(I went on one of their Sites, and asked snarkily,"When are you going to discover that people live here?" Of course they never answered.)
Some years back:
Regional fishing association put a quarter of our forest unit off limits for almost a year while their complaint, issued just hours before the deadline for our annual work schedule kicked in, was dealt with.. It meant quick re-vamp of cutting plans and at least another maybe 80 klicks to work every morning. That I believe is just a taste of what is to come with the talk of "Water-shed Management" (Water-shed example would be the McKenzie River Basin ) and "Ecosystem Management" and "Deep Ecology" thinking which is really scary.
A PHOTOGRAPH SHOWS
A STARK GRAY/WHITE, GROTESQUE LANDSCAPE
RISING FROM CALM BLUE WATER.
Double-crested Cormorants were first recorded in the Great Lakes in 1913 in Lake Superior. Archaeological records put them in Lake of the Woods for hundreds of years. Lake Nipigon saw its first recorded nest on Logan Island in the 1920's. They had their ups and downs like all DDT affected species. By 1973 there were only 125 known pairs of in all of the Great Lakes, with Lake Ontario having about ten pair. In 1982 one nest was located in Presqu'ile Provincial Park, near Trenton, Ontario. By 1993 there were over thirty-eight thousand pairs in the Great Lakes. Lake Nipigon had over twenty-five hundred pair. In 2002, there were twelve thousand and eighty two nests in Presqu'ile Provincial Park.
"The return of the Cormorant to the Great Lakes has been a tremendous success story." I am not sure whether that statement was made with serious or sarcastic intent.
Why Presqu'ile Had to Do Something
The Presqu'ile nests were situated on two islands, Gull and High Bluff . By 2002, Gull Island was devoid of live trees and the flora and fauna of High Bluff Island was threatened. A Management Strategy was approved in 2002 to protect the flora and fauna of High Bluff Island while retaining maximum diversity of other colonial nesting birds such as the Great Blue Heron and the Black- crowned Night Heron and Great Egrets.
WHAT THEY DID
The control measures were multiple over a four year strategy.
- They oiled 83,201 eggs
- They destroyed 10,016 nests
- They culled 10,824 adult birds (some wearing bands from Wisconsin 10 years prior)
- They disturbed them by loud noises
- they chopped down roost trees
- They used human presence to disrupt their routines
- They cleaned up some sites and planted trees
Georgian Bay, North Channel, Lake Huron
In 2002, the MNR implemented an Experimental Control Study for Double-crested Cormorant Research Monitoring Program in the Georgian Bay/North Channel of Lake Huron. This multi-year study was to allow scientists to evaluate the impact of cormorants on local fish stocks.
The Method Of Control:
The method of control used was egg oiling, using either vegetable oil or mineral oil on about seven thousand nests. To be done each year.
A CLOSER LOOK
A closer exposure reveals great beaked babies in stick nests snuggled into feces laden rocks -White Pelicans and Double-crested Cormorants, side by side, partners in natural degradation on one of several (many) islands in Lake Nipigon and adjacent areas, 2006.
The American White Pelican was first observed on Lake Nipigon in the 1970's. By the turn of the century there were three hundred breeding pairs nesting on one island just north of Boles Island. Lake Nipigon is host to three of the five colonies of American White Pelicans in the Province of Ontario, the other two being Rainy Lake and the original site, Lake of the Woods. Thus, it is endangered provincially but not at risk nationally, and is protected under the Ontario Endangered Species Act. It is also protected by the Ontario Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act.
Concern, suspicion and even hostility started to ripple through the fishing community. In 2004 the Onaman Lake Bird Study was proposed to "... methodically address the ongoing concern of the impacts on commercial / sports fishing by cormorants and pelican populations with a focus on the diet of the birds."
The MNR had no funding for the project at that time.
Unfazed they were going to try again with a refurbished study complete with photos and videos that should convey negative impacts on water quality and odour, a possible haven for disease and parasites and risks to other wildlife and rare habitats.
A POSSIBLE CONFLICT
Cormorant impact on rare habitats might be just the way to go. Although it says that Lake Superior has an abundance of isolated islands, some of those islands in Nipigon Bay have been captured by the National Marine Conservation Area because of their rare Flora . It might be worthwhile to check out if they have a management strategy for Double -crested Cormorants in the Nipigon Bay portion of the National Marine Conservation Area.
WHAT ELSE THEY EAT IN NORTHERN ONTARIO IS WHAT THE STUDY WANTS TO PROVE.
Both Cormorants and pelicans thrive on rainbow smelt and alewife, perch and shiners.
Cormorants lay a clutch of three to four eggs, the pelican - two eggs with a fledge of one.
If a cormorant's nest is destroyed they just re-clutch at another location. If the eggs are oiled they stay nested and realize too late they've been duped.
Pelicans have a very fragile nest life. This may throw a spanner in the works for controlling cormorants who co-habit the islands.
Another report states that after ten to fifteen years of un-restricted growth they will out grow their nesting area habitat.
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| Photographs by Darren Goodman |
No flora.
Fishermen of Lake Nipigon area, if you see any dead islands,
please report their locations to Greenstone E.D.C.
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