Great cormorants have recovered strongly across Europe and face increasing persecution from fisheries interests, raising welfare and conservation conflict issues.
Cormorants face significant welfare threats from persecution related to fisheries conflict. Shooting near fisheries is legally licensed in many EU countries despite their protected status elsewhere. Poorly placed shots wound birds that escape to die slowly. Nest destruction at inland colonies disturbs breeding behavior. Cormorants are intelligent, social birds that show distress responses to human disturbance. Non-lethal deterrent methods including overhead wires, visual scaring devices, and acoustic deterrents are available and often effective alternatives to lethal control. Cormorant impacts on freshwater fisheries are localized and evidence for population-level effects on fish stocks is limited.