As residents of Ontario, we…

As residents of Ontario, we strongly oppose your proposed bill to establish a hunting season for Double-crested Cormorants.

There is no scientific evidence to support this proposal It is our belief that conservation management should be based on scientific evidence. The impact on other nesting birds has not been addressed. Although your proposal asks hunters to identify their targets, other bird species nest with or near cormorants and will be disturbed by the noise of gun fire thus compromising their nest viability. The extended length of your proposed hunting season and the number of birds each hunter is allowed to kill is not sustainable for the species. The cormorant is a significant predator of invasive fish, which assists native fish populations to recover. Only 2% of their diet consists of commercial fish species, so the argument that cormorants are detrimental to fish populations is not based on fact.

After being decimated in the 1970s by DDT and hunting, the cormorant is starting to re-establish its native territory in Ontario. Please do not repeat the same mistakes that were made in the past. We request that you reject this proposal.