LANSING – State Representative Joel Sheltrown (D-West Branch) today announced that the House has passed a package of bills designed to control the troublesome cormorant population. The birds' voracious appetites have caused declining fish populations in northern Michigan, which could severely hamper the tourism industry throughout the area.
"The explosion in the cormorant population is one of the top threats to our environment today," said Sheltrown. "Tourism is a vital part of the economy in northern Michigan, and many of our visitors come here to fish. If we allow these pests to continue to plague our waterways, they will have a devastating effect on tourism and the economy in our area."
The package of bills creates a "cormorant control fund" within the State Treasury that could receive money or assets from any source. The bills also would require the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to administer a program dedicated to controlling the birds and reducing the damage they cause. The DNR also would be required to take part in a regional effort to reduce cormorant damage, and to seek funding from the Great Lakes Protection Fund to be earmarked for the cormorant control fund.
Anglers have been complaining for years that a rapidly growing cormorant population on the Great Lakes is destroying fish stocks, including alewives, trout, perch and salmon. The sport and commercial fishing industry has been calling for measures to reduce the cormorant populations.
"For years, the cormorant population hovered on the brink of extinction, due to the use of pesticides," Sheltrown said. "Now that the cormorant has made a comeback, we must be careful that it doesn't push any other species to that same brink of extinction."