Syracuse.com - DEC picked up tempo on harassment of cormorants on Oneida Lake this fall

[HuntingNY-News]

A total of 152 birds were shot by DEC stafffor later analysis of their stomachs to see what they eating. In early August it was a 50-50 mix of yellow perch and gizzard shad. By late September, it was all gizzard shad

With the onset of the fall duck hunting season, the harassment of cormorants has ceased for this year.

Adult cormorants eat on the average two pounds a fish a day and in the 1990s nearly devastated the Oneida Lake fishery. A federally funded effort to harass the birds turned the tide, but that funding was cut in 2010.

Since that time, the state Department of Environmental Conservation has picked up the slack in harassing cormorants with the help of local volunteers.

Adult cormorants can eat on the average of two pounds of fish a day. 

There were several differences in this year's effort compared to last year, according to David Lemon, the DEC's regional fisheries in Cortland.

This year, the volunteer involvement was reduced from previous years and the overall DEC involvement picked up by more than 33 percent, Lemon said.

DEC started counting the fish-eating birds in August, while harassing the birds at the same time by zooming at them with boats and the use of pyro-technics. Fish and wildlife technicians, along with wildlife biologists from Regions 7 and 6 participated.

Also during that month, a small group of volunteers were trained to assist.

The volunteers didn't begin taking to the water until September, at which time the DEC staff continued their efforts. Last year, DEC staff were on the water two days a week during this month. This year, they were on the lake three days a week. Environmental conservation officers from the two regions pitched in, going out one of those days.

Generally speaking, each week in September the number of cormorants on the lake was lower than last year," Lemon said.

A total of 152 birds were shot by DEC stafffor later analysis of their stomachs to see what they eating.

Last year, dietary analysis by the Cornell Biological Field Station determined the preponderance of fish ingested by the cormorants was gizzard shad. Not so this year.

"The diets when they first started bringing the birds in August was a mixed bag, half gizzard shad and half yellow perch," said Randy Jackson, associate director of the Cornell Biological Field Station.

Jackson said that the remnants of gizzard shad initialy found in the birds' stomachs initially were small, but by late September had grown to an average of 2 inches long.

"By late September all they were eating was gizzard shad," he said.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog