Its jet-black plumage with greenish sheens is unmistakable. As is the plume of feathers on its head, visible during mating season.

Its jet-black plumage with greenish sheens is unmistakable. As is the plume of feathers on its head, visible during mating season. But if there is one thing that stands out about the shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis), it is its prowess in the sea. It flies low to the sea surface with energetic finning and dives with extraordinary skill to catch the fish it feeds on. When it comes out of the water, it is common to see it perching on the rocks with its wings extended to dry its plumage, which, unlike other birds, is permeable and soaked with water, which facilitates its dives.

This spectacle can be seen on rocky islets and cliffs on the Atlantic, Cantabrian and Mediterranean coasts. In Spain, two subspecies of shag nest, the nominal or aristotelian in the Atlantic and the desmarestii in the Mediterranean.

The nominate subspecies is distributed in small colonies along the Cantabrian and Atlantic coast from the Basque Country to Galicia, with scattered populations in Asturias and Cantabria. Its most important colonies are the Galician colonies, specifically, those located in the Cíes-Ons archipelago, within the Maritime-Terrestrial National Park of the Atlantic Islands, whose logo is precisely a shag.

The Balearic Islands are home to the largest breeding colonies of the desmarestii subspecies, although it also breeds along the Mediterranean peninsular coast and nearby islands in Catalonia, the Valencian Community, Murcia, Andalusia and Melilla.

Of the two subspecies, the one located on the Atlantic and Cantabrian coasts, suffers a greater degree of threat as it is included in the Red Book of Birds of Spain in the “endangered” category, while the Mediterranean subspecies is classified as “vulnerable“.  

Threats

Several adverse factors have led to the decline of shag populations. On the one hand, the impact of overfishing, accidental death in fishing gear and, in the case of Atlantic populations, are also affected by oil spills and the recent impact of the American mink, an exotic species that preys on their clutches and chickens.

With the aim of promoting protection measures and promoting its conservation, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and the Environment, within the framework of the LIFE IP INTEMARES project, is going to develop, together with the Autonomous Communities, a specific conservation strategy for the shag that will establish the bases for drawing up conservation and recovery plans for the species.

The largest marine conservation project

LIFE IP INTEMARES, the largest marine environment conservation project in Europe, aims to achieve a network of marine areas of the Natura 2000 Network, managed effectively, with the active participation of the sectors involved and with research as basic tools for decision-making. It is coordinated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and the Environment, through the Biodiversity Foundation, which also acts as a partner through the General Directorate of Sustainability of the Coast and the Sea.

The Spanish Institute of Oceanography, WWF-Spain, SEO/BirdLife and the Spanish Fisheries Confederation participate as partners. It has the financial contribution of the European Union’s LIFE Programme, as well as the European Social Fund and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, among other sources of funding.