SETTING REGULATIONS
A Matter of Harvest vs. Habitat

Committee Recommends Mallard Hen Restriction: On August 8, 2008, the Fish and Game Commission accepted the recommendations made by the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) and California Waterfowl for slightly more restrictive bag limits than those proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for the coming waterfowl season.

California Waterfowl's support of DFG's position was determined early this week during a meeting of the association’s Regulations and Traditions Committee. An intensive series of presentations and discussion was followed by a committee vote of 16 to 7 in support of the DFG proposal to reduce the number of hen mallards from two to one. This should result in 20% fewer hens taken, when compared to a two-bird limit.

A Mix of Statistics and Caution:  According to the USFWS models, the western mallard population can sustain a harvest rate of up to 18% without long-term negative impacts.  Therefore, the USFWS selected the “liberal” package of regulations for the 2008/09 season in our flyway. Based on the best data available, western hunters have never achieved a harvest rate greater than 12%.  Nevertheless, very poor productivity in the Central Valley this year provided enough uncertainty that a reduction in the hen limit was adopted as a cautionary step despite lack of evidence that harvest reductions result in any actual savings of ducks for breeding in the spring.

Though reducing the overall daily bag limit was also vigorously debated, the committee recommended staying at 7 birds. Past data indicate no measurable change would result from decreasing the limit to 4 or 5 – and as we all know, drakes are not laying the eggs. Also, as the season progresses we should notice more mallards due to good to excellent production in northern California and Oregon this spring. Additionally, harvest is an important incentive to assure maximum habitat flooding throughout the fall and winter.

The Real Challenges Ahead: Habitat – not harvest – is by far the most important driver of our waterfowl populations. In fact, California Waterfowl identified the loss of breeding habitats as the most important threat to address in our Mallard Program. Through recent habitat projects, we have regained about 30,000 acres of breeding habitat to offset the 80,000 acres of set-aside rice lands lost during the 1990s, but new information indicates that the Central Valley lost more than 500,000 acres of farmland to pavement from 1991 to 2003!  Much of this loss has occurred around large cities, where idle “speculation” lands often provide excellent mallard nesting habitat.
 
Pintails face similar challenges with habitat. The one-bird limit has not proven to benefit pintails because hunting is not the cause of the recent decline. To the contrary, low limits discourage both pintail habitat and hunter recruitment. The allure of pursuing pintails has captivated generations of waterfowlers, who own and sustain two-thirds of California’s remaining wetlands for the desire and ability to hunt. Remaining public wetlands are also tied to hunter support.

The only credible solution for correcting harvest regulations is to improve the data upon which regulations are based. This requires improved surveys and more banding of all species (especially pintails) throughout our flyway, and the USFWS, DFG, Ducks Unlimited, Delta Waterfowl, Canadian Wildlife Service, and others all agree with us regarding this need. Please consider supporting our collective efforts to gather more and better data on which we can base future decision-making. You can donate through the duck stamp order form that all California Waterfowl members are receiving this month, or click here to donate online. And, above all, let’s focus on resolving the daunting issues that threaten our mallards and pintails!