As an avid hunter, I do not…

As an avid hunter, I do not support the creation of a cormorant hunt in which cormorants can be shot and left to decompose in our lakes and waterways. This goes against what hunting is all about, harvesting wildlife for food in a sustainable way. Making it legal to not retrieve what you shoot teaches very poor behaviour. When these dead and rotting birds wash up on our beaches, or go noticed by swimmers and boaters, hunters are going to get a very bad image. Not to mention the sounds of gunshots in summer cottage areas are not going to be very popular.

The shooting of cormorants during the breeding season is going to disturb many other colony nesting birds that nest within cormorant colonies. This is simply unacceptable and unnecessary. Oiling of cormorant eggs will have a greater affect on cormorant populations than hunting, and will not disturb the other colony nesting birds.

Finally, is there some scientific data that shows hunting of cormorants will have the desired affect on reducing their numbers? I don't think there is data to back up this initiative, and so the risks of creating this "hunting" season far outweigh any possible reward.