Written question asked by Angela C Smith (Labour) on Monday, 11 July 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 13 July 2005. It was answered by Lord Knight of Weymouth (Labour) on Thursday, 14 July 2005 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Cormorants

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects to publish the Central Science Laboratory's cormorant population model; and whether the model will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Answer: The cormorant model produced by the Central Science Laboratory is already available on the Defra website http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-countryside/vertebrates/piscivorous.htm#cormorants together with comments from independent peer reviewers. The model is currently being updated in the light of more recent information on the trend in cormorant numbers following a short contract to The British Trust for Ornithology. A paper describing the model and its application will be submitted to a peer reviewed scientific journal this autumn.

Secondary information