A cormorant hunting season…

A cormorant hunting season can be consistent with responsible management of the species, however I have a few suggestions to improve the proposed legislation based on my experience as a hunter in New Brunswick, where cormorant hunting is legal, and as a biologist.

1) The proposed hunting season can conflict with the nesting period for birds protected under the Migratory Birds Act. Hunting Cormorants on their colonies should be strictly prohibited to ensure that no disruption to other nesting birds occurs. There should be a buffer zone around Cormorant colonies, both to avoid disruption of non-target species and to ensure that the effects on cormorant populations are limited to the number of birds killed.

2) In NB, one can hunt cormorants during the usual hunting season with a small game permit. Hunting outside the period where a small game license is valid is accomplished by purchasing a separate « varmint » license during this time period. It would be simpler to create a separate license for « nuisance » species than to amend regulations on existing small game licences. In this way, cormorants would not have to be listed as a game bird. Also, funds from the sale or cormorant licenses could be easily identified/tracked and used for monitoring programs.

3) Since this is a new and controversial program in Ontario, I suggest that cormorant hunters should have mandatory online reporting of their daily harvests, at least for the first few years. This would make it simpler to manage / adjust seasons and harvest limits to achieve management targets.

4) By and large, hunters dislike waste. With a number of birds killed/harvest and no use for the carcasses, there will be quite a lot of material that could be mobilized for scientific research. Every effort should be made to ensure that hunters are able to connect with interested biologists/researchers and provide samples or observations.