Federal agency reports killing 109 cormorants, destroying over 1,700 eggs so far to help salmon

ASTORIA, Ore. -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says 109 adult double-crested cormorants have been killed and more than 1,700 eggs destroyed so far as part of a program to reduce the size of North America's biggest cormorant nesting colony.

The program is under way to reduce the population so the birds eat fewer juvenile salmon migrating down the Columbia River.


The figures were posted Thursday on the corps' website.

Plans call for reducing the number of cormorants on East Sand Island at the mouth of the Columbia between Oregon and Washington from 14,000 pairs to 5,600 pairs by 2018. The birds eat millions of juvenile salmon — some protected species — as they migrate down the river to the ocean.

Wildlife control personnel from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services started shooting birds and oiling eggs so they won't hatch last weekend.