While a hunting for…

While a hunting for comerants is, on the surface a method for pressuring populations, the scale needed would be so large that the number killed by hunters will almost certainly fall within the compensatory mortality of this species. This hunting season will undoubtly result in some terrible publicity for hunters and hunting culture as the general public could possibly see these animals go to “waste” as this bird is not likely to be harvested for food, feathers, hide or any parts. This season won’t be a “hunting” season, it will be a culling season. If there is a necessity for culling - which has been clearly indicated by the evidence - the ministry of natural resources and forestry should manage our valuable commercial and sport fishing resources though a cull which includes the destruction of nests and eggs during the vulnerable nesting season - done by ministry employees. Not only would this method have the potential to actually reduce comerant populations (additive mortality), it would also not rely exclusively on a small section of the general public that hunts (and will even bother to hunt) for comerants - especially at the expense of the already damaged image that hunters have within the general population.
This is a situation where good management of a resource is possible - despite it not being good politics.
The fact that the ministry of natural resources has even suggested that hunters should be responsible for this type of culling is an example of the degree of mismanagement that many have come to expect for our natural resources.