In order to protect young salmon and steelhead trout in the Columbia River, US federal officials have come up with a proposal to cull around 11,000 Double-crested Cormorants that feed off them, reports the online National Monitor. The fish are listed under the Endangered Species Act as either threatened or endangered. - Halil

To save one species they are culling en masse another, difficult to decide how to react to this. - Halil

What will they do with the bodies, incinerate them? - Halil

I'm glad the plan is being challenged, if just to take a look at what might be done short-term and long-term to alleviate the problem. Habitat loss is likely a larger cause, but it might take too long to implement some of those changes, while shooting the birds is only a temporary "fix." - Jennifer Dittrich

Afaik once a flock has become used to a certain feeding ground it will always be an issue unless you can permanently encourage them to establish a new feeding ground, yes/no? - Halil

Culling may be appropriate in some cases, but too often it seems like the first tool off the shelf. - John (bird whisperer)

It's easier to kill a predator than to change human behavior. Culling predators is the oldest trick in the book, but it's always a temporary stopgap measure. As far as I'm concerned, predator culls should only be used as an early step in a multistep plan. - Heather