A tale of simple fisherfolk

Little Egrets have come a long way since I first twitched one at Walthamstow Reservoirs in 1972.   Locally, the first breeding of Little Egrets in the Lee Valley occurred in 2006 when a pair reared 4 young amongst the Grey Herons at Walthamstow Reservoirs.  The valley total for this year seems to be at least 26 pairs in three colonies, at Walthamstow, Amwell and Netherhall.  All are tucked rather unobtrusively into Grey Heron colonies but at least 20 broods have been seen to fledge.   Further afield, the UK breeding population is now getting close to 1,000 pairs at around 100 colonies.  One of the largest colonies is at Northward Hill in north Kent where numbers grew to a peak of 124 breeding pairs in 2009, equalling and then exceeding the numbers of Grey Heron, before dropping to 114 in 2010 and then 94 pairs in 2011 as a result of two successive cold winters.  So this mainly fish-eating bird is on the rise.

By contrast, breeding Cormorants peaked in the Lee Valley a few years back at a little under 400 pairs.  Since then total numbers have dropped despite an increase in the number of colonies.   This year the number of active nests in the Valley was around 250 and reflects a steady decline locally over recent years. 

Which brings us neatly to the recent call by angling groups to add Cormorant to the general licence, thus easing the restrictions on killing.  Now, I spent a lot of time ‘angling’, well electro-fishing to be accurate, and then I’m only the assistant, brought along to get wet and carry the boat.  In attempting to create new wetlands, much time is  and effort is spent enhancing the underwater ‘fish’ habitat.  Fish populations reaching a critical threshold is one of the trigger points for getting birds such as the Bittern to breed.   Many reserves support good fish populations and the key issue is habitat quality, notably underwater landform, structure and connectivity, the water quality and the diversity of aquatic vegetation.   Cormorants have never been implicated as a problem on reserves except in an isolated case where an isolated pool was over-stocked to try and create a specific feeding area for birds.  And there perhaps we hit the main issue.  Not only do angling clubs frequently stock way above natural densities but they often tend to have sites with poor habitat quality. Redundant gravel pits for example, which even if earmarked as an angling lake, have little or no attention paid to the underwater habitat in the restoration process.  So the recent outburst against Cormorants smells rather fishy.  Rather than a serious attempt to address the real problems this looks like another attempt to solve a perceived issue with a gun.   

Conservationists and anglers should be on the same side.  Wouldn’t it be great to develop partnerships on some sites where we both work to improve fish stocks through good habitat management?

The Black Death – try an eco-remedy

Cormorant - a skilled fisherman that avoids paying the entrance fee, East Warwick gulls, Eider!

I was once escorted out of a fishery conference for suggesting that anglers use Cormorants as a scapegoat for bad fishery management. A trip down to Walthamstow Reservoirs reminded me of the Cormorant-fish controversy, the bird anglers like to call the ‘Black Death’ and claim wipes out fish stocks. Now there is some truth to this complaint in some situations – on many a simple fishery, the Cormorants will be able to simply catch the fish without much effort.  Surely it wasn’t the clearest of thinking to establish a trout fishery on a concrete puddle that had a Cormorant roost in the middle!  Despite this, situations are not always as clear as they seem; most Cormorants nesting at Walthamstow do not fish on site.  I’ve always believed that birders and anglers should be on the same side – we both want to see healthy wetlands.  And the starting point for a solution should be to look at these healthy natural wetlands, particularly the complexity of the underwater habitat.  Provide fish with refuge areas and they will be less easy to catch.  Variation in the topography of the lake bottom, the addition of underwater reefs in the form of fallen trees, rocks or islands of aquatic vegetation, have all been shown to help. These are standard measures that conservationists will employ in creating a new wetland.  But instead of improving fish habitat, the average fishery manager too often rushes for the shotgun and chainsaw.

A second issue at Walthamstow is the apparent decline of breeding duck. In what seemed a good idea at the time (Thames Water have a history of good conservation staff), the formerly scrubby island on the East Warwick was cleared and re-formed, in order to try and create a better habitat for waders and duck. Unfortunately, this did not foresee the surge inland of breeding Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls. The gulls took over the island, the duck departed. Predation by the gulls has clearly changed the distribution of breeding duck. Good management of the islands and marginal vegetation would seem to be central to solving the problem.

I first went to Walthamstow Reservoirs exactly 40 years ago. I missed a Shag, but got quite excited by a pair of Goldeneye. There were no roosting Cormorants (this started in 1972 I seem to remember). The first Trout went into No 5 in 1978. Today there were plenty of Cormorants (at least 142 active nests), 7 Ring-necked Parakeets and an Eider.