Subsistence hunters in far northern areas traditionally harvest ducks, geese, cranes, and sea birds. In Alaska, this subsistence activity occurs mainly during the spring and summer. In the northern and western portions of the state few waterfowl are available at any other time of the year. In northern Canada a comparable situation exists.
According to the Services Alaska Regional Director Walter O. Stieglitz, spring/summer hunting conflicts with the closed season provisions of the 1916 Migratory Bird Convention between the United States and Canada.
Currently, the Convention calls for a period closed to all migratory bird hunting between March 10 and September 1, with a few exceptions. Subsistence hunters say restricting their activities during spring denies them fair access and traditional and customary use of the migratory bird resource. Many of these subsistence hunters are Native Alaskans who contend their traditional harvest violates a law they had no voice in developing.
Other waterfowl users fear subsistence hunters may deplete the resource, which they say could result in reduced opportunities for sport hunters. Subsistence hunting in Alaska currently accounts for about 5.5 percent of the total sport harvest of ducks and geese in North America.
The Service is inviting comments from the public on the draft document which outlines five options for addressing the subsistence issue, ranging from no action to modifying the Treaty to allow subsistence hunting. The Services recommended alternative suggests amending the Convention to allow a carefully regulated subsistence hunt during part of the currently closed period.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 530 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies. For further information about the programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our home page at: http://midwest.fws.gov
