Canton Jura: Around 40 cormorants killed

Regulation since September 2023

Until the end of February, a hunting regulation of cormorants is taking place in the canton of Jura.

Since September, around forty specimens have already been killed, including by hobby hunters. This native bird, which is found predominantly in the district of Porrentruy, hunts in dark water, which is said to harm certain fish. Currently, no cormorants are nesting in the region, writes lqj.ch.

200 cormorants visit the canton annually

For around twenty years, cormorant populations in the canton of Jura have been increasing, primarily in winter. Although it is very difficult to give an exact figure, wildlife inspector at the cantonal environmental office Amaury Boillat estimates that around 200 specimens visit the canton each year. The most frequented rivers are the Allaine, the Doubs and the Birse.

«In winter, the bodies of water in Alsace where the cormorants feed freeze over, and they come to us,» explains Amaury Boillat. Their stronghold in Switzerland is the large lakes. But as the population grows, they are also migrating into our rivers.

Cormorants as scapegoats

When a group of cormorants enters a river, this poses a threat to several fish species living in open water, primarily the grayling, a species threatened by extinction. Since the cormorant is considered native, it may not be eradicated. Rather, the aim is to “manage” them, as with other huntable species included in the hunting plan, the wildlife inspector continued.

The reason why there are fewer and fewer fish and fish species is water pollution, primarily from farmers' slurry and overfishing by hobby fishermen, adds IG Wild beim Wild. Cormorants pay with their lives as scapegoats for the failings of others. No animal species has ever driven another to extinction. Only humans manage to do that, time and again.

It is obviously easier for Amaury Boillat of the Jura Environmental Office to solve problems with violence rather than address the root cause.