Migratory bird hunting: Seasons, limits, and shooting hours; establishment, etc. Supplemental proposals and meetings,
[Federal Register: June 9, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 111)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 32417-32423]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr09jn04-37]
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Part II
Department of the Interior
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 20
Migratory Bird Hunting; Supplemental Proposals for Migratory Game Bird Hunting Regulations for the 2004-05 Hunting Season; Notice of Meetings; Proposed Rule
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 20
RIN 1018-AT53
Migratory Bird Hunting; Supplemental Proposals for Migratory Game Bird Hunting Regulations for the 2004-05 Hunting Season; Notice of Meetings
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule; supplemental.
SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (hereinafter, Service or we) proposed in an earlier document to establish annual hunting regulations for certain migratory game birds for the 2004-05 hunting season. This supplement to the proposed rule provides the regulatory schedule; announces the Service Migratory Bird Regulations Committee and Flyway Council meetings; provides Flyway Council recommendations resulting from their March meetings; and provides regulatory alternatives for the 2004-05 duck hunting seasons.
DATES: The Service Migratory Bird Regulations Committee will meet to consider and develop proposed regulations for early-season migratory bird hunting on June 23 and 24, 2004, and for late-season migratory bird hunting and the 2005 spring/summer migratory bird subsistence seasons in Alaska on July 28 and 29, 2004. All meetings will commence at approximately 8:30 a.m. Following later Federal Register notices, you will be given an opportunity to submit comments for proposed early- season frameworks by July 30, 2004, and for proposed late-season frameworks and subsistence migratory bird seasons in Alaska by August 30, 2004.
ADDRESSES: The Service Migratory Bird Regulations Committee will meet in room 200 of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Arlington Square Building, 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington, Virginia. Send your comments on the proposals to the Chief, Division of Migratory Bird Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior, MS MBSP-4107-ARLSQ, 1849 C Street, NW., Washington, DC 20240. All comments received, including names and addresses, will become part of the public record. You may inspect comments during normal business hours in room 4107, Arlington Square Building, 4501 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, Virginia.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ron W. Kokel, at: Division of Migratory Bird Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior, MS MBSP-4107-ARLSQ, 1849 C Street, NW., Washington, DC 20240, (703) 358-1714.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Regulations Schedule for 2004
On March 22, 2004, we published in the Federal Register (69 FR 13440) a proposal to amend 50 CFR part 20. The proposal provided a background and overview of the migratory bird hunting regulations process, and dealt with the establishment of seasons, limits, and other regulations for hunting migratory game birds under Sec. Sec. 20.101 through 20.107, 20.109, and 20.110 of subpart K. This document is the second in a series of proposed, supplemental, and final rules for migratory game bird hunting regulations. We will publish proposed early-season frameworks in early July and late-season frameworks in early August. We will publish final regulatory frameworks for early seasons on or about August 20, 2004, and for late seasons on or about September 15, 2004.
Service Migratory Bird Regulations Committee Meetings
The Service Migratory Bird Regulations Committee will meet June 23- 24, 2004, to review information on the current status of migratory shore and upland game birds and develop 2004-05 migratory game bird regulations recommendations for these species plus regulations for migratory game birds in Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The Committee will also develop regulations recommendations for special September waterfowl seasons in designated States, special sea duck seasons in the Atlantic Flyway, and extended falconry seasons. In addition, the Committee will review and discuss preliminary information on the status of waterfowl.
At the July 28-29, 2004, meetings, the Committee will review information on the current status of waterfowl and develop 2004-05 migratory game bird regulations recommendations for regular waterfowl seasons and other species and seasons not previously discussed at the early-season meetings. In addition, the Committee will develop recommendations for the 2005 spring/summer migratory bird subsistence season in Alaska.
In accordance with Departmental policy, these meetings are open to public observation. You may submit written comments to the Service on the matters discussed.
Announcement of Flyway Council Meetings
Service representatives will be present at the individual meetings of the four Flyway Councils this July. Although agendas are not yet available, these meetings usually commence at 8 a.m. on the days indicated.
Atlantic Flyway Council: July 22-23, Sheraton Dover Hotel, Dover, Delaware.
