December 2019

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FEBs - You might wonder what these are? Basically they are birds that eat fish, or fish eating birds! There is much discussion as to whether they are responsible for a marked decline in fish numbers. Certainly, coarse fisheries near the coast have been decimated by cormorant predation. Any silver fish stock between 50 grammes and 1000 grammes in weight are fair game for a cormorant.

  Salmon fisheries are also very concerned about other fish eating birds taking the salmon parr and small sea trout.

  Natural Resources Wales are collecting data regarding FEB activity. It is difficult for angling clubs to give exact figures of fish loss. One possibility for coarse angling clubs holding regular matches over the years is to try to illustrate a decline in silver fish weights by a fall in match returns. One south Wales club has gone from match returns of double figures of silver fish from the top ten catches to returns of under 1000 grammes - this in a time frame of less than ten years.

  If your club has suffered predation from these FEBs please let Angling Cymru or Natural Resources Wales know.