The newest employee at Florida Fish Farms works like a dog. In fact, Cabo is a dog - a 2-year-old Border collie specifically trained to chase birds away from aquaculture ponds. Cabo was acquired as part of the facility's ongoing wildlife management effort from Border Collie Rescue, a national non-profit group based in Melrose, FL. The 45-pound, black-and-white canine may be the first dog in the country used in a bird-reduction program at a commercial aquaculture facility.

Aquaculturists report that fish-eating birds cause a significant economic loss each year. Florida Fish Farms estimates it loses over $100,000 annually to the birds. Cormorants, herons, ducks, egrets, gulls, ospreys, pelicans, ibises, and other fish-eating birds eat away at aquaculture profits. In the lower Mississippi valley cormorants eat about $5 million worth of catfish each year. Additionally, birds prey on priceless populations of endangered and rare species of fish.

In 1995, USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service, working cooperatively with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, conducted a national survey of wildlife-caused losses to aquaculture. Overall, 58 percent of producers reported some wildlife-caused loss; 71 percent of producers of catfish and trout reported wildlife-caused losses. Birds were most frequently cited as the cause of catfish and trout depredation. Experts note that these numbers will only get worse as the industry grows and fish-eating bird populations explode.

At Florida Fish Farms, Cabo's job is to convince birds that the fishponds are no longer a pleasant place to live or feed. Extensive custom training, enhanced by the breed's inherent tendency to herd but not to harm or kill, makes Cabo a natural for his new job.

Border collies are highly intelligent, adaptable, and intense. They work tirelessly and persistently, and can be guided to herd birds in specific directions, rather than just scattering them. The dogs will jump into water to drive birds off air lines or buoys.

Trained to respond to a herding whistle and verbal commands, Cabo patrols with the farm's staff. Because he runs at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour, Cabo is perceived as a stealth predator by the birds. They do not become desensitized to him, as they have to other methods of bird harassment, such as noise and pyrotechnics.

Ron Slay, owner of Florida Fish Farms, says he is amazed at the reduction in bird predation he has already witnessed in the months that Cabo has been on the job. "Every minute he is out on the ponds, the meter is running," Slay said. "When he's around, the birds aren't eating - and that's money in our account."

Cabo the Border collie chases nuisance birds away from Florida Fish Farms' ponds. Special training and natural instincts make him good at his job.

Slay noted that the hefty initial investment in the custom-trained dog and farm-staff training from Border Collie Rescue was worthwhile. "Cabo's already paid for himself, and he's only been here a short while," Slay said.

According to BCR, a single Border collie and handler can easily maintain a 2-square-mile area. Florida Fish Farms houses approximately 48 ponds on a 50-acre site. BCR also reports that, in addition to their aquaculture applications, Border collies are a fast-growing and popular form of bird control at golf courses, airports, and other venues across the country.

"Aquaculture facilities are great homes for dogs," BCR's executive director, animal behavior specialist and wildlife ecologist Dr. Nicholas Carter said. "They get the best vet care in the world and they have a job to do every day."

Border Collie Rescue, Inc. has operated since 1990 as a non-profit organization dedicated to placement of the herding dogs. BCR has a policy of never destroying animals. They can live out their lives at the center if they cannot find another adoptive home. The revenue from the training of each fish farm dog will help support 10 other dogs at the center.

For more on its aquaculture/airport programs, visit the BCR website at http://birdstrike.bcrescue.org.