I am totally against the…

I am totally against the proposed changes for a number of reasons. I have hunted in the past in this province and others in this country. I currently am not a hunter but support regulated hunting as a means of obtaining venison for personal use and in very specific circumstances, for controlled management of populations of wildlife.
The changes proposed are in my opinion totally out of control and a shunning of responsibility by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.
1. The cormorant is a native species that has responded to improvements in the environment and has re-inhabitated the great lakes basin on its own. We drove it away in the 60's and 70's with our use of chemicals and once we realized our error, we began a clean up which improved water quality, removed most toxic chemicals and allowed this species to re establish itself in this province. One of the other factors that allowed it to re-establish itself was the abundance of nearshore food, namely the invasive alewife, a species introduced to the Great Lakes and a species managers wished to control. With the reduction in alewife due to over stocking of chinook salmon, natural production of chinook salmon and other environmental changes, the cormorant needed to switch to another source of food and it found that other native inshore species were rebounding at the same time alewife were declining. Walleye and yellow perch in parts of the Great Lakes were becoming very plentiful and a perfect source of food for this bird, but unfortunately this meant competition with the ultimate predator, us! Bottom line is we created the history of this bird in the Great Lakes and rather than continue to think we can manipulate the ecosystem better than mother nature, we should be way more cautious than we have been in the past in trying to manage a single species.
2. Single species management policies do not work. Never have and never will. Once again, bottom line is by trying to deal with this individual species in a very extreme manner, we will be creating a situation for change for which we have no plans or idea of the consequences.
3. Controlled management does, I concede, have its place in very specific circumstances. There is nothing specific about this management action. A 50 bird bag limit with no possession limit, means virtually no control whatsoever. In addition, the suggested change in the F+W Act to allow disposal of these birds is preposterous. That is no longer hunting and if fact that is not controlled in the least. That is open killing and eradication, plain and simple. It opens the door to waste killing in all kinds of other situations. Not a precedent one should be setting.
4.It is the Ministry of Natural Resources responsibility to manage the resources of this province for we the people. IF the MNRF feels there is sufficient evidence to indicate a positive overall ecological response to controlling cormorant populations, then I would support controlled management of those populations. But I do not see any presentation of scientific evidence of a positive ecological response. I do not see any resemblance of "control" in this proposal either. All I see is the MNRF evading a situation and neglecting their responsibilities to act in the interest of ALL Ontarian's.

I repeat, I am totally against all of the proposed changes put forth in this management action.