The population trend of Cape Cormorants (Phalacrocorax capensis), a species endemic to southern Africa and that feeds mainly on shoaling pelagic fish, is described for a 50-year period, from 1956-57 to 2006-07. The main breeding localities for the species are grouped in three regions in the Benguela upwelling ecosystem: guano platforms off central Namibia, islands off southern Namibia and islands off South Africa's Western Cape Province. From 1956-57 to 1978-79, the numbers breeding off Namibia increased, as a result of increased availability of breeding space and adequate supplies of food. In the same period, numbers remained stable in the Western Cape.