The proposed hunting season…

The proposed hunting season for Double-crested Cormorants does not serve the interests of the bird, anglers, or property owners, and should not be enacted.

Great Lakes populations of Double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) have stabilized or declined slightly in recent years. A favourite prey item is the ubiquitous Round Goby, which preys on Smallmouth Bass eggs, so by consuming gobies, cormorants can be said to be providing a service to anglers. Where cormorants have been detrimental to desired fish populations, island forest habitats, other species and aesthetics, authorities have oiled eggs in targeted and effective programs.

Given the animus some hold for cormorants, the proposed hunting season of 9+ months, a daily bag limit of 50, no possession limit, plus no requirement to retrieve and dispose of resulting carcasses will predictably result in wholesale slaughter of what is, after all, a native, migratory bird.

As a property owner with cormorants just offshore, I am also concerned that allowing hunting from a stationary motorboat will result in incoming rounds, as well as carcasses of dead birds washing ashore. I doubt that conservation officers would be supervising such a hunt.

I do not support the cormorant hunt as proposed.