Fish Producer's Attitude to the Most Common Fish-Eating Birds in Central Bulgaria

In Bulgaria part of fish farming is through using extensive production technologies. Most of the dams used for fish production are located in the lowlands of the country and are the natural habitats of herons, cormorants and pelicans. Thus these birds are considered to be pests in extensive aqua production. To clarify whether in fact the owners and workers in fish farms obey the law with regard to fish-eating birds, an anonymous survey among 80 fish producers was conducted between January and August 2014. The positive and negative responses were expressed as a percentage. The economic factor determined the negative attitude of owners towards fish-eating birds. The lack of motivation for conservation of protected bird species was due to non-payment of compensations from the government.