Invasive Cormorants Creating Havoc at Akwesasne

By Doug George-Kanentiio

During the weekend of June 16-17 many Akwesasnorons took to the area’s waters to enjoy the early summer by swimming, fishing and cruising the rivers and touring the islands. They may have noticed the absence of indigenous birds like the egret, heron, loons and terns, all driven from their nests by the double breasted cormorant, an invasive animal with no place in our region.

These birds are greedy, homely and aggressive. They devastate the fish, destroy trees and contaminate the soil wherever they colonize. Their droppings are like the spit of that creature in the movie “Aliens” which burns through flesh and metal. One can see the holes in the rocks where they defecate and the skeletal remains of the trees where they roost. The cormorant may have been found along the eastern coast but did not appear in the region until the beginning of this century. They were first spotted in New York State in 1945 and gradually followed the natural waterway corridors before entering Akwesasne a few years ago. They were initially birds of curiosity but the lack of any effort by the various environmental departments at the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne or the St. Regis Tribe to control their numbers led to their rapid increase until the current ecological crisis has come about.

As one example Tsiionaketaron (Dodens-Benedicts) and Teiotewehnokwakwe:noni (Dickerson’s) islands were once the sanctuary of dozens of beautiful Great Blue Herons, a bird so respected by the ancestors that it is one of the most important clans among the Haudenosaunee. But a few years ago people would circle the island watching the herons rise from their nests, their majestic wingspan enabling them to seemingly float without effort into the sky. Next to them were the egrets, their white plumage in wonderful contrast to the deep green of the island’s trees.

The community, and the Benedict family, agreed to preserve and protect Tsiionaketaron Island for this purpose only to have the cormorant invade and displace the native species. No one acted in a leadership role to stop that bird from taking over the heron and egret nests and to grow in such numbers as to strip the trees of their leaves and cause their death. Soon only the raw, lifeless branches remained as the cormorant cackled in their victory.

It was not the end of their harm. They were seen to be birds that ate vast numbers of fish, beyond their immediate needs. It was if they would eat continuously, regurgitate, and then feed again. The wealth of fish provoked their endless hunger and they soon depleted perch and walleye.

Still, no one acted to remove them.

Tsiionnaketoren was stripped and we lost the herons and egrets. Once the cormorants removed them and found there was no restraint on their reproduction they moved to other islands and have begun to repeat their destructive ways.

Far less seagulls are seen on the waters and there are fewer loons, if any. The herons are mostly gone and finding an egret is a challenge yet those beady eyed, yellow-billed invaders grow in numbers each year, eclipsing all else and creating an ecological disaster.

Natives know what happens when an invasive species is permitted to intrude and expand without control. And who knows the tragic effects of invasion, displacement and environmental degradation than the Native?

What is needed is a comprehensive plan to address this issue; one which disregards all imposed “borders” and actually fulfills our duties towards the natural world. We cannot be content to speak words of thanksgiving without taking action to protect the water, trees, birds, and fish.

It would be fairly easy to appoint a group of hunters with demonstrable shooting skills to remove the cormorant. These hunters would be paid a bounty for each cormorant taken over a period of seasons and until all are gone followed by a plan to restore the indigenous birds, plant new trees and replenish the fish.

As moving as the Ohonten Tekariwatekwen may be it means nothing without direct application. Let us hope in may be done in this instance.