I would like to make a few…

I would like to make a few brief comments on the proposal to hunt cormorants.

I live in Brighton, near Presqu'ile Provincial Park where a large cormorant colony exists. I am well aware of what cormorants eat and the effect they have on the land where they nest. I am not opposed to wildlife culls when scientifically justified. In fact I was an early proponent of the deer cull at Presqu'ile, and I am generally supportive of cormorant management in the western Lake Erie islands where truly unique vegetation communities in Canada exist. Having said that, I find this proposed legislation offensive and deeply disturbing.

Cormorants, like few other creatures, inspire a deep hatred within a certain set of people, especially commercial and sport fishers. Here in Brighton they are sometimes referred to with racial epitaphs. They have been illegally killed on their nesting colonies within a year of their colonization of Gull Island. There is no acceptable number of cormorants for this group. And incredibly your proposal validates this without even an attempt to lay out a population goal. What kind of cull doesn't have a number? This is nothing more than a policy that panders to a vocal group who absolutely hate these birds. This proposal lets the fox guard the henhouse.

I know a number of people in wildlife management and without exception they are ashamed, embarrassed or angered by this ridiculous proposal. There are existing tools at the disposal of MNRF and CWS to manage cormorants. Opening it up to a "sport" hunt where the animals are allowed to waste is unethical and offensive. This kind of hunt will harm the reputation of ethical hunting.

I know a number of people who will jump at the chance to kill cormorants en mass. Many couldn't tell a cormorant from a loon, both of which occur here in dense feeding flocks in fall. They will park offshore from the breeding colonies, which are also home to herons, egrets, terns and gulls, and they will not stop shooting. Breeding colonies, which almost always involve multiple species, are incredibly sensitive to human disturbance and this policy will bring devastation to colonial birds in Ontario.

I can't believe that in 2019 we are considering such a policy which seems out of the dark ages of wildlife management when species were either classified as good or vilified as evil. This is an embarrassment and I urge you in the strongest terms to rescind this terrible proposal.