eating birds - particularly cormorants, grey herons, red-breasted mergansers and goosanders - continues to be a problem, particularly in areas where commercial fisheries are situated. Their go-to tool: a muted .22-caliber rifle, allowing them to shoot birds from afar and limit their disturbance. In response, a group called Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility is suing FWS for permitting 24 states east of the Mississippi River, including South Carolina, to kill off cormorant. Gulls have made a huge resurgence alongside cormorants, thanks to the everlasting food supply at landfills and littered beaches. Members of the Avalonia Land Conservancy, which owns South Dumpling, observe that the birds’ feces are slowly killing the trees and ground cover, and they fear that soil erosion will soon follow. By far the most prevalent in the U.S., and the only one found appreciably inland, is the double-crested cormorant, which gets its name from two tufts of feathers that appear on the heads of both sexes during breeding season. As a group, cormorants primarily eat fish, but will also eat crustaceans, mollusks, and small amphibians. The illegal killing of fish-eating birds - particularly cormorants, grey herons, red-breasted mergansers and goosanders - continues to be a problem, particularly in areas where commercial fisheries are situated. Most species prefer to hunt in coastal shallows, but many can dive more than 100 feet underwater. Competition between cormorants and some colonial nesting waterbirds has been well documented, including the displacement of some other species by cormorants. For example, near my town of Mystic, Connecticut, otherwise nature-loving people want to kick cormorants off South Dumpling Island, a three-acre, uninhabited bump in eastern Long Island Sound. The primary concern is that cormorants remain protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and similar legislation, though the FWS has identified the species as a nuisance and lawfully authorized reducing its numbers. Double-crested cormorant mating pair ©iStockphoto.com/Michael Braun Photography. In case the hubbub has escaped your notice, let me sum it up for you. Today, six species of cormorants live in North America. It is relevant that the National Audubon Society did not choose the double-crested cormorant for its logo: Anne Nalwalk is not alone in her preference for egrets. There is the flightless cormorant of the Galápagos Islands and the pygmy cormorant of eastern Europe. Anne H. Nalwalk, who recently stepped down as president after leading the Conservancy for twenty-two years, once said: “We’d rather see egrets than a bird that’s destroying all the vegetation.”. It’s a witch hunt.”. Since culling began, the vegetation and co-nesters on the island have bounced back, Lewis said. It is illegal to shoot the majority of wild birds. Shooting. A clear answer may come only once there are too few cormorant or too few fish, whichever comes first. • Remember just because you can shoot cormorants, doesn’t mean you should. 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