South Carolina hunters harvested over 11,000 cormorants during the state’s first-ever double-crested cormorant hunt. The harvest of cormorants was restricted to the Santee Cooper Chain of Lakes and was allowed only in areas where waterfowl hunters can legally hunt. 

Cormorants are believed to be a factor in the decline of game fish populations in some lakes where they congregate in large numbers.  The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (DNR) believes that the cormorant population, which has grown over the past several decades, is having a negative impact on the fisheries in the Santee Cooper Lakes. Cormorants that winter on the Santee Cooper Lakes compete with game fish population for forage (herrings, shads, menhaden, etc.) as well as prey on juvenile game fish. They also have damaged bald cypress and tupelo trees used as roosts.  

States considering cormorant hunts, such as Texas and Oregon, have contacted the South Carolina DNR for information on the Santee Cooper hunts.