Alberta Wildlife Federation supports province’s plan to rein in cormorant populations • Outdoor Canada

The Alberta Wildlife Federation helps its province’s lately introduced resolution to permit residents to hunt double-crested cormorants on choose waters. In June, the Ministry of Surroundings and Protected Areas added double-crested cormorants to the checklist of species for which Alberta residents can apply for a Harm Management Licence (DCL).

In accordance with the ministry, a DCL could also be issued “for the deadly management of particular wildlife that’s inflicting, or is more likely to trigger property injury, or pose a menace to human security.” The licences are issued with situations specifying the place and the way a goal species could also be hunted. All common searching laws additionally apply.

As cormorants are voracious fish eaters and their poisonous droppings kill bushes on their nesting grounds, AWF wildlife chair John Clarke expects a lot of the DCL candidates might be residents who maintain stocked fish ponds. These wanting to use for a licence ought to contact their native Surroundings and Protected Areas workplace.

Total, the cormorant inhabitants in Alberta has been rising because the Seventies, to the purpose it’s now getting uncontrolled in some areas, says AWF fish chair Darryl Smith. “They’re overabundant and maintain increasing their vary,” he says of the native species.

Traditionally, Alberta has taken measures to cut back cormorant numbers in areas where the birds have had the best detrimental influence. In 2005, for instance, culling was launched to enrich egg oiling around Lac La Biche to rein in breeding and assist restore the walleye inhabitants. These administration actions led to an 83 percent drop in the variety of nesting cormorants between 2003 and 2013.

By including cormorants to the checklist of species that may be managed underneath a DCL, it’s hoped populations can now be diminished to extra sustainable ranges all through the province. “The AWF helps the administration of overabundant species, notably after they have been demonstrated to adversely affect different populations,” Smith says. “This isn’t about eradication; it’s about administration.”

Be taught extra concerning the AWF’s applications and positions at www.albertawildlifefederation.ca.

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