— There has been a great deal of interest. People have called from all over the country, says Peter Berggren, chairman of Sweden’s Organized Fishing Guides (SOF).
An adult cormorant can eat up to a kilo of fish a day and this affects the fish stock. SOF therefore decided to take a large part of its fisheries management budget for cormorant shot money. They give 20 kroner per cormorant shot, but several private individuals have gotten in touch and wanted to donate money, so now the price is 50 kroner per bird.
In Stockholm County, 1,900 cormorants may be shot until March 31, 2023. In previous years, the quota has not been filled, but this year 1,649 cormorants have already been shot.
— We do not want to eradicate the cormorant, but to achieve good management. Then we thought that bounty money would be a good carrot for the hunters to get started and hunt where it is really needed, says Peter Berggren.