Cormorants (Item 1)

Strasbourg, 15.05.2002 Cormorant Meeting - arranged by E.P. Intergroup "Hunting & Conservation". Intergroup proposes a pan-European management plan for Great Cormorants.
EAA attended meeting - 5 million anglers called for action on Cormorants.

At a well-attended Intergroup-meeting on Wednesday 15th May, in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, MEP's were briefed on the impact Great Cormorants have on fish stocks and the local eco-systems.

Mr. JL. BERNIÉ (F/EDD), who chaired the meeting, introduced the main topic, the management of the Great Cormorant, a species whose population level has increased dramatically over the last decades and now causes significant economic and ecological damage to fish stocks. But its regulation is very difficult under the current provisions of the 1979 "Birds" Directive.

The Chairman put forward a recommendation for action on cormorants to be signed by the attending Members of Parliament. The document :

1. Stressed the need to institute a pan-European management plan for cormorants.
2. Urged the Commission to present a Proposal for a Directive, adding the cormorants
Phalocrocorax carbo carbo and P. carbo sinensis to Annex II of the Directive 79/409/EEC on the conservation of wild birds in Europe.

Professor J.Y. JOUGLAR of the Veterinary University of Toulouse presented his report on the status and impact of Great Cormorants.

Dr. F. KOHL (Austria), on behalf of the European Anglers' Alliance, illustrated the importance of the impact of Great Cormorants on (wild and farmed) fish stocks and called for a pan-European management plan.

Dr. Kohl drew attention to scientific studies conducted throughout Europe by government and non-government agencies which have revealed that the numbers of cormorants have increased dramatically in the last 20 years and have yet to stabilise. He emphasised the scientific evidence of serious damage to freshwater fish stocks that cormorants can and have caused in many countries.

Dr. D. CARSS, (Scotland) co-ordinator for the "Reducing conflicts between cormorants and fisheries in Europe" or REDCAFE project, gave an overview of his findings. He suggested an pan-European information network to find the best solutions to the problems the Great Cormorant causes.
(REDCAFE is a two-year project, funded by the EU, aimed at reducing the conflict between cormorants and fisheries on a pan-European scale. It comprises a working group of fisheries scientists, bird biologists, commercial fisheries interests and nature conservation organisations, drawn from 20 countries).

Note:

Several interventions highlighted the serious socio-economic impact of Great Cormorants on fisheries and fish-farming interests, but also the threats to wetland ecosystems - directly through predation on rare fish species, indirectly through the abandoning by owners of proper management of ponds and lakes.

MEP's approved a Recommendation, calling for a European management plan for cormorants, as well as for an addition of the species to Annex II "huntable species" of Directive 79/409/EEC. The Bureau of the Intergroup will examine how to put this Recommendation to good use.

The European Anglers' Alliance (EAA) strongly supports the need to institute a pan-European management plan for cormorants, and it urges the Commission to initiate action now.
The EAA calls on all EU members and other European governments to actively pursue existing opportunities to manage cormorant populations, where appropriate, either under article 9 of the EC Wild Birds Directive or by using similar national legislation.


For further information contact:
Jan Kappel, Secretary-General, EAA
European Anglers´ Alliance

EAA Office: Tel: +32 (0)2 732 0309
82 Rue F. Pelletier Fax: +32 (0)2 736 2858
B-1030 Brussels Mobile: +32 (0)498 840523
Belgium E-mail : eaa.aepl@skynet.be

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