Both my husband and I are…

Both my husband and I are avid hunters, fishers and active naturalists. Every year we hunt deer, turkey and even some ducks with our sons and grandchildren. We can see the purpose and usefulness of hunting game and even some pests, which have been shown to have a detrimental effect on native wildlife, such as raccoons. However, in the case of double-crested cormorants, which we have watched over the past 40 years, slowly recover from extremely low numbers due to pesticde use ect. to numbers where they can be seen on a regular basis, we are strongly opposed to establishing a hunting season for a bird that cannot be eaten and presently has no scientific evidence of negatively impacting fish populations in Ontario. In the case of ruining island vegetation with their guano during nesting season, there are surely better ways to prevent this damage without mass shooting of the birds. About 20 years ago, we use to band the corrmorants nesting on the industrial lands adjacent to Hamilton Harbour. It was a very smelly and dirty endevour, but one thing I remember was even then the birds were feeding their young mostly round gobies and other introduced species. The proposed wanten hunting of these birds will certainly have a negative impact on hunters because it will paint them as blood thirsty killers of helpless birds and not as responsible harvesters of game and caretakers of the environment, which is a part of our human heritage. Please consider the negative fallout from the proposal at present and consult those who know and understand the issues surrounding this species.