Following the sharp increase in the cormorant population in Europe which is causing lasting damage to aquaculture businesses and the stocks of many species of wild fish, the coordinators of the Fisheries Commission of the European Parliament they instructed the Secretariat to draw up a note to the EC, requesting intervention actions to minimize the impact of the species on fish fauna. The League's MEP reports Marco Dreosto, together with colleagues Massimo Casanova, Annalisa Tardino and Rosanna Conte, owners of the PESCH commission.
“With a daily consumption of 400-600 g of fish, it has been calculated that cormorants take more than 300.000 tonnes of fish from European waters every year; this quantity corresponds to more than double the volume of edible fish produced by professional fishermen from inland waters and aquaculture producers in many Member States "highlights Dreosto - who adds -"The total cormorant population in Europe is estimated to be at least 1,8 million birds and it is having a particularly serious direct impact on fish species in difficulty such as eel and grayling ”.
MEP Casanova stressed that the Commission had already opened the way to the slaughter, suggesting that a small number of birds be shot locally and to reduce the overall number of cormorants over a larger area, hindering the creation of new colonies and reducing the reproductive efficiency of birds by preventing the eggs from hatching. The EC in the current year had recently expressed itself, believing that Member States have to date the tools needed to deal with species-related conflicts, applying the exceptions referred to in art. 9 of the Birds Directive, based on the guidelines contained in the guidance document