EU Hesitates Over Actions Against Cormorants

The European Commission is clearly hesitant to change the protection status of the great cormorant, despite pressure from Sweden and other countries.

“I hear your proposal to list the cormorant as a huntable species in the EU. We can look into this, but I would first like to discuss further with you whether this is really a way to reduce the administrative burden,” said EU Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall at a meeting with member states’ agriculture and fisheries ministers in Brussels on Tuesday.

As a first step, she promises dialogue with the parties concerned and updated guidelines on how member states can make exceptions to the protection of cormorants in order to keep the population down.

The issue was raised on Tuesday by Sweden, one of several EU countries concerned, not least about the large quantities of fish being taken by the growing population of cormorants.