Constance Lake and Cormorants

[Flipper]

Was out on Constance Lake with my son yesterday and was awed at the sheer quantity of cormorants this year.
At all points of the lake we visited there were multiple groups of cormorants.
There is a tree on the west side over hanging the water with 8 cormorants perched. Their excrement looks to have wiped out all the vegetation in the water to about 200 meters away from shore.
We only got two small bass and a tiny pike all day so I can't help but wonder if they are clearing the lake out of fish.
We could have just had a bad day I guess. There's more cormorants than fish it seems.
BTW, the launch fee (or parking fee as the sign says) has doubled this year.

[gatekeeper]

Cormorants are a threat to fish everywhere they exist. Our wonderful MNR is "Studying" the situation to see harm. They'll probably "Study" it right out of existence for fish. They were thinking of providing an open season on them,but,bleeding hearts will smother this. Just to think that not that long ago we were nearly down to less than 20 nesting pairs.

[levitch]

BTW, the launch fee (or parking fee as the sign says) has doubled this year.

I have a question about this fee.
Isn’t it a public dock? Or do the people who charge for “parking” maintain it?

Forgive my ignorance...I thought it was a public dock maintained by the city. I couldn’t figure out why I should pay for parking when I can just park up the street.


Can someone clue me in please?

[highlander]

my understanding is that technically the launch is public, but the property on both sides of the road is private, and so, you pay for "parking". 5 bucks i always felt was reasonable.

I do not make a big deal about this as I would prefer to stay on the fella's good side that lives there and owns the restaurant. I've also borrowed life jackets from him and he's always treated me and my friends well. I feel like he watches the parking lot a little bit, and that's saying something when some launches have theft issues and the people or cities profiting from them seem to do nothing. i imagine also he'd fix up the launch if it needed it. Parking on the road also there might be dicey -- it's just not worth the hassle, and usually i'm a pretty cheap guy but not in this case. give him his 5 bucks and help a guy out.

Also -- i did also notice the cormorants on the lake. i hate them and i would like for them to go away. the launch guy would maybe help us out there too for the 5 bucks.