Syracuse.com - South Carolina soliciting help from hunters to reduce cormorant numbers

[HuntingNY-News]

"Rather than do the culling with the agency's limited staff, the plan is to ask people who want to hunt the cormorants to register with the agency."

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources has had enough of cormorants. They're now seeking help from hunters in reducing the fish-eating birds numbers during a special, two-month season on two lakes in the state.

In the past, hunters have not been allowed to shoot them because the birds are protected by the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The maximum penalty for shooting the birds (without special permission or a permit from the federal government) is up to six months imprisonment and a $5,000 fine.

But there is a way around the shooting ban. States can apply for special permission, called a depredation order, to reduce populations. South Carolina recently succeeded in getting a depredation order, and now it's looking for people to help.

"Rather than do the culling with the agency's limited staff, the plan is to ask people who want to hunt the cormorants to register with the agency. They would have to take a short instructional course and pledge to provide information on the numbers of birds killed to help with research on the impact on the species," according to thestate.com.

Cormorants, which as adults can eat up to two pounds of fish a day, can put a dent in a fishery. In this state, they've created problems on Lake Ontario, the St.Lawrence River and Oneida Lake. Federal and state officials have teamed in the past to try and reduce their numbers, but budget cuts have reduced the efforts.

The past four years, the DEC has coordinated a volunteer effort on Oneida Lake. However the volunteers have not been allowed to shoot the birds and have been restricted to using harassment efforts (pyrotechnics, zooming at them with boats) to try and push the birds off the lake.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog