Don't dare touch them. They're a protected species!

No longer I believe

I hate cormorants!

still under protected shore birds

Absolutely stupidest wildlife rule we have. We should be able to eradicate those nasty things.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) is a federal law that implements four international treaties for the protection of migratory birds between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, Japan, and Russia1234. The law prohibits the take, capture, kill, or sell of nearly 1,100 species of birds listed as migratory, as well as their parts, eggs, and nests, without a waiver134. The law was first enacted in 1918 to stop the indiscriminate slaughter of migratory birds by market hunters and others, and has been amended several times as treaties were signed or revised. The law is based on the supremacy of ratified international treaties over state laws

Especially with .22 shorts!

The conflict between anglers and cormorants is a long one. I did some research on the birds in the 1980s and the do like bass and they really like released trout. They are extremely efficient predators on fish. Governments at many levels recognize that there is a problem. Here is a good summary of the situation.

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife...ries/Cormorants-WDM-Technical-Series.pdf

The population had really exploded here in E. Tennessee this year for some reason. A couple months ago I saw one just off our dock going after a ball of shad. He'd corral them, dive and then come up through the middle of them. I walked down and threw a few rocks at the school of shad to disperse them... The large splashes finally made them dive and scared off the dirty bird... Dan

I ran across this article while doing a s google search. Even though it is against killing cormorants it gives the details on circumstances where they can now be removed.
Removing cormorants

I caught one on a c-rig back in the 90s.