AP: Government hunters prepare to kill salmon-eating birds

[Omaha Steve]

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This Aug. 12, 2011 shows double breasted cormorants on East Sand Island in the Columbia River near Ilwaco, Wash. Government hunters have begun scouting an island at the mouth of the Columbia River as they prepare to shoot thousands of hungry seabirds to reduce the numbers of baby salmon they eat, Thursday, May 21, 2015. (Steve Ringman/The Seattle Times via AP)


http://bigstory.ap.org/article/d42f6fb675d74b39a38c72e31e09a920/government-hunters-prepare-kill-salmon-eating-birds

By JEFF BARNARD May. 22, 2015 8:10 PM EDT

Government hunters have begun scouting an island at the mouth of the Columbia River as they prepare to shoot thousands of hungry seabirds to stop them from eating baby salmon.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokeswoman Diana Fredlund said hunters from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services agency went to a small uninhabited island off Ilwaco, Washington, on Thursday to survey the land before carrying out plans to reduce the population of double crested cormorants from about 14,000 breeding pairs to 5,600 pairs by 2018.

Double crested cormorants are large black birds with long necks, hooked bills and webbed feet that dive beneath the surface to eat small fish.

Wildlife Services is slated to file a plan with the corps next week before starting to kill the birds.

FULL story at link.

The salmon need the help. Is there no better answer?

[kwolf68]

1. Well the balance is off

Nature doesn't do this unless something else is amiss. Are the salmon otherwise showing reduced numbers? Are the bird numbers artificially high? Lack of natural predators? Habitat change?

A natural predator will NOT over-consume its natural prey if the ecosystem is in balance. When you find (or it's promoted) that species X is "over eating" its prey Species Y then be on guard for massive amounts of bullshit.