I have been an activity…

I have been an activity sports fisherman on Lake Ontario for the past five years and during this time period my concern about the exploding population of cormorants has been increasing over the years. Beyond the clearly visible impact of the infestation of these cormorants on the small parcels of land along Eastport Drive in the Hamilton Harbour the growing colonies of birds appears to be having a negative impact on the fish populations in the Hamilton Harbour as well as Lake Ontario. When I initially started fishing for salmon in Lake Ontario in 2013 it was quite easy to locate large balls of bait fish on my sonar. At some times during the day I could actually observe signs of bait fish feeding on the water surface and on a few occasions could see the bait fish swimming just below the water surface beside my boat.

Over the past few years it is becoming increasingly more difficult to locate groups of bait fish when I'm trolling for salmon and when bait fish are located the volume is significantly reduced which I'm confident is a direct negative impact of the ever growing number of cormorants in the West end of Lake Ontario. Unfortunately as the volume of bait fish has reduce so has the number of salmon fish which migrate around Lake Ontario in their normal patterns. In addition to a much lower number of salmon fish the size and general weight/condition of the salmon I catch (100% release) continues to deteriorate.

I feel it is imperative that corrective action (open hunting & reproduction control) to control the numbers of cormorants be taken now and ongoing in the future. As with any econ system it is important to maintain balance and with the increasing number of cormorants & reduction in fish within Lake Ontario that balance has been lost. Corrective action is required now, not later, in order to ensure a healthy fishery is regained and maintained for the Great Lakes in general and specifically for Lake Ontario.