In the mid 1980's the…

In the mid 1980's the commercial gill net fishery in the Brighton area was closed to one month of the year. The idea being that the industry was responsible for very low yellow perch populations. To this day, fishers still cannot catch any quantity of y. perch. What is worth understanding is that the largest nesting colony of cormorants on L. Ont. has existed on Gull Bar & High Bluff Is. since the mid 1980's. It shouldn't be rocket science to realize that in 33 yrs. of virtually no fishing pressure that something other than commercial fishing is impacting y. perch populations. We know that food analyses projects cited alewife as being the main prey spp. but remember that those projects involved summer students & that the projects occurred in early summer when alewife enter shallow water. The main damage that occurs to L. Ont. Y. perch populations happens in early to mid April. At this time, large staging flocks of cormorants congregate & accumulate fat reserves to help them on their northward migration. It is also at this time of year that the L. Ont. spawning stocks of Y. perch are forming large schools in shallow L. Ont. embayments. Large schools of edible sized fish concentrated in shallow water is exactly what the large cooperatively foraging flocks of cormorants are looking for . Remember that cormorants prefer feeding in water depths of 30 ft. or less. The commercial fishery has been requesting cormorant control for years. Cormorant pops. have far surpassed historic levels. I welcome this proposal enthusiastically.