Conservation Corner: January 4, 1999

Setting Waterfowl Seasons (Part 1)
by James L. Cummins

Mississippi and this nation are blessed with many species of waterfowl. Because of this far-reaching and varied distribution, it takes a cooperative effort to manage North America's waterfowl.

The United States' international commitment to managing waterfowl was formalized in treaties with Canada in 1916, Mexico in 1936, Japan in 1972 and the Soviet Union in 1976. These treaties discussed the harvest of waterfowl through regulations, habitat conservation and data gathering on populations, habitats and harvests.

Waterfowl biologists draw on many sources of information to assist them in developing regulations. Thus, over the years, biologists have designed various programs to monitor the life cycle of waterfowl. Special surveys monitor population sizes, production, migrational chronology, hunter harvest, survival/mortality and distribution on breeding, migration and wintering areas. All of this information aids biologists in setting seasons and bag limits.

In the first of this two-part series, we'll take a brief look at some of these surveys and how biologists use the information. Next week, we'll look at how waterfowl-hunting regulations are developed.

For ducks, the annual population and production surveys are some of the most extensive wildlife surveys in the world. First operational in 1955, these surveys are a cooperative effort of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Canadian Wildlife Service and numerous state and provincial agencies.

Each year, states such as Mississippi conduct surveys during the fall and winter to determine the timing of migration, the distribution of waterfowl, and the use of various habitats by waterfowl. For some populations of geese, these midwinter surveys serve as the primary means of estimating their population.

Harvest surveys remain one of the most useful tools available for wildlife biologists. Information from harvest surveys can provide waterfowl biologists with estimates of the number of birds harvested, the species composition of the harvest, the sex and age structure of the harvest and hunters' effort and success rates.

Waterfowl banding programs have been a cornerstone of waterfowl management for many years. Each year, large numbers of ducks and geese are banded to provide information about where birds are harvested, what area did the birds come from, migration routes, the proportions of various populations harvested, the age and sex composition of the harvest, and survival rates. If you shoot a bird with a band, be sure to report it by calling 1-800-327-BAND.

The results of these surveys and programs, and others not detailed here, provide necessary and fundamental information on the status of waterfowl populations each year. Overall, the results and their interpretations serve as the basis upon which biologists and managers must evaluate proposals to liberalize, maintain, or restrict hunting opportunities each year.

James L. Cummins is Executive Director of the Mississippi Fish and Wildlife Foundation in Stoneville, Mississippi. Known as "Wildlife Mississippi," the Foundation is a non-profit, conservation organization founded to conserve, restore and enhance fish, wildlife and plant resources throughout Mississippi.