CONGRESSMAN
COLLIN C. PETERSON
Minnesota
- 7th District
http://www.house.gov/collinpeterson/
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 11, 2000
CONTACT: Steve Bekkerus @ 202-225-2165
HEARING HELD ON CORMORANT HUNTING BILL
(Washington
D.C.) –
Congressman Collin C. Peterson (D-MN) testified today before the
Committee on Resources, Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife
& Oceans in favor of legislation that would allow states to establish
hunting seasons for cormorant birds.
“The cormorant
population in northern Minnesota has literally exploded, devastating the
game fish population and causing environmental havoc ” said Peterson.
“If the Fish and Wildlife Service does not act swiftly to manage
and control this destructive bird, then Congress will.”
The legislation,
H.R. 3118, sponsored by Peterson, would allow hunters to take up to ten of
the birds per day. The bill is
strongly supported by the Northwest Angle and Islands Chamber of Commerce,
who supplied Peterson and the Committee with a video showing the tremendous
number of cormorants on Four Block Island.
The impact of the video was immediate and dramatic, as the piercing
volume of the birds quickly overwhelmed the hearing.
Responding to
the testimony, Chairman Jim Saxton (R-NJ) told Peterson, “We’ll do what
we can. We understand the
nature of the difficulty that you have with cormorants.
We have cormorants in Chesapeake Bay, only not nearly the number.
We must not be in the flyway, or they don’t stop very long.”
“We could send you some. They're transplanting timber wolves, maybe we could transplant cormorants,” offered Peterson.
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