LANSING – State Representative Steven Lindberg (D-Marquette) 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 the Upper Peninsula and northern Michigan, which could severely hamper the tourism industry throughout the area.
"The cormorant is one of the biggest threats to our environment and our special way of life in the Upper Peninsula," Lindberg said. "Many people come here to fish our lakes and rivers. If cormorants continue to plague our waterways and destroy our fish populations, it will have a devastating effect on our economy."
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.
"This bill is a step in the right direction to controlling the exploding cormorant population," Lindberg said. "Our lakes, streams and rivers are part of a precious ecosystem that is invaluable to residents and tourists alike in the Upper Peninsula. This is a problem that we cannot continue to ignore."