This irrationally/ill…

This irrationally/ill conceived proposal makes zero sense in terms of responsible wildlife management or ecological health. It's nothing more than a licence to exterminate a species with no regard for how that would affect other species or the ecology of the habitats affected. One very likely result would be a further increase in invasive fish species. One study in Michigan found that on Lake Michigan, 80% to 90% of a Double Crested Cormorant diet consists of invasive species. Eliminating Cormorants will invariably have an inverse affect on the species they feed on. It could be argued that Cormorants are a beneficial species, contributing to the health of the lakes.

The "limit" of 50 birds per hunter per day is rediculous! That means that a small group of hunters could wipe out a colony in a Weekend. Also, the "open season" includes the entire time these migratory birds are in Ontario.

The fact that by all accounts the population of Cormorants is "stable or decreasing" just invalidates the "need" for such a proposal in the first place.

Any time humans mess with wildlife, especially on a large scale, such as this proposal, it never turns out to be a good thing.

Canada's leading bird science organization, Bird Studies Canada, has issued a very strong condemnation of this proposal. These are people who are the very top experts in the country when it comes to bird science and the habitats in which birds live and breed. If their strong condemnation isn't enough to kill this proposal then that makes it very clear that this is only about politics and not about responsible wildlife management at all. The Bird Studies Canada condemnation a well reasoned argument based in fact and the best current understanding of wildlife/habitat management, not mention pointing out how this proposal defies current regulations, best practices and ethical hunting practices. It truly points out how irresponsible this proposal is and that if any scientific consultation was undertaken, the true experts were never contacted or at least they were ignored. Please read the Bird Studies Canada release at the following link.

https://www.birdscanada.org/news/response-to-proposed-hunting-season-fo…