Date: Tue, 31 Oct 2000 09:41:11 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Sherry Peruzzi Subject: USDA wants to kill cormorants and pelicans MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit This alarming note was included in an article on page A21 in today's Washington Post about the Agriculture Department's activities: ----------------------------- First it was blackbirds. Then came Canada geese. Now preservationists fear it could be open season on cormorants and pelicans. The fear stems from the Department of Agriculture's appropriations bill, signed by President Clinton on Saturday, which, environmentalists say, directs the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to "intensify its efforts in both research and operations to control migratory fish-eating birds, such as the double crested cormorant, which are causing serious problems to the Southeastern aquaculture industry." The measure also extends funding for the blackbird eradication program. The "serious problems" consist mainly of the fact that cormorants and pelicans enjoy feasting on catfish, which drives commercial catfish farmers in the Southeast--and sport fishers all over the country--crazy. Perry Plumart of the National Audubon Society said that by calling on APHIS to control the population of fish-eating migratory birds, Congress is bypassing a study being conducted by USDA's Fish and Wildlife Service to determine whether such controls are really necessary. "This is special interests running roughshod over the Fish and Wildlife Service," Plumart said. "The Agriculture Department is being directed to kill cormorants and pelicans. That's what APHIS does. They control predators." Bill Clay, deputy administrator for wildlife services at USDA, said that was not the case. Instead, Clay said, APHIS simply plans to further study and analyze the birds' movements, particularly what they do after being rousted from their nests. Clay, who noted that studies have shown cormorants and pelicans are responsible for millions of dollars in annual damages to the fishing industry, said any new efforts to kill the birds, through new hunting seasons or other means, would have to be cleared by the Fish and Wildlife Service. ------------------------------------ The complete article is here: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45186-2000Oct30.html ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================