A review of techniques for preventing cormorant depredations at aquaculture facilities in the southeastern United States

Published source details Mott D.F. & Boyd F.L. (1995) A review of techniques for preventing cormorant depredations at aquaculture facilities in the southeastern United States. Colonial Waterbirds, 176-180.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Disturb birds at roosts Action Link
	Use netting to exclude fish-eating birds Action Link
	Scare birds from fish farms Action Link

Disturb birds at roosts

A 1995 review assessed effectiveness of techniques used to prevent double-crested cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus predation at aquaculture facilities in the Mississippi delta region, USA (Mott & Boyd 1995), and concluded that disturbing birds at their roosts was more effective than scaring birds from fish farms during the day, with one study finding a 75-90% reduction in cormorant numbers foraging in the area after disturbance.
Use netting to exclude fish-eating birds

A 1995 review assessed effectiveness of techniques used to prevent double-crested cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus predation at aquaculture facilities in the Mississippi delta region, USA (Mott & Boyd 1995), and concluded that excluding birds using netting or wires was an effective way to reduce damage.
Scare birds from fish farms

A 1995 review assessed effectiveness of techniques used to prevent double-crested cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus predation at aquaculture facilities in the Mississippi delta region, USA (Mott & Boyd 1995), and concluded that there was little good evidence for what worked and what did not. Pyrotechnics, human effigies, gas cannons, and live ammunition have been used with varying degrees of success in frightening cormorants, but the authors warn that birds can become habituated to them.