I object to Double Crested…

I object to Double Crested Cormorants being listed as "game" birds. They are not traditionally used as food. The only purpose of the hunt appears to be to eliminate a once endangered species that is a native to the Canadian environment. This is underlined by the fact that the proposed legislation will allow hunters to keep the meat until it putrifies.
The apparent purpose is to protect fish stocks and prevent the birds from spoiling trees at their breeding sites. I am old enough to remember when there were wind rows of dead fish fowling every shoreline on Lake Ontario because Cormorants and other fishing birds were not available to balance their numbers. It is true that Cormorant colonies can kill trees but they also supply guano that feeds new understory and refreshes the soil, enriching new tree growth.
The hunting season is way too long and impinges on the Cormorant's breeding season. Cormorant colonies are not single species places. Many other birds breed at these sites including most of Ontario's gulls,Common Terns, Caspian Terns, Black Crowned Night Herons, Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets etc. Allowing hunting of Cormorants during the breeding season will greatly endanger these other species, many of whom are struggling to survive with habitat loss and global warming.The months when Cormorants can be hunted (which, in my opinion is never) must be reduced to late summer or fall.
The politics of keeping the fishing community happy at the expense of this elegant fishing bird is simply not justified. We humans are causing the 6th extinction. There is no need to make Double Crested Cormorants a victim of our thoughtless greed.