I am a 64 year old Ontario…

I am a 64 year old Ontario resident, and have hunted and fished in Ontario since my childhood. I hunt waterfowl annually and have participated in the Environment Canada Migratory Bird Harvest Survey for several years. These cormorants are an invasive species which has been depleting the fish populations in many Ontario water bodies and are also displacing native bird species from their feeding and nesting grounds. I have seen the cormorant population explode and have seen flocks of cormorants which must number in the thousands. The droppings left by the birds in such great numbers are obviously contaminating the lake waters. They must be culled to protect our native fish and bird species and to control their numbers. Therefore the proposed 9 month hunting season and 50 bird bag limit with no possession limit are all appropriate. These are very fast flying tough birds and appropriate shot sizes would be high velocity goose loads -- No. 4 in Hevi-shot, No. 2 in steel shot.