CORMORANTS RAVAGE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FISHERIES

[theangler]

[size 1] [#000000]The double-crested cormorant, a fish-eating bird that can dive to 60 feet underwater, is becoming a major concern for Southern California fisheries managers.[/#000000][/size]

[#000000][size 1]At Santa Ana River Lakes, cormorants eat an estimated $100,000 worth of stocked trout each year. The birds have also impacted fish populations on Laguna Niguel, Irvine and other nearby lakes.[/size][/#000000]

[#000000][size 1]A U.S. Fish and Wildlife plan to manage cormorant numbers won't help California or other Western states. Scheduled for implementation later this year, it is directed at bird populations in Eastern and Great Lakes states.[/size][/#000000]
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[gvanzant]

Mike: I just reacted to a guy talking about tilapia. I mentioned the cormorants in the San Gabriel river. Anyway they get so thick when they rest after gorging on tilapia they sit side by side on pipe suspensions that go over the river. For kicks, one day riding my bike, I stopped and counted them. There are two suspending strands that span across and each strand had more the 500 birds sitting side by side on each. That is a distance of 200 yards. I once commented that if the lakes planted large trout the cormorants wouldn't be able to swallow them... until I observed a bird with a 24 inch in his beak. He finished it off with no problem. So goes that theory.
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[ROMEROFISHERKING]

For Being a protected bird.It's numbers have increased to the point it is a serious problem.Who determines the removal of the Bird ,off the protected list,so some control can be excersised???? I was thinking alka-seltzer???bad bad man!
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