[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 50, Volume 6]
[Revised as of October 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 50CFR21.48]
[Page 81-84]
TITLE 50--WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES
CHAPTER I--UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE
INTERIOR--(Continued)
PART 21_MIGRATORY BIRD PERMITS--Table of Contents
Subpart D_Control of Depredating Birds
Sec. 21.48 Depredation order for double-crested cormorants to protect
public resources.
(a) What is the purpose of this depredation order? The purpose of
this depredation order is to reduce the occurrence and/or minimize the
risk of adverse impacts to public resources (fish, wildlife, plants, and
their habitats) caused by double-crested cormorants.
(b) In what areas can this depredation order be implemented? This
depredation order applies to all lands and freshwaters in the States of
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas,
Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New
York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas,
Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
(c) What does this depredation order allow and who can participate?
(1) This depredation order authorizes State fish and wildlife agencies,
Federally recognized Tribes, and State Directors of the Wildlife
Services program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service (collectively termed ``Agencies'') to prevent
depredations on the public resources of fish (including hatchery stock
at Federal, State, and Tribal facilities), wildlife, plants, and their
habitats by taking without a permit double-crested cormorants found
committing or about to commit, such depredations.
[[Page 82]]
(2) Agencies may designate agents to carry out control, provided
those individuals act under the conditions of the order.
(3) Federally recognized Tribes and their agents may carry out
control only on reservation lands or ceded lands within their
jurisdiction.
(d) What are the terms and conditions of this order? (1) Persons
operating under this order should first utilize nonlethal control
methods such as harassment and exclusion devices when these are
considered effective and practicable and not harmful to other nesting
birds by the responsible Agency.
(2) Double-crested cormorants may be taken only by means of egg
oiling, egg and nest destruction, cervical dislocation, firearms, and
CO2 asphyxiation. Persons using shotguns must use nontoxic
shot, as listed in 50 CFR 20.21(j). Persons using egg oiling must use
100 percent corn oil, a substance exempted from regulation by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency under the Federal Insecticide,
Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.
(3) Persons operating under this depredation order may use decoys,
taped calls, or other devices to lure within gun range birds committing
or about to commit depredation of public resources.
(4) Persons operating under this depredation order must obtain
appropriate landowner permission before implementing activities
authorized by the order.
(5) Persons operating under this depredation order may not take
double-crested cormorants contrary to the laws or regulations of any
State, and none of the privileges of this section may be exercised
unless the person possesses the appropriate State or other permits, if
required.
(6) Persons operating under this depredation order must properly
dispose of double-crested cormorants killed in control efforts:
(i) Individuals may donate birds killed under authority of this
order to museums or other such scientific and educational institutions
for the purposes of scientific or educational exhibition;
(ii) Individuals may also bury or incinerate birds taken; and
(iii) Individuals may not allow birds taken under this order, or
their plumage, to be sold, offered for sale, bartered, or shipped for
purpose of sale or barter.
(7) Nothing in this depredation order authorizes the take of any
migratory bird species other than double-crested cormorants. Two look-
alike species co-occur with double-crested cormorants in the
southeastern States: the anhinga, which occurs across the southeastern
United States, and the neotropic cormorant, which is found in varying
numbers in Texas, Louisiana, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Both species can be
mistaken for double-crested cormorants, but take of these two species is
not authorized under this depredation order. Persons operating under
this order must immediately report the take of a migratory bird species
other than double-crested cormorants to the appropriate Service Regional
Migratory Bird Permit Office.
(8) Nothing in this depredation order authorizes the take of any
species protected by the Endangered Species Act. Persons operating under
this order must immediately report the take of species protected under
the Endangered Species Act to the Service.
(i) To protect piping plovers, interior least terns, wood storks,
and bald eagles, the following conservation measures must be observed
within any geographic area where Endangered Species Act protection
applies to these species:
(A) The discharge/use of firearms to kill or harass double-crested
cormorants or use of other harassment methods are allowed if the control
activities occur more than 1,000 feet from active piping plover or
interior least tern nests or colonies; occur more than 1,500 feet from
active wood stork nesting colonies, more than 1,000 feet from active
wood stork roost sites, and more than 750 feet from feeding wood storks;
or occur more than 750 feet from active bald eagle nests;
(B) Other control activities such as egg oiling, cervical
dislocation, CO2 asphyxiation, egg destruction, or nest
destruction are allowed if these activities occur more than 500 feet
from active piping plover or interior least tern nests or colonies;
occur more than 1,500 feet from active wood stork nesting
[[Page 83]]
colonies, more than 1,000 feet from active wood stork roost sites, and
more than 750 feet from feeding wood storks; or occur more than 750 feet
from active bald eagle nests;
(C) To ensure adequate protection of piping plovers, any Agency or
its agents who plan to implement control activities that may affect
areas designated as piping plover critical habitat in the Great Lakes
Region are to obtain prior approval from the appropriate Regional
Director. Requests for approval of activities in these areas must be
submitted to the Regional Migratory Bird Permit Office. The Regional
Migratory Bird Permit Office will then coordinate with the Endangered
Species Field Office staff to assess whether the measures in paragraph
(d)(8)(i)(B) of this section are adequate.