Mississippi Flyway Council: July 24-25, Radisson Hotel, Duluth, Minnesota.
Central Flyway Council: July 22-23, Radisson Hotel and Suites, Austin, Texas.
Pacific Flyway Council: July 23, Sun Valley Lodge, Sun Valley, Idaho.
Review of Public Comments
This supplemental rulemaking describes Flyway Council recommended changes based on the preliminary proposals published in the March 22, 2004, Federal Register. We have included only those recommendations requiring either new proposals or substantial modification of the preliminary proposals. This supplement does not include recommendations that simply support or oppose preliminary proposals and provide no recommended alternatives. We will consider these recommendations later in the regulations-development process. We will publish responses to all proposals and written comments when we develop final frameworks. In addition, this supplemental rulemaking contains the regulatory alternatives for the 2004-05 duck hunting seasons. We have included all Flyway Council recommendations received relating to the development of these alternatives.
We seek additional information and comments on the recommendations in this supplemental proposed rule. New proposals and modifications to previously described proposals are discussed below. Wherever possible, they are discussed under headings corresponding to the numbered items identified in the March 22, 2004, proposed rule. Only those categories requiring your attention or for which we received Flyway Council recommendations are discussed below.
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Ducks
Categories used to discuss issues related to duck harvest management are: (A) General Harvest Strategy, (B) Regulatory Alternatives, including specification of framework dates, season length, and bag limits, (C) Zones and Split Seasons, and (D) Special Seasons/Species Management.
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General Harvest Strategy
Council Recommendations: The Upper- and Lower-Region Regulations Committees of the Mississippi Flyway Council recommended limiting regulation changes to one step annually.
Service Response: We appreciate the continuing desire of the Mississippi Flyway Council to limit changes in annual regulations to one step. This constraint is expected to significantly reduce temporal variability in hunting regulations, as well as lower the prospect of closed hunting seasons. These benefits are expected to accrue with little or no impact to the size of the mallard population or harvest. However, the Central and Pacific Flyway Councils are on record as opposing the ``one-step'' constraint, principally because it would reduce the expected frequency of ``liberal'' seasons. We believe a consensus among the Flyway Councils regarding implementation of a constraint that would affect all Flyways is desirable. Currently, a task force of the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (http://www.iafwa.org/Attachments/ IAFWA%20AHM%
20TF%20Status%20Report% 209-12-03.pdf) is reviewing this and other strategic aspects of the adaptive-harvest management protocol and is expected to make its recommendations prior to the 2005 hunting season. We may be willing to reconsider our position on the one-step constraint in light of those recommendations and their acceptability to the Flyway Councils. B. Regulatory Alternatives
Council Recommendations: The Atlantic and Pacific Flyway Councils and the Upper- and Lower-Region Regulations Committees of the Mississippi Flyway Council recommended that regulatory alternatives for duck-hunting seasons remain the same as those used in 2003.
The Central Flyway Council recommended that if the status of pintails and canvasbacks results in prescriptions for seasons-within- seasons or closed seasons for these species, the Service adopt regulatory alternatives that are the same as those used in 2003, accounting for other Central Flyway Council recommended modifications to the pintail and canvasback harvest strategies (see D. Special Seasons/Species Management sections on iv. Canvasbacks and v. Pintails). If season-long harvest of pintails and canvasbacks is permitted for the 2004-2005 duck season, the Council recommended the adoption of duck hunting frameworks for the Central Flyway that provides for a ``Hunters Choice Bag Limit'' with the following modifications to duck regulations packages for the Central Flyway:
Within the ``liberal'' and ``moderate'' regulatory alternatives, the daily bag limit would be 5 ducks, with species and sex restrictions as follows: scaup--3; redhead and wood duck--2; only 1 duck from the following group--hen mallard, mottled duck, pintail, canvasback. Within the ``restrictive'' regulatory alternative, the daily bag limit would be 3 ducks, with species and sex restrictions as follows: redhead and wood duck--2; only 1 duck from the following group--hen mallard, mottled duck, pintail, canvasback. The possession limit in all alternatives would be twice the daily bag limit.
