Hunting is not permitted in Toronto, the city reminded hunters on the eve of a new hunting season for double-crested cormorants.
That includes in Tommy Thompson Park on an arm of the Leslie Street Spit, home to the Great Lakes’ largest colony of the fish-eating migratory birds.
Bylaws prohibit the discharge of firearms within Toronto’s borders, which extend into Lake Ontario to the US border, the city stated on Monday, Sept. 14, the day before the start of the fall harvest announced July 31.
Max fine of $5,000
Anyone who contravenes the bylaw could be charged and face fines of as much as $5,000.
Elsewhere in the province, a hunter with an outdoors card and small game licence can harvest as many as 15 birds a day from Sept. 15 until Dec. 31.
Most of Toronto’s breeding cormorants began their southern migration in late August, however cormorants from other Ontario breeding colonies are migrating through the city and some individual birds will remain through the late fall, the city stated.
Toronto working with MNRF
City staff have been working closely with Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) staff and other stakeholders to ensure compliance with bylaws, officials added.
The City of Toronto and Region Conservation Authority staff have installed signage at Tommy Thompson Park to remind the public that hunting is not permitted.
Bylaw officers will be monitoring areas where cormorants are known to nest, the city stated. The Toronto Police Marine Unit will also patrol this area in partnership with the MNRF.
The cormorant cull courtesy of Ontario hunters will only succeed in sending the public opinion and acceptance around hunting back to the stone age… No way this is based on ecology or science very dissaponted in the MNRF and the OFAH..
Just remember how long it took to get the spring bear hunt back after political pressure from anti hunting groups shut it down…. wait to you see the anti hunting sentiment that this will cause
So how far does Toronto’s jurisdiction extend out into the lake? Toronto does mot own the lake or the water, so why can’t I set up outside your control limit and start eliminating cormorants?