It has become quiet around the cormorant in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. However, fishermen continue to suffer from the wolverine, whose population is consistently large. They are now demanding a solution that already exists in a neighboring federal state.

Schwerin (dpa / mv) – The inland fishermen are starting a new approach to the cormorant. He still gets more fish from the waters than the fishermen, said Thorsten Wichmann from the State Association of Inland Fishermen in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania of the German Press Agency. “We have more than 13,000 breeding pairs in the country and each cormorant eats 500 grams of fish a day.” Around 2000 breeding pairs would be sufficient for the preservation of the species, said Wichmann, citing a report from the University of Rostock.

Although it is allowed to shoot at cormorants in MV in exceptional cases, they did not let themselves be driven away. Wichmann suggested a solution like that in Schleswig-Holstein. This year, the fishermen will receive compensation of 56 euros per hectare of water that they manage. The maximum is 10,000 euros per company, as announced by the Ministry of Agriculture in Kiel. The amounts of fish consumed by cormorants in the federal state had previously been calculated in a scientific report.

According to Wichmann, there are 62,000 hectares of fishing waters in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania that are managed by fishermen and anglers. “That would be around three million euros,” he said. The association is in discussion with the Ministry of Agriculture.