v T C b ® WWy ildlifeildlifeB S TracksTracksL a O G q A PUBLICATION OF THE HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE HSUS WILDLIFE LAND TRUST Volume 6, Number 1, Spring, 2003 AY K Double-Crested Cormorants: AC M ENT K How dare they eat “our” fish? ARRY © B kay, I admit that there are a lot of contenders, but I would like to propose that the most absurd of all U.S. government wildlife management initiatives may well be a ludicrous scheme to systematically reduce the North American Ocontinent’s population of double-crested cormorants by ten percent.1 There is something about cormorants that seems to trigger cerebral meltdown and irrational hatred. In part, it is because these birds—there are 39 species world- wide, plus one species that became extinct around 1850—are obligate fish eaters. As the commercial demand for ever greater amounts of fish puts endlessly increasing pressure on remaining (and mostly diminishing) fish stocks, commercial and sport fishing interests become ever more resentful of other species eating “their” fish. The double-crested cormorant is the most widely distributed and best known of North America’s six remaining species of cormorant. There is growing public appre- hension that double-crested cormorants have dramatically increased in numbers, See Inside particularly in eastern parts of their range; however, at least part of this increase can be attributed to population recovery after a crash brought about by the devastating Yellowstone Buffalo 7 effects of DDT and related compounds. As a breeding species in the Great Lakes and Protecting Urban Wildlife 11 adjoining waterways, the birds are feared to be competitors against commercial and sport fishers. Concerns of varying degrees of validity are voiced that the cormorants Green Pages 14 deplete fish hatcheries and fish farm stocks, displace less common native birds, and Continued on page 3 H E L P I N G G R O U P S B E C O M E M O R E E F F E C T I V E I N P R O T E C T I N G W I L D L I F E A N D T H E I R E C O S Y S T E M S 1 Wildlife Tracks Mission and Goals: Over 5,000 wildlife and habitat pro- tection organizations nationwide are working to stop the rapid disappearance of wildlife and the destruction of their habitat. Wildlife Tracks combines the power of information, the power of net- working and the power of people to strengthen local, state and national grassroots movements to preserve and re- Letter from the Editor store wildlife and the ecosystems they need for their survival. Bette Stallman facing imperiled populations, species, or eco- Goals: systems; lethal control of species that are un- • To expedite the exchange of expe- ildlife Tracks is returning to print! After justifiably pegged as “nuisances;” the conse- rience and information between wildlife and habitat organizations, a healthy six-year life as a print publica- quences of habitat loss or fragmentation; wild- while increasing the efficiency and Wtion, we considered shifting to online- life management on public lands; the welfare effectiveness of their efforts. only publishing. But that didn’t work out, for ethics surrounding captive wildlife issues; and • To empower the grassroots by shar- ing the successful efforts to preserve various reasons, and reader responses and human-wildlife conflicts that are specific to wildlife and ecosystems and to in- other indications have shown us that the the urban and suburban landscapes. The ar- spire them to expand their vision and strategy to achieve long-term printed newsletter is still the preferred format ticles will provide scientific and policy back- solutions. for the in-depth articles that Wildlife Tracks ground on wildlife issues, as well as useful in- • To assist in building responsible and (WT) was created to provide for activists. Web formation on tactics that concerned citizens credible organizations by providing information and guidance. publishing does offer other advantages, of can use in wildlife advocacy, such as educa- course, which we will also employ on tional outreach, legal and legislative strategies, Staff: www.hsus.org/wildlifetracks, but we are back in and other basic tools that should save activ- John W. Grandy, Senior Vice President, Wildlife Programs, HSUS print, with recycled paper and soy ink! ists from having to reinvent the wheel. Bette Stallman, Senior Editor When I first began working at The HSUS as In the present issue, Dan Brister revisits the Debra Firmani, Managing Editor a wildlife scientist, I had just completed my Yellowstone bison issue and finds that the con- Tanya Mulford, Associate Editor Andrea Cimino, Editorial Assistant dissertation on the behavioral ecology of mar- troversy is stagnating—and the bison slaugh- Jenni Haas, Designer