How do I deal with cormorants ? I just stocked my 5 ac. pond in the Pac. N/W with 2000 9' to 11" triploid trout at a cost of over $2500 and went on vacation for a month and after returning I find over 10 cormorants on my pond . Needless to say I haven't seen a sign of a fish for 2 days now and I'm pretty sure they're all gone . Can I send a bill to the feds for my financial loss feeding their precious , protected cormorants or is it legal to protect my fish from these predators . I once asked an employee at a local fish hatchery what they do and he said he'd recommend I do the same thing they do and said no more .

A friend of mine has a permit to protect his fish. He has to report to the State how many he shoots. He's averaging about 200 per year. Contact someone at the state level and see if you can do the same.

well, sounds like sound advice..

Thanks , do you know if they are managed by the states or feds. ? I live in Washington .

Three s's.

wow...that's a slaughterhouse!

They are managed by both. If you are a fish producer, the permit comes from the feds, and if you have a pond for you own purposes, then its the state that permits you. At least that is the way it works here in Texas.

Yep! When I'm at his place, it's legal for me to shoot 'em if I have a hunting license, and use the approved steel shot, just like you would for waterfowl. He's got to keep a record of who shot how many, the date, and themethod of disposal (burial or burning). All of his get buried.

Thanks , had them here again this morning , will check with the state and get a permit .

Even if you don't throw lead/steel projectilis at them, there's other ways. Bottle rockets, etc.

A clients 7/8 ac pond had 5 of them that would visit almost daily. When I did a fish survey, I'd say around 70% of the fish showed that they had escaped from a cormorant. They had scratches/missing scales on their sides, or tears in their fins.

There is a dead one hanging at one pond upside down from a post. Others seem to stay away. That one swam into a beaver trap during high water.

We sell propane cannons to clients for cormorant control. They are very effective but the neighbors might complain some. Two shots every hour during daylight hours works great.

I have found that propane cannons work well for geese that are migrating through but permanent resident geese get used to them. I would think they would work for cormorants unless you have an especially inviting fish supply.

Thanks guys for the suggestions . I have neighbors real close that I'm sure would take exception to the noise . ( 16 within 1/8 of a mile ) I haven't seen a sign of a fish so maybe they ( cormorants ) solved the problem for me . I called the state fish and wildlife office and they don't issue permits for this state and the feds only allow control in the southern and a few Midwest states . There is a 60 ac. state owned lake about 3/4 of a mile from my pond that the state stocks with catchable sized trout that the public is allowed to fish during the spring summer and fall . The last time I visited it there were at least 75 cormorants there waiting for the hatchery truck to arrive with dinner . I don't have a chance of making this fish thing work here with a non-stop supply of birds flying over .
Maybe I'll buy a couple of alligators and put dry suits on them in the winter .

Well, what about gill nets? It might be not the usual solution but they might work.
You should use several nets with mesh size that allows fish to go through. Cormorants might end their miserable lives there...

I'm not sure about the righ mesh size but I've seen a lot of pics with birds died in gill nets.

I don't know much about law things in your country but this could work wll in Latvia. I was simply fishing my trout (I CAN DO THAT) and it's not my fault that these birds managed to die in the net...

I've heard that those cannons are the solution but only without close neighbours... they won't tolerate the sound for a long time.

ADDED:

I did some searching and found a lot of articles about the way of killing cormorants (look above):

http://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/news/illegal-gill-net-retrieved-from-wayatinah-lagoon

The net contained dead cormorants...

http://news.mongabay.com/2013/1118-seabirds-die-by-gillnets-solution.html

The birds most likely to be affected by gillnets are those that hunt underwater, such as penguins, loons and cormorants

http://www.seaturtle.org/PDF/ForsellDJ_1999_USFWSTechReport.pdf

http://www.fish2fork.com/en-GB/news-inde...-calculate.aspx

Static nets, including gill nets, in the Baltic and the North Sea are estimated by the EU to kill between 90,000 and 200,000 seabirds annually, including grebes, sea ducks, cormorants and auks.

So, it's a real solution for your case. Think about it...

I like the gill net thing. Good suggestion!!! Quiet, pretty unobtrusive way to do it. You DO need to do a fish population study in your pond after all.......

Great Idea , Thanks

How about fertilizing the pond to get an algae bloom and reduce visibility?

Reduced visibility won't help. They are nailing fish in a pond that has at the most 12" reading on a secchi disc.

Trout might dislike turbid water...

EDIT:

About the mesh size. Sure, the less, the better but it might be bad for your fish (trout is such a vulnerable fish and getting it in the net is not an option).

My experience shows that 80 mm is only for large fish and could be good for your case. In my ponds such net can be useful for common carp only and from ~1,5+ kg (even these fish can be taken out easily). Shouldn't bother your trout.

60 mm probably won't hurt your trout either.

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You know gill net prices in USA and you better decide the amount of nets you can afford. Here in Latvia it's possible to buy chinese 90 m nets for ~12 USD (poor quality but could be suitable for this case). I guess that you probably can order them somewhere on Internet.
I'd recommend to start with one net only, just in case.

I was just thinking about the gill-net solution and remembered I have a dozen large grass carp that keep the weeds down that I'd catch . They are all over 10 lbs. and 2 Plus ft. long . I'd hate to loose them and the weeds would take over again , " damned if you do , damned if you don't "

How about running some staked lines of heavy mono across the pond above the surface? I know it's five acres but you can buy cheap spools of mono of 20 to 30 lb. test at Walmart of two or three hundred yards for around $3.00. I use this mono to keep herons out of my ponds.

It would seem you would not have to run a lot, as all it would take is enough to frustrate them and being fairly invisible scare them, they won't be sure where all the lines are.

We have done this for clients and it has worked well. If you use clear mono, don't forget about them when your trolling around.

How long have the Grass Carp been in the pond? If it's been a while, maybe it's time you started with new ones. As they get older they slow down eating.

Ha Ha! Sounds like a good idea not to forget!

Maybe you can find a net with mesh size ~ 6"? I'm not sure if nylon nets in such size are often found but at least other material nets for different purposes have been seen. Sure, the bigger mesh size, the greater diameter of line will be and cormorants may avoid that.

Almost forgot to say that any gill nets can't be left in the water for a long time because they soon get covered by algae. In summer it might happen in a week. Then you have to take it out and clean. Probably the easiest way is to wash it with a pressure washer.