(ii) At their discretion, Agencies or their agents may contact the
Regional Migratory Bird Permit Office to request modification of the
above measures. Such modification can occur only if the Regional
Director determines, on the basis of coordination between the Regional
Migratory Bird Permit Office and the Endangered Species Field Office,
that the species listed in paragraph (d)(8)(i) of this section will not
be adversely affected.
(iii) If adverse effects are anticipated from the control activities
in a geographical area where Endangered Species Act protection applies
to any of the four species listed in paragraph (d)(8)(i) of this
section, either during the intra-Service coordination discussions
described in paragraph (d)(8)(i)(C) of this section or at any other
time, the Regional Migratory Bird Permit Office will initiate
consultation with the Endangered Species Field Offices.
(9) Responsible Agencies must, before they initiate any control
activities in a given year, provide a one-time written notice to the
appropriate Service Regional Migratory Bird Permit Office indicating
that they intend to act under this order.
(i) Additionally, if any Agency plans a single control action that
would individually, or a succession of such actions that would
cumulatively, kill more than 10 percent of the double-crested cormorants
in a breeding colony, it must first provide written notification to the
appropriate Service Regional Migratory Bird Permit Office. This letter
must be received no later than 30 days in advance of the activity and
must provide:
(A) The location (indicating specific colonies, if applicable) of
the proposed control activity;
(B) A description of the proposed control activity, specifying what
public resources are being impacted, how many birds are likely to be
taken and what approximate percentage they are of total DCCOs present,
and which species of other birds are present; and
(C) Contact information for the person in charge of the control
action.
(ii) The Regional Director may prevent any such activity by
notifying the agency in writing if the Regional Director deems the
activity a threat to the long-term sustainability of double-crested
cormorants or any other migratory bird species.
(10) Persons operating under this order must keep records of all
activities, including those of designated agents, carried out under this
order. On an annual basis, Agencies must provide the Service Regional
Migratory Bird Permit Office with a report detailing activities
conducted under the authority of this order, including:
(i) By date and location, a summary of the number of double-crested
cormorants killed and/or number of nests in which eggs were oiled;
(ii) A statement of efforts being made to minimize incidental take
of nontarget species and a report of the number and species of migratory
birds involved in such take, if any;
(iii) A description of the impacts or anticipated impacts to public
resources by double-crested cormorants and a statement of the management
objectives for the area in question;
(iv) A description of the evidence supporting the conclusion that
double-crested cormorants are causing or will cause these impacts;
(v) A discussion of other limiting factors affecting the resource
(e.g., biological, environmental, and socioeconomic); and
(vi) A discussion of how control efforts are expected to, or
actually did, alleviate resource impacts.
[[Page 84]]
(11) Agencies must provide annual reports to the appropriate Service
Regional Migratory Bird Permit Office, as described in paragraph (d)(10)
of this section, by December 31 for the reporting period October 1 of
the previous year to September 30 of the same year. For example, reports
for the period October 1, 2003, to September 30, 2004, would be due on
or before December 31, 2004. The Service will regularly review Agency
reports and will periodically assess the overall impact of this program
to ensure compatibility with the long-term conservation of double-
crested cormorants and other resources.
(12) In some situations, Agencies may deem it necessary to reduce or
eliminate local breeding populations of double-crested cormorants to
reduce the occurrence of resource impacts.
(i) For such actions, Agencies must:
(A) Comply with paragraph (d)(9) of this section;
(B) Carefully plan activities to avoid disturbance of nontarget
species;
(C) Evaluate effects of management activities on cormorants at the
control site;
(D) Evaluate, by means of collecting data or using best available
information, effects of management activities on the public resources
being protected and on nontarget species; and
(E) Include this information in the report described in paragraph
(d)(10) of this section.
(ii) Agencies may coordinate with the appropriate Service Regional
Migratory Bird Permit Office in the preparation of this information to
attain technical or other assistance.
(13) We reserve the right to suspend or revoke the authority of any
Agency, Tribe, or State Director granted by this order if we find that
the specified purpose, terms, and conditions have not been adhered to or
if the long-term sustainability of double-crested cormorant populations
is threatened by the action(s) of that Agency, Tribe, or State Director.
The criteria and procedures for suspension, revocation, reconsideration,
and appeal are outlined in Sec. Sec. 13.27 through 13.29 of this
subchapter. For the purposes of this section, ``issuing officer'' means
the Regional Director and ``permit'' means the authority to act under
this depredation order. For purposes of Sec. 13.29(e), appeals shall be
made to the Director.
(e) Does this section contain information collection requirements?
Yes, the information collection requirements in this section are
approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under OMB control
number 1018-0121. Federal agencies may not conduct or sponsor, and you
are not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it
displays a currently valid OMB control number.
(f) When does this depredation order expire? This depredation order
will automatically expire on April 30, 2009, unless revoked or extended
prior to that date.
[68 FR 58035, Oct. 8, 2003]