The Council also recommended the cooperative development, by March 2005, of an evaluation plan to assess the effectiveness of this approach in reducing harvests of pintails, mottled ducks, and canvasbacks. This plan would be implemented as an experimental season for a period of 5 years, beginning with the 2005-2006 hunting season.
Service Response: With regard to the ``Hunters Choice Bag Limit,'' we believe that it is a concept that warrants further exploration. In particular, we are interested in: (a) Seeing additional details concerning the predicted effects on duck harvests and how those effects would be evaluated; (b) hearing whether the other three Flyways believe that the concept is desirable and practicable; and (c) understanding how the concept fits within larger strategic considerations for multiple-species management. We intend to work with Flyway Councils and the task force of the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies over the next year to address these issues.
After considering all recommendations, we have concluded that it would be premature at this time to modify the regulatory alternatives for adaptive harvest management. Therefore, all aspects of the 2004 regulatory alternatives will remain as proposed in the March 22 Federal Register.
We will respond to specific aspects of the pintail and canvasback harvest strategies in supplemental Federal Register documents. D. Special Seasons/Species Management i. September Teal Seasons
Council Recommendations: The Central Flyway Council recommended that the Service change the status of the Nebraska September teal season from experimental to operational beginning with the 2004-05 hunting season. Criteria for Nebraska's September teal season would be the same as for other non-production Central Flyway states and confined to that area opened to teal hunting during the experimental phase. The Council believes that pre-sunrise shooting hours are justified given results from evaluation of non-target attempt rates. iv. Canvasbacks
Council Recommendations: The Atlantic Flyway Council and the Upper- and Lower-Region Regulations Committees of the Mississippi Flyway Council recommended modifying the current Canvasback Harvest Strategy to allow partial seasons within the regular duck season. The harvest management strategy would include 3 levels: closed, restrictive season length, and full season.
The Central Flyway Council recommended managing canvasbacks with the ``Hunters Choice Bag Limit'' (aggregate daily bag limit of 1 hen mallard, mottled duck, pintail, or canvasback). The Council further recommends that until the ``Hunter Choice Bag Limit'' becomes available the current strategy should be modified to include three levels of harvest opportunity: full, closed, and partial seasons. The partial season would consist of the restrictive season length (39 days in the Central Flyway).
The Pacific Flyway Council recommended modifying the current canvasback harvest management strategy to allow partial canvasback seasons within regular duck season frameworks. The harvest management strategy would include four levels for the Pacific Flyway: Liberal-107 days, Moderate-86 days, Restrictive-60 days, and Closed seasons. The Council also recommended that the strategy include a statement specifying that Alaska's season will maintain a fixed restriction of 1 canvasback daily in lieu of the annual prescriptions from the strategy. v. Pintails
Council Recommendations: The Atlantic Flyway Council recommended modifying the Interim Strategy for Northern Pintail Harvest Management to allow partial seasons within the regular duck season. The Council recommended using partial seasons to allow hunting opportunity for this species when (1) a full season is predicted to return a breeding population below 1.5 million (the threshold for season closure) and (2) when a partial season is expected to return a breeding population at or above 1.5 million.
The Upper- and Lower-Region Regulations Committees of the
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Mississippi Flyway Council recommended that the current interim pintail harvest management strategy be modified to allow partial seasons within the regular duck hunting season. The harvest management strategy would include 3 levels: closed, restrictive season length, and full season.
The Central Flyway Council recommended that the interim pintail harvest strategy be revised as follows:
In the Central Flyway, pintails will be included in a ``Hunters Choice'' daily bag limit (hen mallard, or mottled duck, or pintail, or canvasback--daily bag of 1). When the interim pintail harvest strategy model projections allow for a daily bag of >=2, pintails will be removed from the 1-bird aggregate bag and the prescribed daily bag limit will be selected.
If this recommendation is not approved, the Council recommended the following modification to the existing harvest strategy:
When the May Breeding Population Survey in the traditional survey areas is below 1.5 million or the projected fall flight is predicted to be below 2 million (as calculated by the models in the interim strategy), adopt the Restrictive AHM package season length (39 days in the Central Flyway) with a daily bag limit of 1, if these regulations are projected to produce harvest at levels that would provide for the 6% annual growth identified as an objective in the strategy. If the Restrictive package regulations are expected to provide for
