I strongly object to the…

I strongly object to the proposed “hunt” of Double-crested Cormorants in the Province of Ontario. I have lived on the edge of Lake Ontario overlooking two major nesting islands for more than three decades. The cormorants returned to this area in 1982, and I have observed the changes their return has wrought to vegetation on the islands near the east end of Lake Ontario. But I have also noticed that the population appears to be stable now, and the damage to vegetation is already done.

I object for several reasons: the inappropriate science, the proposed season, the large bag limit, the threats to safety, and the certainty of collateral damage.

1. Inappropriate science. Since the cormorant population appears to be stable or declining, where is the science to say the cormorant population must be reduced? If research determines that population reduction is imperative, then undertake other techniques to control population such as egg oiling, harassment in the fall, or, worst-case, a controlled cull conducted away from the nesting season. Other jurisdictions have found these techniques effective.

Some who fish firmly believe that cormorants threaten the game fish population. From what I have read in scientific studies, cormorants eat some game fish, but consume large quantities of Round Goby. This fish species, introduced by accident in the ballast of ships, is a major predator of our native perch population, so cormorants may well help encourage growth in the game fish population through their consumption of Round Goby.

2. Permitting a hunt for more than nine months per year is not sporting. Ontario permits hunting of other game species during the fall and winter, with a few species where hunting is allowed in early spring. During the summer, cormorants congregate for nesting and spend an extended time – together with other bird species – laying eggs, tending nests, and tending young on small islands where they are “sitting ducks” for shooters operating from boats. See my point for collateral damage for further discussion on this topic. Legal shooting during nesting season is cruel and dangerous.

3. Allowing a bag limit of 50 cormorants per day is frankly ridiculous, and certainly not sporting. How will a shooter ever manage to properly dispose of 50 cormorants? A normal fishing boat cannot even hold 50 carcasses. Where will a shooter manage to dig a big enough pit to bury 50 cormorants per day? No other game species has such an astronomical bag limit.

4. The threats to safety arise largely from the length of the proposed season. I live in Kingston. Kingston describes itself as the freshwater sailing capital of Canada. I watch boaters, kite surfers, windsurfers, and fishers enjoying Lake Ontario every summer day. Permitting the shooting of cormorants from boats during summer months threatens this recreational enjoyment of the lake.

5. Collateral damage and environmental degradation will result from my three previous points. For example, where the shooter is unable to retrieve the cormorant carcass, it will wash up along the Kingston shoreline as the prevailing winds run across Snake and Salmon islands (major cormorant nesting islands) toward the northern shoreline of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. Shooting cormorants during nesting season will certainly trigger the starvation of remaining untended young, and their carcasses will also wash up along the shoreline and/or decompose and damage the water quality of Lake Ontario. Our city will suffer.

My house looks over Snake and Salmon islands. A number of other species nest on these two small islands – some considered vulnerable in our province. Any hunt during nesting season where shooters aim toward these small islands crowded by nesting birds will certainly result in collateral kill of gulls, shorebirds, and other species.

In summary, I ask that the Ontario government withdraw its proposal for the so-called hunt of Double-crested Cormorants. If solid research shows that the cormorant population needs to be controlled, please adopt proven techniques for population control: egg oiling, harassment, or as a last resort highly selective culling away from nesting season.

It is not fair to Ontario residents to do otherwise.