A recent article in Newsday spoke of Cormorant Newcastle
Virus, a virus that has been blamed for killing hundreds of double-crested
cormorants in Lake Champlain and Oneida Lake. New York State Environmental
Commissioner Erin Crotty identified the virus, but did not give details of
the studies that confirmed this diagnosis. This point is vital because New
York’s anglers, a group with a lot of political might in Albany, are no
friends to the cormorants, since their diet consists partly of fish such as
yellow perch, alewife, and more importantly, smallmouth bass. While not
valuable to anglers, alewife are, according to an article by Ken Schultz in
Field and Stream magazine “a small herring that is important as forage for
gamefish…”
According to the NY Department of Environmental
Conservation (9/4/03) “…cormorants have been found to be a significant
predator of smallmouth bass, which is a native, economically important
species.” New York’s anglers have an interest in killing large numbers of
double-crested cormorants, as evidenced by the depredation order the NY DEC
has on the species.
While Ms. Crotty noted that the virus appears to be
self-limiting, she said the state DEC will see what can be done to mitigate
the impact on the birds. One good place to start would be rescinding the
cormorant depredation order immediately. The virus has succeeded in killing
the birds, which was the goal of the depredation order. As such, the
state-sanctioned killing program should immediately cease.
Should the DEC in its special-interest influenced view
deem cormorant populations to be too high, there are far more humane methods
of dealing with the birds than issuing permits to slaughter them. While far
from an ideal solution, in a Special Report dated March 1, 2000 the DEC
found that applying corn oil to the eggs of cormorants was “a very effective
(and) relatively inexpensive method of limiting cormorant chick production,”
where the technique was studied.
Because “cormorant predation has resulted in a significant
decline in the abundance of adult bass and in the quality of the
sportfishery” according to the DEC, the birds are reviled by anglers and
those in the DEC who profit from the sale of fishing licenses.
The public is tired of the special interests controlling
how, when and where wild animals, including fish, are managed in the state.
While every NY resident has an interest in the state’s wildlife, only those
who derive pleasure from state sponsored killing programs and those who
profit from them have a say in wildlife’s future and fate. For more
information on how state game agencies including the NYDEC profit from the
exploitation of wildlife, please visit the website of the Committee to
Abolish Sport Hunting at:
http://www.all-creatures.org/cash/
or call (845) 256-1400
Joe Miele, Vice President
Committee to Abolish Sport Hunting