Federal officials are accepting comments through March 13 on proposed regulations for the 2017 spring/summer subsistence migratory bird season to include opening a harvest for emperor geese for the first time since 1987.
After that time, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials will go through the process of getting a final rule published, according to Patricia Schwalenberg, of the Alaska Migratory Bird Co-Management Council.
The Alaska Migratory Bird Co-Management Council recommended in 2015 that subsistence hunting for emperor geese be opened after the population reached a threshold to allow for consideration of harvest. The council then wrote a new management plan for emperor geese to set the foundation for opening a season, including implementing a survey to improve monitoring the population on its primary breeding grounds, the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, and a harvest strategy that includes potential harvest restrictions and hunting closures.
The council agreed to adopt the plan for an initial three-year trial period, from 2017 through 2019 to allow careful evaluation of the emperor goose population response to harvest.
According to Gayla Hoseth, 2016 council chair and representative of the Bristol Bay Native Association, many people contributed their traditional ecological knowledge and allowed for the self-renewal of emperor geese through generations.
“We are excited that eligible Alaskans will be able to harvest emperor geese one again,” Hoseth said. “We would also like to remind everyone that the emperor goose is still a sensitive population and the effort to conserve these birds will need to continue into the future.”
The proposed rule, published in the Federal Register on Feb. 10, would allow for the continuation of customary and traditional subsistence uses of migratory birds in Alaska and prescribe regional information on when and where the harvesting of these birds may occur.
USFWS is accepting comments received or postmarked by March 13 via the federal eRulemaking portal, http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments to Docket No. FWS-R7-MB-2016-0136/
Comments are also being accepted by U.S. mail or hand delivery at Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R7-MB-2016-0136: Division of Policy, Performance, and Management Programs; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 5275 Leesburg Place, MS:BPHC; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
Emails and faxes will not be accepted.
For more information contact Donna Dewhurst, at the USFWS office in Anchorage, at 1-907-786-3499.
