After consideration of…

After consideration of various aspects of the issue concerning Double-Crested Cormorants (from now on referred to as Cormorants), following are my comments:
• Yes, there is some destruction of habitat, but Cormorants are native to Ontario and should be allowed to live here, too. Human beings do not have to live everywhere in pristine conditions. There may be some game fish eaten, but I have not heard any quantification of the numbers and the true effect of the Cormorants on the game fish population.
• My suggestion is to set the annual cull number per person at 10 per day, rather than the recommended 50, a number which seems to have no scientific basis, according to an interview with the government minister. The reason for the suggested lower number is:
o It could be ‘a slaughter’ of the population, if under the recommended number of 50 per day, a hunter shot 14,600 birds over one season, multiplied by a number of hunters across Ontario.
o Apparently, hunters are required to dispose of the dead birds in a proper way, not just let the carcasses rot in place. For a hunter trying to track down 50 birds each day and dispose of them properly would be hard to do. Enforcement would be difficult, too.
o Some hunters and fisher people are so venomous in their comments about the presence of Cormorants in Ontario, that I believe they would willingly shoot 50 birds a day, not worrying about the disposal issue.
o A smaller number of birds that can be culled each day would help to keep the process in check, meaning that a manageable number of birds could be shot and disposed of properly, each day of the hunting season.
o Thank you for recommending a Cormorant monitoring program be put in place.
o According to the EBR, the number of Cormorants is stabilizing or declining slightly. Culling some birds makes sense, but don’t take down the whole/most of the population.
• Where did the hunting season length of March 15th to December 31st come from? Was that number pulled out of the air? What about a shorter culling season?