Fishermen in Slovakia express dissatisfaction despite a significant increase in the culling of cormorants due to environmental ministerial policies, raising concerns about the potential impact on rare bird populations.
In Slovakia, the culling of black cormorants has reached new heights following a ten-year exemption granted by the Ministry of Environment under Minister Tomáš Taraba. This exemption allows hunters to shoot up to 1,800 cormorants during the winter season, a drastic increase in quotas compared to previous years. Fishermen have varied reactions to this policy; while some support it as a means to protect fisheries, others argue it still does not address their concerns adequately.
The Slovenský rybársky klub (Slovak Fishing Club) has initiated a petition advocating for alternative solutions to reduce the cormorant population, with almost 5,000 signatures collected so far. This reflects a significant level of dissatisfaction among the fishing community, who feel that the measures imposed are insufficient to protect their interests effectively. They perceive cormorants as a threat to fish populations in rivers and bodies of water, necessitating more aggressive management intervention.
However, ornithologists warn that further relaxing hunting regulations, such as expanding the areas where culling can occur, could severely threaten rare bird species. The proposed year-round exemption for culling raises alarms about the sustainability of the cormorant population in Slovakia, especially since they breed in very low numbers and faced extinction in the country during the socialist era. Such actions could potentially diminish the bird’s nesting population, leading to ecological imbalances and loss of biodiversity in the region.
