Are NC Gill Net Fishermen Killing Pelicans?

Are commercial fishermen intentionally killing pelicans in southeastern North Carolina?

The intentional killings and mutilations of pelicans that have been shot, strangled, and decapitated by humans has left authorities in Topsail Beach looking for answers about who would want to harm these birds.

The Wilmington Star reported this morning that volunteers, wildlife officers and town workers in Topsail Beach have documented more than 60 pelican deaths apparently by human hands, and that the birds have been washing ashore for six weeks.

"It's just absolutely out of hand," said Deb Woody, a volunteer with the Possumwood Acres Wildlife Sanctuary in Hubert, who found the latest decapitated bird. "It's devastating. I don't want to be gross, but these birds have a thick, muscular neck. That is not going to be easy to saw through. That's not something that happens by accident."

This isn't the first time pelicans have come washing up on the southeastern Carolina beaches having been killed by humans. Last December pelicans began washing up to the beaches of Brunswick County with wounds inflicted by humans.

Authorities cannot say for sure who is behind this, though it is mentioned in the article that some fishermen have intentionally killed birds that have been tangled in their nets before. Certainly, gill nets are a danger to pelicans.

One problem is the amount of gill nets fished in the southeastern NC backwaters and waterways during the colder months when pelicans are plentiful. Pelicans will dive around the nets seeking the fish in them and become entangled, angering fishermen who have to free them.

On top of that, gill nets have become such a politically divisive issue in North Carolina that whether it comes down to pelicans, sea turtles or speckled trout, commercial fishermen who use gill nets seem to be explosively angry. I have already written about how sea turtles have apparently become victims of this anger.

Now I fear we must add pelicans to the list.

For more fisheries politics news see my blog A Dash of Salty and my website Surf and Salt.