Please reject the proposed…

Please reject the proposed hunt. For decades, Ontario has managed natural resources to ensure that any hunting is humane and sustainable. Allowing one hunter to kill 50 birds per day (up to 14,600 per year in the proposed 292-day hunting season) is neither humane nor sustainable. Allowing the hunt to occur throughout nesting season is a breach of conservation protocol and animal welfare ethics, as this will lead to baby birds being abandoned and starving to death. Other species of birds often share nesting sites with cormorants, and this hunting would impair their ability to nest successfully, and will inevitably lead to some other birds being killed by accident. This is not acceptable.

Allowing the hunt through the spring and summer will also cause conflicts with every other person who spends time outdoors in Ontario. People relaxing at cottages, canoeing, boating, fishing, swimming, hiking near lakes and wetlands, etc., will be disrupted and at times put in danger by the ongoing hunt.

Any hunt needs to be managed with sustainability in mind, based on conservation science. No scientific studies exist that support this proposal. Classifying an animal as “game” yet allowing meat to spoil is either completely unethical, or a disingenuous way to have an uncontrolled, unnecessary cull. It is not acceptable to slaughter a native animal just because a small number of loud people don’t like the birds, or think their nest sites are ugly, or blame them for their poor fishing skills. By controlling invasive fish species, cormorants help native fish populations persist in spite of pollution, habitat loss, and relentless fishing by sport anglers.

This proposal would cause serious damage to the ecosystem as well as to Ontario’s reputation as a responsible jurisdiction with sound conservation management. Again, I strongly urge that this proposal be rejected in full.