Cormorant Season?

[h2ofowlr]

How do we work to get a cormorant season in this state.  I have heard of locals down in the Chinook, WA area talking about opening one to control the 1000's of them down in that area.  Will the state lend a hand to hunters to control the numbers or will they contract out control officers to reduce the population.  I am up for volunteering.  Went and fished down towards the mouth and there were huge flocks.  Those are the true fish eating machines next to terns.

[singleshot12]

It's probably only talk, but one could hope .. They'll probably wait until the cormorants run out of salmon and stealhead and are starving before a season is allowed     I wonder if they taste like chicken?

[Ray]

I've always told Cohoho that if they ever open up a season we can shoot the cormorants and fish at the same time. 

[BIGBULLBALLS]

I just want to pod out on the Skagit River Bridge and shoot them off the powerlines!!!  A little 22-250 action.  How much fun would that be!  I agree with H20, way too many in the mouth of the river.  We see thousands when we run out the mouth to drop our crab pots in the summer

[Dmanmastertracker]

 I agree, but it will never happen. Seals have gotten out of hand in the Sound and they are "not a problem", which really translates to: "they are protected, so we don't want to bark up that tree". You hear this crapola that seals aren't impacting salmon. Wait, whoah what do have I have here attatched to my 12lb blackmouth??? Sure looks like a seal to me. Introduce great whites into the Sound and you won't see as many cormorants.. Then again, you would see less fishermen, including me.

[vandeman17]

I agree, but it will never happen. Seals have gotten out of hand in the Sound and they are "not a problem", which really translates to: "they are protected, so we don't want to bark up that tree". You hear this crapola that seals aren't impacting salmon. Wait, whoah what do have I have here attatched to my 12lb blackmouth??? Sure looks like a seal to me. Introduce great whites into the Sound and you won't see as many cormorants.. Then again, you would see less fishermen, including me.

  I am just picturing the look on all the tree-hugger's faces the first time they saw a big old great white take out an unsuspecting seal. Priceless! 

[Dmanmastertracker]

I agree, but it will never happen. Seals have gotten out of hand in the Sound and they are "not a problem", which really translates to: "they are protected, so we don't want to bark up that tree". You hear this crapola that seals aren't impacting salmon. Wait, whoah what do have I have here attatched to my 12lb blackmouth??? Sure looks like a seal to me. Introduce great whites into the Sound and you won't see as many cormorants.. Then again, you would see less fishermen, including me.

  I am just picturing the look on all the tree-hugger's faces the first time they saw a big old great white take out an unsuspecting seal. Priceless! 

 About 15 years ago I was a marine bio in training at the Pt. Defiance aquarium, working summers there. The curator came back one day and he was white as a ghost, after leading an orca watching trip to the San Juan's. They came upon a pod of orca's feeding on seals and apparently several were knocked flying all the way into the boat....

[ducksdoom12]

I agree, but it will never happen. Seals have gotten out of hand in the Sound and they are "not a problem", which really translates to: "they are protected, so we don't want to bark up that tree". You hear this crapola that seals aren't impacting salmon. Wait, whoah what do have I have here attatched to my 12lb blackmouth??? Sure looks like a seal to me. Introduce great whites into the Sound and you won't see as many cormorants.. Then again, you would see less fishermen, including me.

  I am just picturing the look on all the tree-hugger's faces the first time they saw a big old great white take out an unsuspecting seal. Priceless! 

 About 15 years ago I was a marine bio in training at the Pt. Defiance aquarium, working summers there. The curator came back one day and he was white as a ghost, after leading an orca watching trip to the San Juan's. They came upon a pod of orca's feeding on seals and apparently several were knocked flying all the way into the boat....

    now thats funny

[bobcat]

I don't think they could justify a cormorant season as they are not edible.   

[MuleySniper]

I don't think they could justify a cormorant season as they are not edible.   

Im sure homeless people wouldn't complain how they tasted... Just an idea.

[h2ofowlr]

Deliver them to a food bank.

[uplandhunter870]

I don't think they could justify a cormorant season as they are not edible.   

no one that i know eats coyotes or bobcats but theres a season on them, you wont catch me eating the crows i shoot during crow season, and squaw fish surely are not edible but there is a bounty on them in the lower reaches of the river, theres a guy that works for the Chelan PUD that his sole job is to catch squaw fish all summer and there is the annual squaw fish derby here in this neck of the woods.

not being edible is not a justifiable reason in my mind.  i think that WDFW just doesnt really want to improve the salmon and steelhead runs back to any sort of levels that would take them off of the in danger lists, but rather leave them as they are so when they do make an improvement they can say "look, see our methods are working"

just my 

[Curly]

Never happen.  They are a federally protected bird. 

I know a guy who back in high school shot several and he opened one up and started to skin it.......the meat stunk like fish.   

[duckmen1]

you like fish don't ya 
seen many shot and they need to be but i won't break the law myself to shoot anything
they cleaning the trout out of our lakes

[npaull]

"not being edible is not a justifiable reason in my mind.  i think that WDFW just doesnt really want to improve the salmon and steelhead runs back to any sort of levels that would take them off of the in danger lists, but rather leave them as they are so when they do make an improvement they can say "look, see our methods are working"

Cormorant populations are so far down the list of things that are screwing the salmon population, though, that making a season for hunting them wouldn't do anything to bring back salmon.

The salmon populations are low because of habitat destruction, the dams, and (human) overfishing (including unregulated native harvesting). It doesn't take much thought to see that this is true - salmon populations were at an all time high hundreds of years ago. Presumably, with a more prevalent food source and even more breeding habitat, predatory bird populations were similarly much higher then as well. It's not like there was a huge hunting season on cormorants when the salmon were at their peak.

I'm not necessarily opposed to a season on them, but the idea that it would help significantly salmon populations is off the mark.