Carelessly slaughtering huge…

Carelessly slaughtering huge numbers of double-crested cormorants is deeply concerning because they barely cause any damage at all, especially compared to other species. Hunting them will arouse many problems and impact the stability of the species, and is addressing a practically non-existent problem.

Cormorants are harmless birds, which eat fish just in order to survive, and only a tiny fraction of it is actually "sport" fish. Why should we get mad at them just for eating small, shallow water fish like sunfish? They are barely even creating a dent on our large sport fish populations. Some people complain that they cause "property damage" and are destructive to areas like forested islands. Well, lets look at it this way. There are many other shorebirds with huge populations, such as herring gulls (seagulls.) Yet no one hunts them or tries making them a "game bird" because of reasons such as "there's too many of them!" or "they poo all over our perfectly cultivated beaches." We just let them live and humans and the environment go along just fine. Cormorants do not do enough damage to be considered a problematic species, and the little damage resulting from them living happens with all wildlife species. Out of anything, there quite a few other destructive species that affect more than a few waterside property owners. Take squirrels, for example. They have managed to occupy every habitat and civilized area in Ontario possible, and create many more problems. People have experienced damage to gardens, orchids and attics from these rodents. They also attack birds and actually correlate to the absence and decline of birds in some areas (such as mountain bird populations, ranges and red squirrel interactions.) It's strange how squirrels can get away with creating so many problems and damage, compared to cormorants, and how they do relatively little.

I find it unbelievable how the Minister of Natural Resources is allowing hunters to kill up to 50 cormorants per day for almost the whole year: March 15 until December 31. That's even during breeding season! That means that not only adult cormorants are vulnerable, but also their hatchlings and juveniles. Just think about how much this adds up to. If every hunter in Ontario hunted 50 cormorants every day, every year, this senseless act would pretty much wipe out the population. This is a ridiculously huge number of deaths per year, especially taking into account how much this could impact their populations over time. Many people take joy in watching cormorants and they are an iconic sight on the shore and by waterways. If they disappear, or are seen less often, many people will be disappointed or enraged. Also, the natural system of the environment will be disrupted and this will impact other wildlife.

To make cormorants game birds and to kill so many is absolutely senseless and is scientifically incorrect. There is no scientific justification for this hunt or reasons to prove it worthy of undertaking. This means that apart from a few people that just naturally hate cormorants or are overly concerned about how their property looks, this is a non-existent problem. We just celebrated a rebound in their population in the 1970's when they stabilized after suffering steep declines from environmental contaminants. Lets not damage their population again and cause peril to the species. I urge you to do what is best for the species, the environment, and anyone who cares about fair treatment of wildlife and enjoys their presence. Do what is morally right for the Double Crested Cormorant and discard this hunting proposal.