From Steve Pollick's Feb 10 column : "The deadline for filing public comments on the draft environmental assessment on double-crested cormorant management on Lake Erie is Feb. 16. Copies of the plan can be downloaded. from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Web site." Jan 31 article from the Ohio Outdoor News about needing public input about the cormorants. The Jan 29 issue (PDF) of Toledo Magazine contained an article co-written by Pollick titled The problem with Lake Erie's Cormorants.
Some info from the Ohio Outdoor News article:
"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture and Ohio DNR are formulating a proposal to reduce damage associated with the fish-eating birds on three Lake Erie islands and two inland locations."
"The USDA’s damage control proposal, known as an Environmental Assessment Plan, considers several alternatives for cormorant control. Those include approaches such as physical exclusion, habitat modification, harassment, removal by shooting, egg oiling or destruction, nest destruction or euthanasia following live capture."
"Cormorants were naturally found in Ohio in the early 1900s but their numbers dropped significantly due to pesticides, water pollution and other factors. Their comeback began in 1991 when the black, hook-billed birds established nesting sites on West Sister Island, Green Island and Turning Point Island in Lake Erie. Colonies have also been established at Mercer Wildlife Area near Grand Lake St. Marys, and Portage Lakes. The population of cormorants has exploded in Ohio, increasing from no breeding pairs in 1991 to 5,164 pairs in 2005, according to Division of Wildlife statistics."
"In particular, the natural resource agencies are concerned about West Sister Island, which is Ohio’s only designated wilderness area. West Sister is also home to one of the largest remaining nesting colonies of herons and egrets in the U.S. portion of the Great Lakes, and one of two remaining breeding colonies of black-crowned night herons in Ohio, according to the USDA’s Wildlife Services unit. Black-crowned night herons also nest at Turning Point Island, a five-acre preserve owned by the City of Sandusky."
The Feb 3 issue of Ohio Outdoor News contains a column by Chip Gross. The column contained this cormorant info from Dave Sherman, a biologist with the DNR Division of Wildlife.
"The Green Island colony went from zero nests in 2003 to 857 nests in 2005. West Sister Island went from zero nests in 1991 to 2,600 nests in 2003 to 3,813 nests in 2005."
