COULD SEA EAGLES CLAW BACK CORMORANT NUMBERS?
Resurgent raptors are a cormorant’s worst nightmare and could help curb the predators laying siege to Britain’s fisheries
WITH cormorants “now more frequent and widespread in Europe than at any time in the last 150 years” according to the EU Commission, anglers are welcoming the resurgence of their greatest natural predator.
Recent studies show that the white-tailed eagle, often better known as the sea eagle, is terrorising colonies of nesting birds in Northern Europe, and are heading this way in ever growing numbers.
Across Germany and Scandinavia’s Baltic Sea, in particular, eagle numbers are not only increasing, but putting claw marks in cormorant colonies, according to Finland’s Environment Institute.
And with many birds migrating south every winter to UK waters, that could be good news for Britain’s fish stocks in the long run.
“The White-tailed Eagle can eat both Great Cormorant eggs and offspring, and also steal fish caught by cormorants. In addition, the eagles scare adult cormorants from their nests, exposing eggs and offspring to predatory gulls and crows,” said a representative from the Finnish authorities.
“Situations have been observed in both Finland and Germany where there are up to 30 White-tailed Eagles in a Great Cormorant colony at the same time,” they continued, adding that “the predation and harassment caused by the
White-tailed Eagle can sometimes be so severe that the colony does not produce any offspring in the summer” and that in at least once case “continuous predation has led to the end of a breeding colony of two thousand nests”.
With so many of the cormorants at UK fisheries arriving as migrants from Northern Europe each winter, it is hoped this could have a positive impact on the hardesthit venues and species like
“Continuous predation has led to the end of a breeding colony of two thousand nests”
roach, bream and trout.
In Finland, the cormorant population has not only stopped growing, but declined since 2015, suggesting the return of top-level predators could be a possible solution to one of angling’s longest-running battles, not to mention less contentious than culls.
Sea Eagles could also return to former strongholds in Britain, with numbers already found in Scotland and reintroductions currently being trialled on the Isle of Wight in Hampshire.
Harry Martin, who took the dramatic image shown here, has been in awe of these birds for years on the Isle of Skye, where he hosts photography days.
“Just this past week I saw a sea eagle flying with what looked like a large sea bird in its talons. They’ll handle very big prey!
“They would once have been a lot more widespread in the British Isles, including further south too, so hopefully that balance will return.”