On the 26th June 2024, EAA Member DAFV - Deutscher Angelfisherverband e.V. - participated in a public hearing organised by the German Bundestag’s Committee for Environment and Nature Protection, to discuss a recently approved motion on Cormorant management and how this species significantly effects freshwater ecosystems. The motion was sent to the committee for further consultation. This hearing made it clear there must be no longer any doubt on the impact of cormorant populations but rather on how fish populations and biodiversity can be better protected from cormorant predation through better management policies.
The German Bundestag has motioned to acknowledge the negative impacts of Cormorant predation and approved the motion to be discussed at the parliamentary committee level.
On 26 June 2024, the German Bundestag’s committee for Environment and Nature Protection conducted a public hearing to discuss the assigned CDU motion: "Cormorant Management - Protection of Biodiversity and Fisheries Stocks" (BT-Drs. 20/10619) which called upon Germany’s national government to:
- Establish a comprehensive nationwide cormorant management system and to present a "Cormorant Action Plan", in which state laws on the handling of cormorant populations are harmonised as well as to develop to deter and in some cases to stop further unhindered reproduction.
- Place particular emphasis on agreeing measures in border regions with neighbouring countries such as at the Flensburg Firth or Lake Constance in order to formulate a unified response.
- Place the protection of native fish species at the same level as protection of birds when developing nature protection laws and regulations.
Take population-limiting measures such as the oiling of eggs or so called “cold egg actions” which are already provided for in the existing federal nature protection law.
Comprehensively protect angling, professional fishing and water management from the damage being wrought by cormorant populations by means of compensation programmes and other protective measures.
Lobby the European Commission and Council of the EU to classify the Cormorant as a huntable species under Annex 2 of the EU Directive on the conservation of wild birds (the Birds Directive).
EAA member DAFV argues that this motion is an important step forward as it places the concerns of German anglers front and centre of the national debate. An essential part of the motion is the request that the federal government develop a so-called “action plan for cormorant management.” This is intended to further develop the discussion within and among other EU member states. The actual facilitation of this debate has been promoted by the DAFV and EAA for many years.
This recent public hearing contrasted from previous ones in that it became clearer that there can no longer be any doubts as to the damage being directly caused by cormorant populations in central Europe especially when looked at through the lenses of fish stocks and biodiversity.
EAA member DAFV took an active part in the proceedings by providing two experts who presented their arguments and who took questions from MP’s. Both experts eloquently argued that the issues surrounding cormorant predation are not new and have been causing major problems for EU river and marine fish species for over 30 years.
The lively discussion as well as a Q&A round did not revolve around the question of whether or not fish stocks and biodiversity could be protected from cormorant predation but rather which specific measures must be taken. Several of the invited experts left no doubt that, from their point of view, that the feeding pressures attributable to cormorants are directly related to the decline of fish stocks and the decline of endangered fish species.
Demands for better regulation at EU and national levels are getting louder
During the hearing it became clearer and clearer that the existing regulations and measures being rolled out at the state level are simply insufficient to address the problem. This is an argument that the
DAFV had already presented to the European Parliament in Brussels in 2018. The DAFV has stated that this most recent parliamentary hearing has demonstrated a major step forward towards a sound cormorant management policy. It has also shown that there is now a level of political appetite for such a policy among many of the larger parties which can and should be engaged at the EU level. Together with the EAA, the DAFV calls upon EU institutions to elaborate on a balanced management plan for the EU’s cormorant population.
To read the full article on DAFV’s website,
click here
To read the EAA’s position on Cormorants,
click here
To see a video of the parliamentary hearing (in German),
click here
Photo credits: DAFV, 2024 - DAFV representatives before the hearing