Dear Sir/Madame, I am…

Dear Sir/Madame,

I am concerned that a proposal to hunt Double-crested Cormorants during nesting season, e.g., near mixed nesting colonies with other birds (herons, egrets, gulls, and terns) contradicts the very spirit of hunting ethics, and also conservation practices of conserving colonial nesting birds worldwide.

Whether or not the cormorants affect the populations of sport fish is debatable, however, hunting of any birds near nestling colonies is unacceptable, not to say that killing of adults with doom nestlings to starvation and predation, and will further disturb other colonial birds, e.g., herons, terns, which may result in loss of nests to exposure and predation, reducing their nesting success.

Although it has been demonstrated that cormorant droppings kill trees and other vegetation in areas where colonies of this species nest in trees or shrubs, overall impact is negligible, as the number of colonies is relatively small. The loss of trees in protected lands (e.g., East Sister Island, Middle Island. etc.) reflect on paucity of mature Carolinian forest in Ontario, in protected areas and elsewhere, rather than "hyper-abundance" of the cormorant.

Most of cormorant species nest in colonies, often with other fish-eating birds, and because of this overall number of colonies is small.

As of the impact on fisheries... It is very likely that the cormorant increase, in part, relates to an increase in bait-fish, after the excessive removal of sportfish by anglers and commercial fishermen.

The double-crested cormorant is an integral part of the Great Lakes ecosystem and should be afforded protection as such, at least for the duration of the breeding season, and this protection should not be sacrificed to appease few interest groups.

Whether cormorants should be hunted outside of the breeding season remains debatable, but if allowed, the bug limit should not exceed five bird a year per hunter. Although, I maintain that hunting merely for a desire to kill, and then to spoil, is unethical.

Yours sincerely,

Michael Patrikeev
Ornithologist and zoologist with over 30 years of work experience.
Ottawa, Ontario