The proposal for an open…

The proposal for an open season on double-crested cormorants in Ontario is wrong-headed, ill-informed and utterly influenced by pressure from hunters and anglers, particularly through the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, a hugely powerful lobby group whose interests do not extend to the lives of wildlife or the general health of the ecosystem.

In addition to the stupidity of the idea itself--i.e. a wholesale hunt as "game" of an inedible species--there are a number of problems, which include imbalance of the ecosystem, the destruction of habitat of this bird species and others, the endangerment of enjoyment of outdoor spaces for humans and other non-human species, the question of "spoiling" birds by effectively dumping them, and the outdated idea of "culling" as a way of controlling species whose natural abundance in an inconvenience to sportsmen and boaters.

Yes, cormorants crap on trees and elsewhere and yes, they eat fish. But that can be said of gulls, loons and a number of other species who seem to have a kind iconic status denied to the vilified cormorant. For too long, the MNR of Ontario--regardless of which party is in power and who is the Minister and his/her staff--has dealt with wildlife as just another "natural resource" to be exploited when profitable or extirpated when regarded as undesirable by interests groups. This is 19th century wildlife management in a 21st century situation, where species are being lost so fast and so irretrievably, that new ideas that favor species and the natural environment HAVE to supersede narrow human recreational interests, or else nothing will survive, including our own kind.

Please rethink this daft notion. Oil cormorant eggs if you must, in the interests of somewhat impeding the success of this very successful species, vis a vis others, but do not institute a hunt, especially one so flawed as this plan is on every level. Thank you for your kind attention, and the opportunity to offer input.