Restaurant Yakamoz is located on a business park in the Eemshaven. For many sailors, it is the closest place to eat out or get a takeaway. But lately, customers can hardly reach the front door safely because the birds are attacking.
Since a few years there is a special breeding island, not so far from the restaurant. But some of the birds have chosen to nest on the roof of the restaurant.
‘There are really too many’
The common tern, which can grow to be as big as a black-headed gull, is protected under the European Birds Directive. Restaurant owner Mustafa can’t chase them away either. “There are really too many of them,” he says, looking up nervously. “Last year there were much less, but then we had nets on the roof. Now there are solar panels, so we thought the nets were not necessary. But they are there again.”
Mustafa has set up a row of umbrellas at the restaurant. Not so much against the sun, but to protect visitors from sharp beaks. “I understand that the birds are worried,” he says. “They have youngsters they want to defend. Anything that moves in the area means danger. It’s their country. We came here later. We should really leave. But we can’t.”
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