I am quite concerned with…

I am quite concerned with this proposal. It seems to me the underlying goal of this proposal is to reduce the cormorant numbers in Ontario. Regardless if that is a worthy goal or not, the idea of controlling them having an open hunting season is seriously flawed for a number of reasons.

1) To call this a hunt and then to allow spoilage completely goes against the concept of ethical hunting. By adding a species to the Fish and Game Act that allows killing and spoilage weakens the overall effectiveness of an act that governs hunting. It gives hunters a bad name and undermines the concept of ethical hunting that all responsible hunters and hunting groups endorse.

2) Allowing hunting through the summer breeding season can cause great harm to other species. Many colonial waterbirds such as gull, herons, terns and pelicans nest with cormorants in super colonies. These species are almost all on the decline. Causing disturbance in these colonies during nesting can have catastrophic results. A single shotgun blast at the wrong time of the year can have every heron chick in a colony leap from the nest before they can fly. Leaving the nest at that stage results in 100% mortality in the chicks. Ground nesting gulls and terns that are disturbed off their nests leave their young exposed to other hazards such as predation, over-exposure to sun or cold, again resulting in chick mortality.

3) Allowing hunting in our lakes and rivers during the summer recreation season is a scary proposition. Certainly there will be increased hunter-non-hunter interaction. There is a safety concern of course but also many local and visiting tourists don't want to hear guns going off or worry about shooting while "relaxing" on vacation. This could result in lower attendance and loss of revenue at some lodges and tourist facilities throughout the province.

4) Effectiveness of an open hunt on actually reducing cormorant numbers is in question. Such a method was tried in New York state on Lake Ontario a number of years ago and without a sustained effort that most hunters did not want to take on, little reduction actually occurred. Also the two largest cormorant colonies in Ontario - Leslie Street Spit and Presqu'ile Provincial Park are off-limits to hunting.

If a reduction in cormorant numbers is the goal than the government should say so and take responsibility for doing the job properly rather than foisting it off on the hunting public. Cormorant control operations, including lethal controls should be a considered on a case-by-case bases and carried out by professionals following a plan put together from scientific knowledge of cormorant biology and behaviour at each location. I do not support this bill as it stands.