§ The Earl of Shrewsburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will now lift the ban on the culling, except by licence, of mergansers, cormorants and other protected birds which prey on salmon parr, as an encouragement for greater survival of those fish; and, if not, why not. [HL3346]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Lord Whitty)All wild birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 which implements the EC Wild Birds Directive in Great Britain. Member states may derogate from the general protection provisions of the directive to prevent serious damage to fisheries where there is no other satisfactory solution. The directive does not permit the removal of protection for cormorants, mergansers and other piscivorous birds. The 1981 Act provides for piscivorous birds to be shot under licence in strictly limited numbers, where they are causing serious damage to a fishery, and there is no other satisfactory solution.
The Government are funding a five year research programme on the distribution and impact of piscivorous birds. The results should be available in spring 1999.