I oppose the wholesale…

I oppose the wholesale slaughter of any animal to serve commercial or private interests, preferring to let nature look after itself. I do have a number of questions on the proposed cormorant regulations:

1. Why, if the cormorant population “has stabilized or declined slightly” since the early 2000’s, are we now contemplating an open season with a daily limit of 50 cormorants?
2. Why would cormorants be considered game birds? They are not known for their meat, bags will be allowed to spoil, and their behaviour largely is stationary, with their “hunting” amounting to shooting “sitting ducks”.
3. What is the population of cormorants in Ontario? Distributed where?
4. In which areas are cormorants "detrimental to fish populations, island forest habitats, other species and aesthetics”?
5. Why will there be an after-the-fact study of the cormorant population to accompany the hunting season? Should such a study not precede any hunting regulations or season?

There is too much "cart before the horse" in this proposal. Please determine and advertise the facts before proceeding.