There’s some bad news for waterfowl hunters from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Canadian Wildlife Service, as they have announced that the annual Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey will no be conducted for the first time in its 65-year history, due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to a release from Ducks Unlimited.
Likewise, the U.S. Geological Survey cancelled the North American Breeding Bird Survey.
Additionally, the report from Ducks Unlimited said, both services have also cancelled participation in the American Woodcock Singing-ground Survey, Mid-continent Population Sandhill Crane Survey, and Arctic Goose Banding Program.
The result will be a one-year gap in the record keeping of migratory waterfowl population estimates.
However, there may not be much of an impact on waterfowl hunting seasons this coming fall. USFWS, In a Q&A with Ducks Unlimited, offered assurances that “The Service fully expects to allow migratory bird hunting during the 2021–22 hunting season. For species with missing data, the Service will carefully assess expected population abundance and growth rates and allow harvest based on long-term data including harvest, survival and reproduction, and population models.”
USFWS also explained, “For the general duck seasons, the Service will use the long-term data and models to predict 2020 spring abundances of ducks and habitat conditions in place of the spring 2020 data, which cannot be collected. The results from these predictions will be combined with the existing harvest strategies to determine appropriate levels of harvest for the 2021–22 season. This will ensure the sustainability of ducks and provide hunting opportunities for the American public.”
The May survey has been done annually since 1955.
