Fishermen request higher compensation for otter and cormorant damages

Fishermen in the central region of Vysočina are requesting 2.8 million crowns in damages from the state due to lost revenues caused by cormorants and river otters. The state budget regularly compensates losses caused by protected animal species, however the reimbursement for 2009 is the largest in the last four years. While the numbers of otters have remained stable in recent years, larger numbers of cormorants were drawn to the area last year by the mild winter, which entailed less frozen ponds.