To whom it may concern: The…

To whom it may concern:

The killing of 14000 Commorants PER SEASON is inhumane and further research from your council there needs to be brought to your attention because there is a lot of misinformation there!

The argument that these birds destroy ecosystems is ridiculous, they are a naturally occurring native bird, so basic ecology and common sense would tell us they would not survive as a species if they destroyed their own ecosystem. And while their droppings can kill their nesting trees, the nutrient-rich guano will lead to a new round of healthy plant and animal life. As for the fact that they are 'eating all the fish', they do eat fish, but only 2% of their diet consists of commercially valuable species, and they actually eat invasive fish species.The mass killing of cormorants will not be beneficial.

If you in fact, proceed with the process of killing them you willl force other bird species to vacate the colony sites they share.

Cormorants are beneficial because their diet consists of very large numbers of primarily invasive fish, such as alewives and round gobies, as well as other non-commercial, non-forage species. It is the commercial fisheries in Lake Erie and other lakes that are depleting fish populations, not cormorants!! The mass killing being proposed by the Ontario government is a political response to anecdotes, unsubstantiated claims and complaints by a small group of radical fishermen, supported by special interest groups. There is no substantive body of scientific evidence supporting their position. Instead of making cormorants a scapegoat for environmental problems they have nothing to do with, attention should be given to addressing the issues that actually do affect fish populations and aquatic environments, such as climate change, pollution, shoreline and habitat destruction, over-fishing and a broad range of other issues.

The proposed designation of cormorants as game animals, along with a non-utilization exemption that allows the carcasses to rot should be an affront to every hunter who believes in sportsmanship, fair chase and ethics.

You must reconsider.
This is the worst policy to date that this government has implemented.