Objection to cormorant…

Objection to cormorant hunting season

Issue

We strongly oppose a lengthy open hunting season on cormorants in Ontario, and allowing cormorant hunters to leave cormorant carcasses to spoil. The proposals will result in odious slaughter, doing a disservice to ethical hunting.

We object to the proposed season for four primary reasons:
• Inevitable destruction of nesting habitats for other birds, including those of concern to wildlife authorities – habitats that our organization owns
• Certainty of environmental degradation with spoilage of carcasses if suggested legislative changes are implemented that relieve cormorant hunters of the need to retrieve slaughtered birds
• Questionable science regarding the cormorant impacts on fish populations, island forest habitats, other species, and aesthetics
• Strong safety risk to residents and visitors

Who we are

Our organization, The Land Conservancy for Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington, is a non-profit registered charity whose mission is to preserve and protect natural sites and landscapes in our area through owning land and holding conservation easements on land in perpetuity. We own Snake and Salmon islands, and both islands are nesting grounds for cormorants plus other bird species that are currently declining in number. We protect a total of eight properties in our area.

Detailed objections

1. Destruction of nesting habitats

Our land conservancy owns two islands, Snake and Salmon, which are major nesting habitats for cormorants, gulls, and terns. Allowing open hunting of cormorants during the nesting season will inevitably drive away all other nesting species. Snake and Salmon have been subject of continuous study by Canadian Wildlife Service scientists since 1976.

2. Cause of environmental degradation

The ministry is conducting consultation on proposals to exempt hunters from retrieval of cormorant carcasses. At a bag limit of 50 cormorants per day, hunter carelessness compounded by the possibility of implementing the exemption will negatively affect the environment. Our local area shoreline will be heavily impacted by rotting cormorant carcasses if hunters are exempted from carcass retrieval. Prevailing winds blow from offshore islands to the shorelines of our two counties, leaving municipalities to deal with the resultant stench and waste disposal requirement. Even if the proposal to exempt cormorant hunters from carcass retrieval does not go forward, environmental degradation will nevertheless occur when the hunter is unable or unwilling to retrieve the wounded or killed cormorants.

3. Questionable science

We are certainly aware of the changes wrought by the recovery of the cormorant population in our area. Islands that used to feature trees are now bare. But the many impacts attributed to cormorants remain unproven. Cormorants were common to the Lake Ontario/St. Lawrence River prior to the introduction of DDT. The cormorant population appears to be stabilizing or possibly declining. Studies of cormorants show heavy consumption of invasive, non-native fish species such as Round Goby. A slaughter-level hunt may threaten a delicate balance of water and land species.

4. Safety risk

Cormorants nest near areas popular with boaters and those who fish. Permitting a cormorant hunt for a nine plus month season presents strong safety risks to boaters. For example, Snake and Salmon islands house major cormorant nesting colonies, and the islands are close to the shoreline of the City of Kingston and major recreational boating areas. Kingston advertises itself as Canada’s sailing capital. The Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River headwaters are heavily visited during summer months. Permitting hunting from boats during these months is an invitation to accident.

Recommendation

Our land conservancy recommends complete withdrawal of the proposed cormorant hunt for the reasons we have outlined above. If the ministry considers itself compelled to introduce a hunting season for cormorants, we suggest a low bag-limit short hunting season in late autumn – beyond the recreational boating season – and insist that the ministry require cormorant hunters to retrieve their prey and dispose of the cormorant carcasses in an orderly and legal fashion. Given that the cormorant numbers appear to have stabilized, heavy hunting will likely trigger expansion of reproduction.

Original signed by
Land Conservancy for Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington
Vicki Schmolka, President