Dalmatian pelican reintroduction splits opinion

Reintroduction plans under review

Proposals to reintroduce Britain’s largest-ever bird have sparked warnings that anglers could be locked out of prime fishing waters.

Dalmatian pelicans, extinct in Britain since the Middle Ages, consumes more than a kilogram of fish daily and has a three-metre wingspan. Conservation company Restore is now assessing whether to return the species to wetlands including the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads, Essex marshes and Somerset Levels.

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Fishing sector raises concerns

Mike Cohen, chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, described the plan as “unrealistic – even hubristic”, warning it could trigger habitat closures to protect nesting sites and feeding grounds.

“It is not hard to imagine that any release of these birds will be followed by demands for land to be closed off to protect their nesting sites and fisheries to be closed to ensure that they can feed,” he said.

Restore insists the birds primarily target coarse fish of little interest to anglers. A spokesman said there was “no strong evidence from Europe that [Dalmatian pelicans] systematically target prized angling species, nor that they pose a material threat to managed fish farms”.

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Global population

The global population of Dalmatian pelicans is estimated at between 10,000 and 20,000 birds, with concentrations in Greece, central Asia and China’s eastern coast.