I am writing in strong…

I am writing in strong opposition to the proposed cormorant hunt. I am a Professor of Biology at an Ontario University, where I teach Conservation Biology and conduct research in seabird conservation. I have conducted several studies on cormorants, and was an academic consultant for the cormorant cull at Presqu’ile Provincial Park. I oppose the cull for several reasons:

1. There is little evidence that cormorants significantly reduce the availability of fish to the commercial and sport fisheries.

2. Rather, studies indicate that cormorants eat round gobies, which are alien invasive fish. Thus, they are important in mitigating negative human impacts on freshwater ecosystems.

3. Although cormorant numbers have increased since eradication of DDT, we do not know what their numbers were before European colonization of North America. Thus we simply do not know - and cannot assume - that their numbers are unnaturally high.

4. While it is true that cormorants eventually kill trees in which they nest, they also nest on the ground.

5. Importantly, the justification for a daily bag limit of 50 birds is not provided in the Ministry proposal. This level is almost certainly not sustainable. Most likely it will result in annihilation of colonies in areas where local people have a vendetta against cormorants.

6. By allowing hunting of adults during the breeding season, many chicks will die from starvation and dehydration. This is simply inhumane.

7. The proposed amendment to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, to allow meat to spoil, would open the door to other unpalatable species being persecuted simply because local people do not appreciate their ecological or intrinsic value.

Cormorant control efforts at Presqu’Ile Provincial Park were highly successful in reducing and maintaining cormorant numbers to healthy and viable numbers. Those control measures involved a combination of (1) oiling eggs to reduce breeding success, and (2) culling low - and annually adjusted - numbers of adults by PARK STAFF, not by local hunters. Ideally, control efforts should involve modern Adaptive Management methods including Population Viability Analysis, annual monitoring, and control actions by government employees.

Cormorants are often vilified because they are large black birds that sometimes eat fish that humans like to eat, and whose colonies sometimes smell bad to humans. I have seen results of local fishermen in Atlantic Canada taking revenge on cormorants for erroneously perceived competition for fish. However, cormorants are important components of healthy ecosystems, and are integral parts of our natural heritage. They - and the citizens of Ontario - deserve that they be managed using progressive, ecological sound principles, not by potentially vindictive hunters with high bag limits.