Ecosystem under severe strain
This is part of the speech in Strasbourg by the MEP from Brescia Mariateresa Vivaldini: “Many fish species from our lakes and rivers, such as the Garda carpione, the marble trout and the roach, are at risk of extinction. The reason? The excess cormorants common, a protected species, which is putting the balance of aquatic ecosystems to the test. Unfortunately, the European Commission has delegated the management of the problem to the Member States, but the current tools are not sufficient”.
The position of the Brescia fishermen
The UPBS – Unione Pescatori Bresciani – showed appreciation with a long commentary note: “We thank and share the post on the intervention of MEP MARIATERESA VIVALDINI, thanks for having brought our requests for urgent intervention on the cormorant emergency, directly to the Plenary of the European Parliament. A renewed thanks for demonstrating her commitment that underlines the seriousness of the invasion of the Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis) in European, Italian and Lombardy Region waters”.
Danger of extinction
The UPBS added: “We want to continue to raise awareness of how serious this silent invasion is for the ecosystem and the native fish fauna, which literally causes tons and tons of valuable fish to disappear from our waters every day, such as the Marble Trout and the Grayling, fish species that are included in Annex II of the “Habitats” Directive (92/43/EEC) classified in Italy, according to the IUCN criteria, as critically endangered with decreasing populations throughout their distribution area and therefore certainly of greater conservation interest than the great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis), a bird that has also been removed from the list of species for which specific habitat protection measures are envisaged, as highlighted in Annex I of the European Birds Directive”.