Cormorants regulation is out

[rick_iles]

Even if its legal you really think thats going to help hunters cause? Never heard of a dumber idea TBH. That will NOT go over well at all with all the campers and cottagers there. Erieau is a small beautiful slice of heaven in my opinion and doesn't need to be ruined because someone wants to go kill something.

Just because hunters know about and dont like cormorants doesn't mean the rest of the people up there are going to be ok with it. Legal or not thats just stupid.

Years ago we duck hunted right in that spot. The marina wasnt there then. Legal?? Likely ! Smart? Maybe not so much...until marina traffic slows down.

[dean.f]

Smart? Maybe not so much...until marina traffic slows down.

There are plenty of diver hunters who hunt my area which has nothing but marinas and cottages lining the shores. This is the key, Wait for the tourist types and traffic to die down and nobody will even notice you're there. (Generally speaking, I don't know the area you're in)

If it seems sketchy just don't do it. There may be more headaches than it's worth.

[punkrockerpj]

had a commorant in front of me today and what do ya know a lady decides to walk with her stroller ON PRIVATE LAND to cut across a field. didn't have the heart to wake a sleeping barron so let the wretched bird go.

[mosquito]

Well I know that at the cottage earlier on by the rockpile about 100m out there were alot of small bass, I saw a cormorant scarf down atleast 4 one day just before we left for the week. Coming back the following weekend and swimming... didn't see a single bass. They seem to strip mine an area and then move on. I have even seen them in some of the creeks chasing minnows likely , ??? trout??? chubs? I'm pretty sure that creek near the cottage is protected from fishing but for a month that cormorant made the creek it's buffet and if it wasn't in the water it was on the electric line that goes over the creek.

I've been doing some reading and they say there 230,000+ in Ontario and they eat 1.6lbs per day ... NOTE: below I'll call it 1 lb to show a MINIMUM impact, and that the majority of their diet is smaller fish (perch was included in that) and only 2 to 4% gamefish like bass and walleye.... let's say they spend 100 days in Ontario....

230,000 * 100days * 1 lb = 23,000,000 lbs of fish and 2% of that is 460,000 to 920,000 lbs of bass, walleye, salmon, trout etc. and 22,080,000 lbs of fish like perch, minnows, sunfish... the fish the gamefish eat.

or to use anothers numbers....
http://www.glfc.org/pubs/lake_commit.../cormorant.pdf

"More recent New York studies estimate that cormorants consumed up to 1.3 million smallmouth bass (1.6% of their total diet) annually in eastern Lake Ontario."

I'm not sure why anyone would bother to go out and take part in this hunt on purpose. It seems that the MNR is not managing Cormorants properly and they've thrown what they think is a bone to the hunting community.

At $1.00 a shell for good quality lead-free shot shells, this is a nice way to download the costs to the public. We still have to pay for the privilege and pay for the shooting and the cleanup. Is anyone out there keen on murdering cormorants other than when you're bored?

Definitely cheaper for them than the culls and oiling... but to me... a target of opportunity.... it seems every time I see one in the water they have a perch or bass being scarfed down.

The whiners may win, in which case they will go back to quiet culls like they did at Pt Pelee etc. and oiling the eggs and disturbing the nesting birds, things that aren't as open to attack hunting and seldom mentioned in the press. So ... shoot the bloody things!

Then quietly fertilize a patch of yard/garden by putting them in the ground and out of sight!