Bird Control Rules Expand to 12 States: What the Cormorant Relief Act Means for Fish Farms and Wildlife

The Cormorant Relief Act of 2025 is short, procedural, and focused entirely on updating a federal rule that allows commercial fish farmers to control—or ‘take’—double-crested cormorants. These are the large, dark water birds that occasionally feast on commercially raised fish stock, costing aquaculture facilities money.

More States, More Bird Control

Think of this bill as expanding the fishing zone for a federal permit. Currently, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a rule (called a depredation order) that lets fish farms manage cormorant populations to protect their stock. This Act requires the Secretary of the Interior to reissue that existing rule within one year, making two major changes.

First, the rule’s geographic reach is significantly expanded. It adds twelve new states to the list where this control is authorized: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. For a fish farm owner in, say, Illinois, this means they now have a streamlined federal mechanism to deal with cormorants eating their inventory, something their counterparts in previously covered states have had access to.

Who Gets the Permit?

The second major change is about who can use the rule. The updated order explicitly extends the authorization to state-licensed “lake managers” and “pond managers.” This means if you manage a private lake or pond in one of the covered states and are running a fish-stocking or aquaculture operation, you are now specifically included under the federal umbrella for cormorant control. The bill treats these managers the same way it treats other existing permit holders.

The Real-World Trade-Off

For the commercial aquaculture industry, this is a clear win. It reduces economic losses by giving them a mechanism to protect their investment—the fish they raise. If you’re running a small operation raising catfish or trout in Ohio, this bill provides regulatory relief that could directly impact your bottom line. It’s about protecting the inventory that pays the bills.

However, this expansion isn't without consequence. The bill achieves this economic relief by expanding the scope of permitted lethal control over a native bird species. While the cormorant population is generally healthy, environmental groups often raise concerns when federal policy broadens the ability to kill migratory birds, even those causing property damage. Essentially, the policy is trading increased protection for commercial fish stock for decreased protection for the cormorant population in those twelve new states. It’s a classic conflict between economic interests and wildlife conservation, resolved here in favor of the fish farmers through procedural expansion.