Seen a cormorant or goosander? Please let us know!

At the Angling Trust we recognise the enormous damage that cormorants and goosanders can do to fish stocks in both rivers and still waters. We want to do more to enable fishery managers to be allowed to control these highly destructive birds.

We’ve written to the Fisheries Minister, George Eustice, demanding a doubling of the number of cormorants licensed to be shot in England annually to 6,000 and for the removal of requirements for evidence that goosanders are damaging fisheries before a licence will be issued.

We’ve relaunched the Cormorant Watch website for you to log sightings of cormorants and goosanders. The data provided will help us push for more effective control of these birds in England, Wales and Scotland, where goosanders in particular predate heavily on declining salmon stocks.

Pressure from angling organisations and angling-related businesses initially saw a previous government introduce a limit on cormorants licensed to be shot of 2,000, with a temporary increase to 3,000. Since then, the work of the Angling Trust has led to fishery managers applying for a far greater number of cormorant licences.

The Angling Trust continues to believe that the best outcome would be for cormorants to be included on the general licence as long as the conservation status of the birds is not threatened. However, we have not been able to persuade ministers to adopt this approach which is why we are pressing for the best possible outcomes within the licensing framework.

We believe fishery managers should have the right to protect fish stocks from these highly damaging birds and the current system is woefully inadequate. Please log your sightings and help us change it!