The Army Corps of Engineers has proposed the killing of 14,000 double-crested cormorants, a bird species that is using a Corps-built island near the mouth of the Columbia River for a nesting colony. These birds are accused of eating young salmon as they work their way toward the Pacific Ocean, which is undoubtedly true at least to some extent.
What is troubling about this idea is that it does not address the core issue. Humans have caused more damage to the fish population over the last 100 years than any other predator species has done. Damming the rivers, mismanagement, and overharvesting have forced us to spend millions upon millions to be surrogate parents to salmon in order to maintain a stable population. People have caused the fish problem, not the cormorants.
The idea of killing significant portions of any native species seems short-sighted and simple-minded. A few years ago, the Corps spent a lot of time and money chasing Caspian terns off the same island for the same reason. There must be a better way. Maybe the Corps could remove enough of the island to submerge it during high tide. This would deter fish-eating ground and low shrub nesters.
Let’s use better sense than turning to extermination when presented with a problem. It’s a slippery slope that we don’t want to get stuck on.
