This proposed change to the…

This proposed change to the province’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act to designate double-crested cormorants as a “game” bird species appears to be simply an exercise that is clearly aimed at the extermination of the animal rather than providing an alternate food source for human consumption. I do not support this and am urging the government to reconsider.

The support for this motion is likely from those who partake in sport or commercial fishing and are blaming these birds for an assumed/real decrease in fish populations. Are these birds the reason why the codfish stocks in the Atlantic and the salmon stocks in the Pacific are close to extinction? No! It is certainly due to over fishing of the cod by both domestic and international fishers. The cod populations will NEVER come back to what they were. The possibility of extinction is real. The change in the flow patterns of the rivers in BC due to the hands of man, lice and disease from fish farms, and the continued sport/commercial fishing onslaught are the reasons for the decrease in salmon populations. David Suzuki once said that elders told him that the sound of the salmon returning to spawn sounded like a freight train and could be heard from miles away. To blame a species of bird for what has been clearly caused by the incompetence of man is not acceptable. Please be responsible, think of the future, and do the right thing.