To Whom It May Concern:…

To Whom It May Concern:
Please do NOT create a hunting season for the double-crested cormorant. Cormorants were put at risk by man in Canada, and these once rare birds, and native birds to Ontario, have made a miraculous comeback. Not many other species have been so fortunate. Cormorants are not "game" birds. it is erroneous to use the term. These birds will not be hunted as game, which implies harvesting for food. The proposal is treating these birds as nuisance birds, not game birds. The cormorant has made a significant comeback, but is currently experiencing nature's way of regulating systems through a disease which is already affecting cormorant communities, and they are also now the prey of rare bald eagles, who are just now making a comeback. Let nature regulate the cormorant population. Balance is key.

The proposed legislation talks about the requirement to recover the birds that are killed and dispose of them properly, through burial. It is doubtful that any hunters will carry this out. And where exactly should burial of up to 50 birds a day take place?? Or even one? What parcel of land are you inviting hunters to disturb by excavation of bird graves? Are you disturbing other species habitats? No doubt you are. Are you disturbing an archaeological site? Quite possibly. The irresponsibility of this proposed legislation is glaring. And what about the birds that are hunted on the water? These birds tend to raft up (sit in large numbers on the water). How will "hunters" recover these birds that they have killed?

By permitting hunting of these birds, you put other species of both bird and animals at risk. Cormorants cohabitat environments with others. If there is hunting of the cormorant, you put these other birds/animals at risk.

It seems to me that this legislation is for recreational boaters who have their boats "detailed" by the birds. Yes, there are trees at risk.

But nature is a great regulator. Please put a stop to this legislation. If necessary, revisit again in five years, but in the meantime, allow nature to do its job.