§ Lord Mason of Barnsleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What assessment has been made by the Environment Agency of the damage caused to inland trout lakes through the constant killing of trout by cormorants; and what protection is being provided to safeguard trout stocks. [HL3132]
§ Lord WhittyIn 1996, the Environment Agency, together with DETR and MAFF, launched a research programme to improve the level of information on piscivorous birds and their impact on fisheries. The survey concluded that predation by cormorants was a problem at specific fisheries rather than a general problem.
As well as providing information on a wide range of non-lethal anti-predation measures, DEFRA issues licences to allow the shooting of a limited number of cormorants as an aid to scaring where it can be demonstrated that the cormorants are having a serious effect on the performance of a fishery and where there is no other satisfactory solution. Recent studies suggest that stocking with larger trout is a cost-effective option for reducing losses to cormorants.
§ Lord Mason of Barnsleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Environment Agency is encouraging a cull of the cormorant; and how many licences have been issued to kill cormorants. [HL3133]
§ Lord WhittyThe Environment Agency does not encourage the cull of cormorants as they are a protected species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The destruction or taking of these birds, their eggs or their nests is prohibited except under licence from DEFRA or one of the statutory conservation bodies (in England, English Nature). The Act does provide for them to be controlled under licence to prevent serious damage to fisheries although there are no powers to undertake a general cull.
77WAIn the licensing year 200–01 (May to April), DEFRA issued in England a total of 79 licences to shoot a total of 506 cormorants. The number reported to have been shot was 199. English Nature only issued one licence for the purposes of scientific research, but no cormorants were killed under this licence.
§ Lord Mason of Barnsleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will estimate how many rainbow trout are killed by cormorants each year; which regions are suffering most; which cormorant species are most responsible for the depletion of trout stocks; and from where they originate. [HL3134]
§ Lord WhittyNo estimate has been made of the number of rainbow trout taken by cormorants.
Cormorants in the UK belong to a single species Phalacrocorax carbo but there are two distinct races or sub-species. Phalacrocorax carbo carbo is found predominately on the north-east Atlantic coasts of Europe (especially the British Isles). Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis breeds almost exclusively inland beside 78WA freshwaters and is found across much of Europe, as well as in Russia, India, China and Japan, Phalacrocorax carbo carbo accounts for most of the predation on rainbow trout.
§ Lord Mason of Barnsleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What discussions have taken place between the Environment Agency and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds to rid trout lakes of cormorant activity [HL3135]
§ Lord WhittyThe Non-Governmental Joint Fisheries Policy and Legislation Working Group, chaired by Lord Moran, now holds regular and ongoing discussions with the Environment Agency, RSPB, English Nature, and various angling bodies to discuss the way forward in resolving problems caused by cormorants. These discussions have previously resulted in the leafletCormorants: The Facts, published in 2001, which seeks to communicate the various cormorant management options to the angling community. Ridding trout lakes of cormorant activity is not practicable.