Cormorant Watch

Following a couple of earlier missives about fish predation by Otters and Cormorants all anglers will be pleased to know that the Anlging Trust has now set up a monitoring project called Cormorantwatch (/http://www.cormorantwatch.org/)

It is generally accepted that Cormorants cause substantial damage to fisheries up and down the country – how much can only be guessed at but it is a problem that the angling industry is struggling to deal with. At present fisheries owners can apply for licenses to shoot cormorants but the procedures are tortuous and the number of cormorants that can be shot is tiny and has little affect on the overall population.

Earlier this year Mark Lloyd, CEO of the Angling Trust met the fisheries minister, Richard Benyon, and he agreed to carry out a review of the licence procedures. This is all very well, Mr Benyon seems genuine and is also an angler, but to convince the government to take decisive action the Angling Trust wants to what build up an accurate picture of the extent of predation, which is where cormorant watch comes in.  

     

So this site has been designed and it allows anglers to input valuable statistical information to help find out the real extent of cormorant predation on UK fisheries. 

Anglers can record sightings and activity of cormorants in the UK, when, where, how many and their behaviour and then inputted directly onto the Google Maps driven micro-site.  Users will also be able to scroll around the map to view cormorant sightings and details of each sighting and watch the real picture of cormorant predation in UK waters build up.

The data recorded will be used to present a compelling case to Defra and demonstrate the impact these birds are having on native fish populations. The Trust’s aim is to persuade DEFRA to simplify licensing procedures and allow greater controls on cormorant numbers.

So far, after announcing it in the Angling Times and Anglers Mail, over 900 sightings have been recorded with 1000's of indivudal birds and some nesting sites which were not known about. 

The summer months are the most crucial time to record sightings so if you see cormorants on inshore waters please use the site to log the loaction and number of birds you've seen.
For more about the Angling Trust go to www.anglingtrust.net.