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| | Fish farmers seek help to control waterfowl
Friday, Jun 25, 2004 By Allecia Vermillion Stephens Washington Bureau WASHINGTON -- Cormorants that swoop in on Jeff Baxter's fish farm in Watson, Arkansas, kill and eat $200,000 worth of catfish each year. A frustrated Baxter went before Congress on Thursday to plead for help. Baxter said red tape and miscommunication between two government wildlife agencies make it almost impossible for him and other farmers to obtain permits to kill the airborne predators. "When they arrive on my farm, they do not wait for paperwork before they start to eat," Baxter said. "They start to eat as soon as they arrive. They eat Saturday, Sunday, Christmas, Thanksgiving and on your birthday." Baxter, speaking to a House subcommittee on behalf of the National Aquaculture Association, estimated cormorants, pelicans, blue herons and other predatory birds cost the industry millions of dollars each year. Rep. Frank Pallone, D N.J., called the cormorants "the Osama bin Laden of the bird world." Baxter testified in support of a bill that would allow biologists working for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or APHIS, to grant permits to control waterfowl harmful to agriculture. The bill's sponsor is Rep. Mike Ross, D-Prescott. Rep. Marion Berry, D-Gillett, is a co-sponsor. Currently, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issues depredation permits. Testifying before the House subcommittee on fisheries, conservation, wildlife and oceans, both Ross and Baxter contended that if APHIS agents also had this authority, catfish farmers could obtain permits faster, since these biologists traditionally have a presence in the communities they serve. Baxter said he has to request permits from a Fish and Wildlife Service office in Atlanta. He said it has taken four months or longer to receive a reply. Sometimes the agency does not reply, he said. Ross stressed that his bill would not strip any authority from the Fish and Wildlife Service, just provide farmers with quicker access to permits. "By the time they make a decision on a permit, it's too late," he said. "There has already been a huge economic loss." But Matt Hogan, deputy director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said overlapping authorities in the two agencies would be confusing. He said the Fish and Wildlife Service has been actively addressing farmers' concerns. Hogan cited a 1998 order that allows farmers in certain states, including Arkansas, to shoot double-crested cormorants freely, as long as they report the amount of birds killed at the end of the season. Both farmers and agents consider cormorants the most harmful bird to catfish crops. However, populations are still growing steadily. Baxter said he can only take aim at birds on his property and needs a permit to seek other species, or cormorants on neighboring lands that swoop in to feed off his catfish ponds. The two-foot long birds can eat one-fourth of their body weight in fish each day. -- 30 -- |
