Fish-Hawk.Net

Cormorant management legislation

http://www.ofah.org/News/index.cfm?ID=3 ... oc&DID=318

"Collectively, it is estimated that the 450,000 to 500,000 cormorants in the Great Lakes Basin consume 42 million pounds of fish each year, which has caused a serious erosion of fish stocks in some areas.

The best available science shows that the waste produced by these birds also destroys habitat in areas where they nest which affect other species, degrades water quality, pollutes shorelines and has reduced some islands in Lake Ontario and the Manitoulin area to burnt out shells," said Mike Reader, O.F.A.H. Executive Director.

Isn't amazing how long they drag their feet in addressing this serious problem.

By the time anything is done.........................it will be....................too..................late.

Those estimates are STAGGERING!

As Paul said, it'll be too late. Very unfortunate the vision down the road but what's the solution?

A controlled kill? Animal rights groups would be up in arms. Let them be? They will eventually destroy the habitat, sooner than later.

Now I may receive flack for this but so be it. What do we usually do with invading species that threaten the delicate natural balance? Well we eradicate them as best we can to protect our natural habitat.

The poor innocent goby is tossed onland to die or be dervoured by predators, what makes a bird dif? Both are species that threaten the ecosystem.

I say, control the numbers by any means nec.

My 2 cents. Fire away in response, but pls don't give my email addy to PETA, their numbers should be whittled down too.

well if you use steel shot its not suppose to be harmful

Quote:
A controlled kill? Animal rights groups would be up in arms. Let them be? They will eventually destroy the habitat, sooner than later.

Yes sir
over 20 years ago when the Gov decided to "limit" the snow geese kill
that has been going on for what?...6000-10,000 + yrs????
the natives said"you will end up paying us to kill them.."
Now the snow geese are over 20 millionp i think] up from 6
AND have totally ruined a 5-15km strip all around the bottom of Hudsons Bay..
it was fragile tundra and will never grow back..

the cormorants need to be pruned heavily...now..!! [actually yesterday]
the putrid stench of ruined islands on the st lawrence
and the new arrival of scads of cormorants
on the ottawa has started an expansion process that
is NOT good..

df

Just playing devils advocate here but if you think about this we are an invading species to habitats as well. Should we be gathered for the slaughter.....OF course not man WE ARE the top of the food chain so I say only the strong and smart survive...Protect our fisheries and make sure my grandchildren can have some quality fishing unlike a few years ago. I remeber in the early 80's..sorry if you are having a terrible flashback..the fishing was amazing and on any given day you could catch 40+ walleye out of most lakes...Now not even near that number(or is that my fishing skills)...anyway you do need to control certain things in this life but you can never control everything. A mass slaughter of these birds might create more trouble due to some other species exploding. Everything is connected somehow and any slight change could do worse effects to our habitat.
Just a ramble of thought to consider

My boat does over 50 plus mph. I can run them down and do, that is my method of control.

Point.... These birds are not native to our lakes
Point ... They only add to the already burgeoning demands put on the fishery
Point... They do not have any natural enemies here as they are not natural HERE
Point.... The reason we have them is from outside introduction(not natural) or global warming(not natural) 2 wrongs don't make a right....
Point.... Take a trip to Brockvile for more than how many years(300) the islands had LIVING trees on them and now it looks like Vietnam, go to Lake Nippissing and see the destruction go to southern Ontario and see the damage done by this birds SH^T.
Point... They displace the native species, gulls and herons and THRIVE
Point.... They get to depths other bird predator don't so they can consume different species of fish.
Point... A full grown cormorant can eat a 2lb bass and DO,



So play the devils advocate and when you come back to reality and find the devil has NO argumnet join the CLUB......


THE CORMORANT CLUB

get yours now and help put this infestation in it place

DEEP SIX THEM




I LOVE NATURE and the GREAT outdoors and don't advocate the senseless slaughter of any animal but


WE ARE CAUSING THIS UNNNATURAL MIGRATION

into our lakes and we need to stop this one anyway

How many times do we have to see it, zebra mussels, gobies, sea fleas, lampreys, I know there's more.


If the animal rights people want to get up set with a cull instead they could just ship these birds to the animal rights people so they can have a PET. And what's with their name ANIMAL RIGHT'S these are birds and are not part of the animal kingdom if I remember my biology classes correctly, so they are miss named, they misapropriate the truth, misguided and have missed the boat.


Not meaning to pick on you almonte and I credit you your moxy to play the advocate but on this issue it is not necessary


I have noticed them this fall on Big Rideau and I would hate to think what they might do there.


CULL CULL CULL CULL CULL CULL

I work at Nortel on Carling Ave. There are several large ponds on the campus and they are home to MANY goldfish. People just dump feeders in and off they go- they are large in size and number.

Summer of '05, a comorant arrived and began feeding- it went on for a day and a half. At one point the birds belly was so distended it couldn't fly.

I couldn't belive a bird would gorge so heavily that it would ground itself to do so. Certainly demonstrates a lack of natural predation on the bird.

I was playing devils advocate but I do agree we need to CONTROL these birds..Do musky like birds??? Now back to animals and birds not being one...you have forgotten your sciences...reptiles are animals,birds are animals, humans are animals as well. But yes again I do agree we need to do something for sure but will that fix the problem or allow something else to move in.

By any means necessary.

Why is the MNR dragging thier feet on this?

I like this topic it is good for discussion...anyway we must not be the only ones going thru this same problem. How has other places delt with htis issue. Does anyone else know??

there alot of hungry people out there lol. prolly tasts just like chicken. ...... i bet there flamable too

we can start fishing for them... some bread on a hook and its fising at a whole new angle

lol

for real thogh they gatta get them under control

ps i love sending them to the tree huggers as pets

Cormoants are migratory birds protected under the migratory bird treaty act, and Canada is one of 5 countries involved in this act, along with Mexico, US, Russia, and Japan. This no doubt plays some part in the lack of action on MNRs part.

Back in the spring the Grand River Conservation Authority announced that a staff member was going to shoot some of the cormorants in the Luther marsh (head waters of the Grand). This was to prevent them from establishing a nesting colony and replacing the herons that nest in the area. I thought this was a good, proactive plan to prevent a problem at a reasonable cost before it got out of hand.
A month later they announced the cull had been postponed. They would study it further and they would review it in the fall. So far, I have not seen or heard any further word from them on the subject.
Jim

I've done a little reading on this issue. I found a document from the MNR (see link below) that indicates the double-breasted cormorant is not listed in the federal Migratory Birds Convention Act but is protected under the provincial Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act 1997. The MNR is allowed to take management control measures where the concentration of these birds has a negative ecological impact.

http://publicdocs.mnr.gov.on.ca/View.as ... t_ID=22937

Even the provincial reports indicate that control measures are necessary in certain areas.

I'm sure the animal rights groups have played a major role in causing the MNR to reduce/postpone the culls. We need to make our views known to our MPPs. We need to control the concentration of these flocks.

Each of us needs to do our part to proctect the natural resources we cherish.