OPPose Cormorant Shoot 
     
    
   
   
    
     BY GARY SCHNEIDER, 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Prince Edward Island Fish and Wildlife Division's proposal to 
     
     allow the shooting of double-crested cormorants is drawing flack from 
     
     various quarters, especially since copies of Anne Gallant's original re— 
     
     port have been obtained. At the May 6 meeting of the Natural History 
     
     Society, about 40 members voted to go on record as being against the 
     
     shooting of cormorants (with the exception of nuisance permits for pri- 
     
     vate pond owners and fish hatcheries). Three votes were cast in support 
     
     of the proposal. 
     
    

    
     At a special meeting to discuss the issue, held April 22, motions 
     
     were passed to oppose any control of cormorants at their colonies, seek 
     
     better enforcement of ex- 
     
     isting colonial nesting 
     
     sites through the addition 
     
     of part-time conservation 
     
     officers and to voice our 
     
     concern over the PEI Wild— 
     
     life Federation's proposal 
     
     for a fall hunting season. 
     
     Letters protesting the ., 
     
     Fish and Wildlife Division's” 
     
     proposal were read and both 
     
     sides of the issue were dis- 
     
     cussed. A motion that the 
     
     Natural History Society ask 
     
     that no hunting be allowed 
     
     until more information was 
     
     received drew even support 
     
     from both sides (6-6) and 
     
     it was decided to have an , 
     
     open vote at the May meeting. At the special meeting the following motions 
     
     were also passed: to ask for a copy of the full report from Fish and Wild— 
     
     life and Anne Gallant; to ask Fish and Wildlife to obtain and provvide 
     
     more information on the impact of cormorants on trout in freshwater ponds; 
     
     to ask Fish and Wildlife for more information on total trout harvest, daily 
     
     bag harvest and population estimates; to seek compulsory fishing licences 
     
     (maintaining complimentary licences to seniors, young anglers, and farmers 
     
     and fishermen and their families); to ask for a yearly cencus of licencees; 
     
     to seek an incentive program for the provision of buffer strips along ponds 
     
     and streams. 
     
    

    
     The Division's decision not to release Anne Gallant's report (they 
     
     still have only released excerpts) has left a feeling of suspicion among 
     
     some of those who have managed to get their hands on the full report. Why 
     
     was the fact that the cormorants collected with trout in their stomachs 
     
     came from only 7 ponds? Excerpts should not leave out such key information. 
     
     They should also not be used to bend the facts to suit Fish and Wildlife's 
     
     wishes. 
     
    
   
   
    
     In the May 7 edition of the Eastern Graphic, Publisher-Editor Jim 1»7;l 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     <y. 
     
    
   
   
    
     MacNeill had the following to say: "The controversial stand by the PEI __;: 
     
     Fish and Wildlife Division to allow the shooting of cormorants isn't.sup7w::; 
     
     ported by the study.carried out last year on behalf of the Division." ifgig