Full Breakdown
EU Ministers Push to Add Cormorants to Huntable Species List
5/21/2026, 9:42:04 PM
Joint Letter Calls for Cormorant Hunting Under the Birds Directive
Sixteen agriculture and environment ministers from Estonia, Sweden, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Croatia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Romania sent a joint letter on May 7 to Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall and Fisheries Commissioner Costas Kadis. They request that the great cormorant (*Phalacrocorax carbo*) be added to the EU’s 1979 Birds Directive list of huntable species, that population targets be set, and that shooting be allowed outside hunting season.
Background: Birds Directive and Predator Management
The Birds Directive protects wild birds across the EU, permitting lethal control only under specific derogations. The EU has eased rules for wolves and authorized culling of invasive mink and raccoon dogs to protect ground-nesting birds. Ministers argue that cormorants, as fish predators, merit comparable treatment.
Key Figures and Groups
- Hendrik Johannes Terras, Estonia’s Agriculture Minister, coordinated the letter.
- Jessika Roswall, EU Environment Commissioner.
- Costas Kadis, EU Fisheries Commissioner.
- European fisheries and aquaculture sector, which supplied damage estimates.
Data and Statistics
- 16 ministers from 10 EU countries signed the letter.
- Each cormorant can eat about 0.5 kg of fish per day.
- In Estonia, cormorants are estimated to consume ~20,000 metric tons of fish annually—roughly twice the coastal fishermen’s catch.
- Industry estimates place fisheries and aquaculture losses at over €350 million per year.
Why It Matters: Economic Impact on Fisheries and Aquaculture
Ministers claim cormorant predation depresses inland fish stocks and empties aquaculture ponds, threatening livelihoods and food security. Reducing cormorant numbers, they say, would ease pressure on commercial fish production and help meet EU sustainability targets.
Official Statements & Responses
The May 7 letter blames cormorants for “hammering inland fish stocks and emptying aquaculture ponds,” and urges the Commission to set EU-wide caps and simplify licensing for out-of-season shooting. No formal response from Commissioners Roswall or Kadis had been published at the time of reporting.
Verbatim Quotes
- “If we are prepared to limit the number of smaller predators to protect bird species, then why shouldn't we reduce predation pressure to protect fish?” — Hendrik Johannes Terras, Estonian Agriculture Minister
- “Nature should be viewed as a whole.” — Hendrik Johannes Terras, Estonian Agriculture Minister
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
The €350 million loss figure relies on industry estimates, and the letter provides no population data to justify the proposed hunting levels, leaving a gap in the evidentiary basis for policy change.
What’s Next
The ministers are pressing Brussels for coordinated EU-wide cormorant targets and regulatory changes that would permit out-of-season shooting. The Commission’s next steps, including any amendment to the Birds Directive, will decide whether cormorant hunting becomes a standard EU practice.
