David Rogers 3
Well-known member
We tend to think of the "cormorant problem" as a relatively recent issue of concern to anglers, but I've just been reading through some issues of the old Fishing magazine and come across an interesting editorial dated March 8th, 1963.
Apparently the Severn River Board at that time was offering 10 shillings for each cormorant shot on their waters - "several hundred" of the birds were appearing each spring on the upper Severn and Teme and potentially scoffing their own weight in trout and salmon smolts every day.
The response had been disappointing, though - fewer than a dozen ten bob notes were claimed during the whole of the previous year (1962).
It appears that cormorants (in common with all predators) have always taken advantage of rich pickings, and the present numbers of the birds coming inland hasn't only had to do with the scarcity of prey around the coast.
Apparently the Severn River Board at that time was offering 10 shillings for each cormorant shot on their waters - "several hundred" of the birds were appearing each spring on the upper Severn and Teme and potentially scoffing their own weight in trout and salmon smolts every day.
The response had been disappointing, though - fewer than a dozen ten bob notes were claimed during the whole of the previous year (1962).
It appears that cormorants (in common with all predators) have always taken advantage of rich pickings, and the present numbers of the birds coming inland hasn't only had to do with the scarcity of prey around the coast.