I am appalled and outraged…

I am appalled and outraged at the Ontario Government’s proposed mass slaughter of the Double-crested Cormorant birds by declaring them as a game bird! This is the worst wildlife “management” decision in Canadian history. With wildlife habitat being wiped out in an alarming rate and animal species becoming extinct this is a time when Ontario and we as a people need to be making history to protect our wildlife and biodiversity not eradicating it. Cormorants fulfill a valuable ecological role. They help generate healthy fish populations and healthy plant and animal life.

It seems that Cormorants are being blamed for depleted fish stocks but the real truth is these birds are not the problem as the majority of their diet consists of invasive fish species such as round gobies and alewives, fish that are not commercially viable. It’s humans that have and are depleting the fish in our lakes and oceans. It’s greedy fishing industries and fishermen that are to blame. Don’t use the Cormorants as the scapegoat! These birds were almost wiped out 30 years ago by humans – let’s not repeat history. We spent thousands of dollars to recover the species and now the Ontario Government wants to wipe them out to appease a small radical segment of the fishing community. These birds are a natural part of Ontario’s rich biodiversity and an ecological beneficial species.

Allowing Cormorants to be pleasure killed is sickening. Knowing that so called "hunters" will be roaming around loose to kill whatever moves is downright scary! These vulnerable birds are easy targets and their small colonies could be wiped out in minutes. Birds being left to die an agonizing death, babies left to starve to death. What message are we sending to our children? How is killing animals and birds for pleasure acceptable?

I strongly oppose this proposal by the Ontario Government!