ODFW to begin hazing cormorants on Oregon coast

April 17, 2012

Cormorants roost on old pilings while fishing in an estuary on the Oregon coast. (Click image to enlarge)

TILLAMOOK, Ore. – With hundreds of thousands of young salmon now making their way toward the ocean, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is ramping up efforts to make sure they get there and aren’t picked off by hungry birds along the way.

For the next month and a half, volunteers assisting ODFW staff will haze cormorants to keep them from feasting on salmon smolts as the young fish run the gauntlet through five coastal estuaries on their way to the Pacific Ocean.

Cormorants are large seabirds that inhabit Oregon’s estuaries during the spring and summer. They are voracious eaters and can consume up to two pounds of fish per day … roughly the equivalent of about 12 salmon smolts when the fish are released as juveniles from ODFW’s hatcheries at Tillamook, Nehalem, Hebo, Alsea and Coquille.

Cormorants have been identified by sportsmen’s groups and others as a potential threat the outbound migration of salmon and steelhead. Members of those organizations are assisting in the hazing program by providing manpower and equipment needed for daily hazing chores while ODFW provides fuel and oversight. Hazing generally consists of a person in a small boat interrupting the birds’ feeding patterns by driving toward them while they are in the water foraging for fish. At times, pyrotechnics are used to scare the birds away.

“Cormorants will eat what’s most abundant,” said Lindsay Adrean, ODFW’s avian predation coordinator. “The idea is to move the cormorants towards the lower estuary and ocean where they will have many other kinds of fish to choose from. This also provides the salmon with extra time to disperse, making them less vulnerable to predation.”\

Volunteers will be working in Tillamook and Alsea bays and mouths of the Nehalem, Nestucca and Coquille rivers through the end of May. Manpower is being provided by the Port of Nehalem, Port of Bandon, North Coast Salmon and Steelhead Enhancement Fund, and Alsea Sportsmen’s Association.

In addition to improving salmon out-migration the hazing project will help ODFW gather baseline information about cormorant population trends and the effectiveness of hazing. It’s a tricky proposition, according to Adrean, because cormorants are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, so extra care must be used to ensure the birds are not injured or killed. At the same time, cormorant populations have been increasing on East Sand Island near the mouth of the Columbia River. Population surveys indicate there are about 2,300 cormorant breeding pairs in the estuaries between Tillamook Bay and the Rogue River, and 12,000 breeding pairs on East Sand Island. Researchers want to know how future changes in the distribution of cormorants might impact coastal salmon populations.

“We hear a lot from people who think cormorants are having an impact, so that’s what we’re working on,” said Adrean. “We’re trying to find the right balance. That’s the key.”