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  "path": "/news/fishermen-war-conservationists-reintroduce-dalmatian-pelican-britain-largest-bird",
  "publishedAt": "2026-02-08T12:56:30.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "Archaeologists uncover 'wonderful' Roman terracotta head",
    "Teenagers taught about 'white privilege' in 'anti-racist' virtual reality metaverse",
    "Former Scottish health secretary Jeane Freeman dies aged 72 following cancer battle",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nA bitter dispute has erupted between Britain's fishing community and wildlife campaigners over ambitious plans to reintroduce the nation's largest-ever bird to its wetlands.\n\nThe National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations has voiced strong opposition to proposals by conservation company Restore, which is exploring whether the Dalmatian pelican could once again roam British marshes and waterways.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nAnglers have expressed fears that bringing back the mammoth bird could significantly deplete fish populations and threaten native species already under pressure.\n\nRestore is currently conducting feasibility studies examining potential sites across the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads, Essex marshes and Somerset Levels.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe conservation group maintains that any reintroduction scheme would undergo thorough ecological scrutiny before proceeding.\n\nThe Dalmatian pelican once thrived across Britain thousands of years ago before disappearing during the medieval era.\n\nFossil evidence suggests these magnificent creatures were particularly abundant in Somerset, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Gloucestershire and Yorkshire.\n\nThe species vanished due to wetland drainage, human interference, and hunting for food.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nWith a wingspan reaching three metres and a daily fish consumption exceeding one kilogram, it ranks among Europe's most impressive flying birds.\n\nThe global population currently stands at between 10,000 and 20,000, with the largest concentration found at Lake Mikri Prespa in Greece, alongside populations in central Asia and along China's eastern coastline.\n\nFor any reintroduction to succeed, the birds would require interconnected healthy wetlands, plentiful fish stocks and appropriate nesting habitats.\n\nMike Cohen, chief executive of the NFFO, told The Telegraph: \"It is unrealistic even hubristic to assume that a new apex predator could be dropped onto the existing food web without impacting the local populations of other species that it will hunt or compete with.\"\n\nHe warned that releasing these birds would likely prompt demands for restricted access to nesting areas and fishing grounds.\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS\n\n\n\n\n  * Archaeologists uncover 'wonderful' Roman terracotta head\n  * Teenagers taught about 'white privilege' in 'anti-racist' virtual reality metaverse\n  * Former Scottish health secretary Jeane Freeman dies aged 72 following cancer battle\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\"While I do not for a moment dispute the idea that seabirds are important, so are people,\" Mr Cohen added, citing concerns about food security and the economic viability of coastal communities.\n\nRoger Seddon of the Countryside Alliance argued that conservation resources would be better directed towards species currently struggling in Britain.\n\n\"These pelicans have been extinct for so long in Britain that Julius Caesar would have struggled to find one here back in 55 BC,\" he said, suggesting efforts should instead target declining populations such as Atlantic salmon and stone curlew.\n\nRestore has firmly rejected suggestions that the pelicans would harm angling interests.\n\nA spokesman for the organisation said: \"There is no strong evidence from Europe that [Dalmatian pelicans] systematically target prized angling species such as carp, nor that they pose a material threat to managed fish farms.\"\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe company emphasised that the birds predominantly consume small to medium-sized coarse fish, which, it says, hold little value for fishermen.\n\nRestore pointed to decades of research by leading European specialists who have observed Dalmatian pelicans coexisting successfully with commercial fishing operations and angling communities across their range.\n\nThe spokesman stressed that no final decisions have been taken regarding reintroduction.\n\n\"Any proposal would be subject to rigorous ecological assessment and oversight,\" the organisation confirmed.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards:The GB News Editorial Charter **",
  "title": "Fishermen wage war with conservationists over plans to reintroduce Britain’s largest-ever bird"
}