PORTLAND — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has resumed killing double-crested cormorants so the birds eat fewer juvenile salmon migrating down the Columbia River despite an ongoing legal battle with conservation groups.
The Oregonian reports that contracted workers shot 200 cormorants last week on East Sand Island as part of a program to reduce the size of North America’s biggest cormorant nesting colony by 57 percent over four years. The killings come after a nearly two-month break that allowed adult birds to take care of their hatchlings.
Since May the agency has killed 358 birds and oiled more than 5,000 nests to keep eggs from hatching.
Five conservation groups are challenging the killing in court. A U.S. District Court judge is expected to rule on the case in spring 2016.
