The head of the republic, Alexey Tsydenov, said that starting next spring, the large cormorant population in Buryatia needs to be managed in a direct conversation with the population. He is quoted by Kommersant.
According to the article, residents of the city of Severobaykalsk contacted Tsydenov via video. They say that 10 years ago in Baikal one could “see sturgeon and lenok” and catch grayling or omul, but now, because there are many species of birds, the catch “is not even enough for fish”.
The official noted that the state of the cormorant population requires drastic measures. He directed the Ministry of Natural Resources and Burprirodnadzor in the region to solve this task and the regional Ministry of Finance to find funds for this.
“It is necessary to manage, I don't know how, even flying drones,” said the head of the republic.
According to him, the difficulty with the decline in bird numbers is because they nest in nature reserves.
Kommersant clarified that it will be possible to shoot cormorants in Buryatia from 2022. But due to low efficiency, this method is rarely used. A more promising option for reducing bird numbers is to cull cormorant colonies without causing obvious damage to the eggs.
