The Province of Belluno has authorized the controlled killing of 20 cormorants in order to safeguard its favorite prey: marble trout.
The Province of Belluno has given the green light to the culling of 20 specimens of cormorants, a bird very fond of fish, especially the marble trout. Some recent studies have shown that this bird is causing dangerous imbalances in the number of marble trout that populate the rivers of the Province of Belluno (the Ardo and the Piave, in particular).
The decision was taken in order to preserve the balance of fauna, seriously endangered by the large number of specimens of this species of bird, which in a single day is able to eat large quantities of fish. The selection hunt for the cormorant will end on March 15, 2015 and involves the killing of a maximum of 20 specimens. For about twenty years the cormorants have significantly increased their number in the Province of Belluno and for this reason a precise strategy has been designed to preserve the balance and prevent the marble trout from being affected by the excessive number of this species of bird. Obviously, the killing will be monitored constantly and will be carried out following precise and unquestionable rules established by the Province of Belluno, which has made use of the collaboration and supervision of ISPRA. With the act of the President number 10 dated 20 November 2014, Palazzo Piloni (seat of the Province of Belluno) thus authorized "a plan to contain the impacts caused by the cormorant by selective killing of up to a maximum of 20 specimens".
La selection hunting it will be carried out exclusively by the staff of the provincial police, with the help of authorized operators and will affect some areas of the Piave auction, the Cordevole torrent, the Senaiga torrent and the sections outside the marble trout protection area.
In the past, this decision was strongly criticized by environmental associations, which still oppose selection hunting today.
25.11.2014