Interactions Between White-Breasted Cormorants Phalacrocorax carbo (Aves: Phalacrocoracidae) and the Fisheries of Lake Malawi

The status of white-breasted cormorants Phalacrocorax carbo lucidus as possible competitors with the fisheries of Lake Malaw∧i was assessed. 2. Numbers of P. carbo on the lake were estimated, from visual counts and photographs of resting sites taken at last light, to be 10000 individuals in 1979. 3. Observations were concentrated on a colony of 5000+ birds on Boadzulu Island, in the south-east arm of the lake, the main area of commercial fishing. The birds fished in a single large flock, in shallow water, at or near the sandy or muddy bottom