As a Southern Ontario…

As a Southern Ontario resident who lives very close to the nesting grounds of the Double Crested Cormorants it is my opinion that this hunt is completely unnecessary. Since the Great Lakes are surrounded by individual homes, large companies and densely populated municipalities my thoughts are that the Ministry should be looking at other alternatives instead of eliminating a large portion of these birds. The Ministry states many reasons for the need to cull these birds but it is how they have set up the rules that I find is quite disturbing. The mere fact that this is a 10 month hunt allowing a hunter to kill 50 birds a day as well as having the right to destroy their nests is absolutely disgusting. This is not a responsible hunt, this is a slaughter. I have a few thoughts if this hunt is to go forth, As I stated above, I live in the area of their nesting grounds which also has walking trails by the lake. How is the Ministry going to protect myself and the many people who use these walking and biking trails from gunshots? Who is monitoring the amount killed? Since cormorants and loons look very similar in the water, how is the Ministry going to protect the loon? Lets look at a better and more humane solution. The Ministry states that there is a decline in fish population as well as destruction of personal property caused by the over population of the Cormorants. If this is the case, the Ministry should be looking at the companies as well as municipalities are dumping contaminates into the Great Lakes at an alarming rates. This could be part of the cause of the decline in fish populations. As for personal destruction of property, there are many humane devices to keep birds off the property. This is a quick fix idea that the Ministry has come up with at this time but it is my opinion that a greater issue is at hand and the Ministry does not want to trod on the feet of big business.