U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE REMINDS WATERFOWL HUNTERS BISMUTH SHOT IS NOT LEGAL

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is reminding waterfowl hunters that bismuth shot has not been approved as nontoxic shot and may not be used for hunting waterfowl or coots in the United States. Recently, the Service has received many inquiries concerning the legal status of bismuth and other alternatives to steel shot.

The Service has established testing procedures for determining whether candidate shot types are toxic when ingested by waterfowl. Only the Service may approve a shot as being nontoxic. Steel shot is the only shot type currently approved as nontoxic, and the corrosion-prevention metallic coatings allowed on steel shot are nickel, copper, zinc chloride, and zinc chromate.

Although interest in bismuth shot is growing, questions concerning toxicity still remain and must be resolved through further study. Once the Service has received an application for approval of bismuth, along with supporting evidence of its nontoxicity, the application will be processed in accordance with existing regulations and in a timely fashion.

For further information on this, please contact: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Migratory Bird Management, 1849 c Street, NW, (ARLSQ 634), Washington, DC 20240, or call (703) 358-1714.

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