Cormorants have recovered strongly since protection in 1981, creating conflict with anglers and fish farm operators, raising difficult questions about wildlife management and individual welfare.
Cormorant management creates individual welfare harm through licensed shooting. Birds that are not cleanly killed may be wounded and die slowly. The welfare calculus involves comparing cormorant suffering with the welfare interests of fish farm species and the economic interests of anglers - a multi-species welfare comparison that resists simple resolution. Non-lethal deterrents are a welfare-positive alternative where they prove effective. The policy question of whether culling actually reduces population-level pressure (given European immigration) affects the welfare cost-benefit calculation - if culling is ineffective at reducing fish predation, the welfare cost has no corresponding benefit.