mots. While a background in science and field ter is continuing—for lack of public aware- research has been helpful in many ways, it re- ness. Barry Kent MacKay provides an in-depth Board of Advisors: Danielle Bays, Kevin Bixby, ally did very little to help prepare me for the assessment of a conflict between fish-eating Henry Brzezinski, David Carle, tactics used in advocacy work. Luckily, I found birds and fish-eating humans; a conflict that Linda Hatfield, Anne Miller, in some cases is nonexistent and, in others, Ruth Musgrave, Diane Nixon, a stack of back issues of WT in my office and Allen Rutberg, Louisa Willcox immediately pored over many of the articles could be resolved with a little ingenuity. Fi- to get up to speed on wildlife protection and nally, John Hadidian and Nancy Perry provide Wildlife Tracks Office: conservation advocacy. I liked the straightfor- the rationale behind our model legislation for The Humane Society of the United States ward, thorough, and practical nature of the the regulation of nuisance wildlife control Wildlife and Habitat Protection articles, and, because of the excellent authors, operators, as well as resources and suggestions 2100 L Street, NW for activists interested in addressing this prob- Washington DC 20037 I felt confident about the accuracy of the in- Phone: 301-258-3147 formation. For example, I found the in-depth lem. Fax: 301-258-3080 article on the Yellowstone bison controversy We would love to hear your suggestions and E-mail: [email protected] to be a helpful introduction to an extremely comments as we chart the course for the next © The Humane Society of the United States and The year or so. And if you have a topic that you HSUS Wildlife Land Trust, 2003. To reprint any or all of complicated issue. In addition, I frequently Wildlife Tracks, please contact Bette Stallman at The Hu- turn back to the articles addressing endan- think would be interesting and useful for WT mane Society of the U.S. at the above address. Permis- sion will generally be granted if credit is given to The gered and threatened species, as well as articles readers and you are willing to write about it, Humane Society of the United States. on habitat loss and degradation, such as those please contact us by phone, email, or regular The views expressed in these articles represent those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of addressing factory farm runoff and urban mail, using the contact information below. The Humane Society of the United States or those of The HSUS Wildlife Land Trust. The HSUS and The sprawl. Articles like these are timeless primers Bette Stallman HSUS Wildlife Land Trust encourage the grassroots use of all actions that educate and encourage the humane for activists, as are the “how to” articles for [email protected] and proper treatment of human and non-human ani- mals; however, we do not promote or support the use which WT has always been known. The Humane Society of the United States of any action that violates federal, state, or local laws and regulations in this process. In future issues, you can expect to see cov- 2100 L Street, NW erage of topics across the spectrum of wildlife Washington, DC 20037 werty protection and conservation, including threats phone: 301-258-3147 fax: 301-258-3080 e W I L D L I F E T R A C K S • S P R I N G 2 0 0 3 2 CORMORANTS, cont. from front page much evidence is provided to support the any decline in fish of any species. Some- destroy woody vegetation supportive of fact that the birds have virtually no signifi- times it has been argued that if cormorants other colonial nesting bird species. Many cant or lasting impact on stocks of fish, it don’t directly impact on the “desirable” spe- see the birds as physically unappealing; seems not to matter. In a recent article,2 cies, they do so indirectly by significantly although, as an artist, I must confess that Linda Wires, author of Status of the Double- reducing the prey species that the desir- my own bias goes the other way. I think crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) in able fish eat. But proof of that allegation they are uncommonly beautiful creatures North America, released by the University is also missing, despite exhaustive efforts whose sinuous contours, glowing dark of Minnesota’s Department of Fisheries, to find it. In fact, the presence of cormo- plumage, and startling green eyes suggest Wildlife and Conservation Biology, in Janu- rants clearly indicates a robust and healthy unbroken linkages to ancient times before ary, 2001, is quoted as saying, population of whatever fish they are eating. birds had evolved and reptiles ruled the I don’t know why the bird is so So, if cormorants are eating the would-be land.