I strongly disagree with…

I strongly disagree with this proposal. This proposal will allow for the mass killing of cormorants, will put the species in danger of becoming extinct, damage instead of protect the environments that cormorants live in, and potentially put the lives of Ontarians at risk due to the allowance of hunting in areas often populated by people (cottaging, vacationing, living). Some of these effects might be mitigated by lowering the bird limit for license holders from 50 per day to 1 per day (or less!).

My disagreement with this proposal is based on the following facts:

1. The Ontario government’s proposal will allow individuals with a small game license to kill up to 50 cormorants per day. That works out to approximately 1,500 cormorants per month or up to 14,250 cormorants for the entire proposed annual hunting season.

2. The presence of cormorants benefits other colonial water birds, such as herons, egrets and pelicans, all of which are stable or growing where cormorants are found.

3. The mass killing of cormorants will not be beneficial. In fact, the process of killing them will force other bird species to vacate the colony sites they share.

4. There is no way to kill cormorants humanely. Even controlled, organized culls in other regions have resulted in large numbers of injured and crippled birds being left to die of their wounds or starve to death, including nestlings.

5. Cormorants are beneficial because their diet consists of very large numbers of primarily invasive fish, such as alewives and round gobies, as well as other non-commercial, non-forage species.

6. The mass killing of cormorants will damage the environment and disrupt natural ecosystem processes.

7. The return of cormorants, a native wildlife species, to the Great Lakes Basin is part of a natural process.

8. Cormorants are not overabundant in the Great Lakes. In fact, their numbers are modest, now stabilized and are dropping in many areas.

9. Changes in the composition of vegetation in and around bird colonies are a sign of vibrant, dynamic natural ecosystem processes.

10. The number of trees damaged or destroyed in colonial waterbird colonies across the province is miniscule and wouldn’t even equal the number of trees in a single modestly-sized woodlot.

11. Only a small number of islands (less than 3%) and peninsula sites are available for cormorants and other colonial waterbirds to nest on.

12. The mass killing being proposed by the Ontario government is a political response to anecdotes, unsubstantiated claims and complaints by a small group of radical fishermen, supported by special interest groups. There is no substantive body of scientific evidence supporting their position.

13. Instead of making cormorants a scapegoat for environmental problems they have nothing to do with, attention should be given to addressing the issues that actually do affect fish populations and aquatic environments, such as climate change, pollution, shoreline and habitat destruction, overfishing and a broad range of other issues.

14. The proposed designation of cormorants as game animals, along with a non-utilization exemption that allows the carcasses to rot should be an affront to every hunter who believes in sportsmanship, fair chase and ethics.