On July 30, 2020, regulatory amendments were made to create a fall hunting season for double-crested cormorant in Ontario.

Rules for hunting double-crested cormorants

Double-crested cormorants have been listed as a ‘game bird’. People can hunt cormorants under the authority of an Outdoors Card and Small Game Licence, similar to other species listed as ‘game birds’.

People can hunt cormorants in accordance with the FWCA and small game hunting requirements. The following additional rules apply with respect to hunting cormorants:

1. Open seasons in all Wildlife Management Units: September 15-December 31.

2. Harvest limit: 15 birds per day.

3. Allowed firearms: Shotguns (including muzzle-loading shotguns) not larger than 10 gauge with non-toxic ammunition. Shotgun cannot be loaded with a shell containing a single projectile.

4. Use of vehicles: Hunters are permitted to hunt double-crested cormorant from a stationary motorboat (motorboat is not in motion and the power to the motor has been turned off).

5. Hunter orange: Consistent with hunting migratory game birds other than woodcock, hunters are exempt from the requirement to wear hunter orange during the open season for:

deer

elk

moose

6. Retrieval and disposal, hunters must:

have adequate means of retrieving any bird that is shot, and

immediately retrieve the bird, dispatch the bird if it is alive when retrieved, and include it in their bag limit

If hunters choose to not use the birds they harvest, they must dispose of the birds by either:

delivering it to an approved waste disposal site that permits the disposal of dead animals

delivering it to a disposal facility, or using the services of a licensed collector, under the Disposal of Deadstock Regulation (Ontario Regulation 105/09) made under the Food Safety and Quality Act, 2001

burying it on private land owned by the hunter, or on private land occupied by the hunter with consent of the land owner

All other relevant federal, provincial, and municipal laws/rules related to hunting apply (e.g. trespassing, municipal discharge of firearms by-laws, federal firearm licensing requirements, etc.).

To support the hunting season, we have also initiated a cormorant monitoring program to assess population status and trends.