Prepared by: Melanie Weaver, Waterfowl Program Lead Prepared for: Fish and Game Commission Meeting August 5, 2015 Agenda Item Status of Waterfowl, Habitats and Hunting Recommendations

Brief background on “waterfowl” Brief summary of process of population assessment and overarching approach to regulation setting Current status of habitats Current status of waterfowl populations Specific regulation recommendations

Primary wintering grounds in Pacific Flyway “Waterfowl” not 1 species: 8 goose populations from Russia, Alaska, Canada, all western states 28 duck species from Canada, all western states Stakeholders are not just Californians A shared resource and managed at a Flyway scale Alaska natives Other states Federal government But individual states can adopt more restrictive regulations

USFWS, CWS, CA and many other states Methodologies consistent and peer reviewed Monitor most species, but mallards “key stone” Longest running, most comprehensive wildlife survey CA survey conducted since 1948, redesigned 1992 USFWS and CWS conducted since 1955

Scope of the USFWS - CWS annual waterfowl survey

USFWS sets “frameworks” annually based on current year data and analyses Today DFW is recommending regulations But for the regulations Frameworks based on predicted populations Product of USFWS EIS Request to Notice in December, 2015 FGC Adoption in April, 2016 “Frameworks” Maximum season length/bag limits Earliest open and latest closing dates Migratory Bird Treaty Act limits hunting to 107 days

For ducks: annual breeding population surveys For Pacific Flyway: AK, OR and CA About to add British Columbia and Washington Harvest rates (from banded ducks) State of the art modeling framework Harvest objective: sustainable harvest over the long term For geese: Annual goose surveys Annual harvest surveys

Mallards drive the general duck regulations Generally most abundant duck (population and harvest) Life history characteristics similar to most other species Separate harvest strategies for pintail, scaup, canvasback Mid-continent mallards used prior to 2008 Relied solely on USFWS – CWS survey (prairies) In 2008, Western Mallard model adopted Uses western state data explicitly Historically, mallards more productive in west

Local stocks (AK, CA-OR) rather than midcontinent Harvest strategy more responsive to local conditions Conservative model < maximum sustained yield updates annually Based on population growth rate and harvest rates Incorporates statistical uncertainty Implemented through 4 regulatory options: Liberal, Moderate, Restrictive and Closed Varying season lengths and bag limits Model prescribes an optimal regulatory option given objective

Continental Ducks (all species): similar to last year (record high) Mallard & Green-wings = record high Pintail, Canvasback, Scaup = no change Pacific Flyway mallards: CA record low, unchanged in OR, down in AK All but 2 goose populations over objective Federal frameworks for ducks are liberal except Scaup

Current StatusGoal N CA Canada geese No survey1,250 Cackling Canada geese 311,100250,000 Aleutian Canada geese 189,11060,000 Black Brant 157,700162,000 Pacific Whitefront geese 565,400300,000 Snow geese (Russia) 185,000120,000 Snow geese (Canada) 434,000200,000 Ross’ geese 770,000100,000 Goose Population Status

Western Mallards Alaska California Oregon

Anticipate reduced wetland & agriculture habitats Size of reduction currently unknown Timing of water deliveries currently unknown Water availability differs within hunting zones Hunting seasons = incentive for creating habitat >65% wetland habitat in CA is privately owned

Recommendations

day seasons Varies by zone 7/day, no more than: 7 mallards, 2 hens 2 pintail 2 canvasback (increase of 1/day) 2 redheads 3 scaup/86 days

NE Zone: Oct 10 – Jan 22 (105 days) Scaup: Oct 10 – Dec 6 (58 days) & Dec 26 – Jan 22 (28 days) BOS, SSJV, So CA Zones: Oct 24 – Jan 31 (100 days) Scaup: Nov 7 – Jan 31 (86 days) CO River Zone: Oct 16 – Jan 24 (101 days) Scaup: Oct 31 – Jan 24 (86 days) Must match AZ regulations

100 – 107 day seasons Varies by zone Generally 25/day 15 white geese 10 dark geese Brant 2/day Zone/Special Management Area regulations – no changes

Increase season length from 30 to 37 days 3-yr midwinter survey average exceeds 135,000 Flyway management plan allows increase in harvest at this level May result in an additional 200 to 500 brant harvested Recommendation: Northern Brant: Nov 8 – Dec 14 Balance of State Brant: Nov 9 – Dec 15

Regular Season Dark geese: Oct 10 – Jan 17 (100 days) White geese: Nov 7 – Jan 17 (72 days) OR Oct 24 – Jan 3 (72 days) Late Season White geese: Feb 7 – Mar 10 (33 days) Whitefronts: Mar 6 – Mar 10 (5 days) 25/day: 15 white and 10 dark geese, no more than 2 Large Canada geese

Early Season Canada geese Oct 3 – Oct 7 (5 days) Regular Season (all geese) Oct 24 – Jan 31( 100 days) Late Season Whitefronts & white geese: Feb 13 – Feb 17 (5 days) 25/day: 15 white and 10 dark geese

SSJV Zone: Oct 24 – Jan 31 (100 days) 25/day: 15 white and 10 dark geese So CA Zone: Oct 24 – Jan 31 (100 days) 18/day: 15 white and 3 dark geese CO River Zone: Oct 16 – Jan 24 (101days) 10/day: up to 10 white and 4 dark geese CA must match AZ adjacent zone

North Coast Special Management Area Regular Season: Nov 8 – Jan 31 (85 days) Late Season: Feb 20 – Mar 10 (20 days) Sac Valley Special Management Area Oct 24 – Dec 21 (59 days) Imperial Valley Special Management Area Regular Season: Nov 7 – Jan 31 (86 days) Late Season: Feb 6 – Feb 21 (16 days) Youth Hunt Days NE Zone 14 days prior, 2 days All other zones 7 days after, 2 days Falconry – no change

Contact: Melanie Weaver, Waterfowl Program Lead (916) Photo by Chris Nicolai

32 day late season hunt started in Private lands only Modeled after North Coast and Imperial Special Management areas Established as a tool to alleviate goose depredation Basin refuges have minimal harvest of white geese in October, hunting tool needs to be available in Jan for spring return

18 Type C areas 12 dominated by sagebrush or conifers 4 dominated by riparian habitat 2 dominated by seasonal wetlands Hunting opportunity low for geese

Breeding population 20% below last year and 34% below LTA – lowest estimate on record Mallards banded in CA = high % of CA mallard harvest Higher proportion of ducks shot early are local Should limits be reduced? Most hunters do not achieve daily bag limits

  Bag 1: range of 47% - 56%   Bag 2: range of 23.2% – 23.4%   Bag 3: range of 10% - 12%   Bag 7: range of 2% - 3%   Conclusion: to protect mallards without reducing season length, bag limit would have to be reduced substantially

What reduction in daily bag limit equates to a 14 day season length reduction? 100 day seasons ( ) average harvest = 315, day season (2012) = 243, day season (2013) = 128, day season (1984) = 265,000 -Bag limit in 1984 was 5, not 7 -Excluding 2002 and 2004 Need a 15% reduction in harvest to obtain moderate season harvest

100 day seasons ( ) avg = 315, day season (2012) = 243, day season (2013) = 128, day season (2014) = 106, = overall decline in duck harvest

NE Zone: Oct 10 – Jan 3 BOS, So CA, SSJV zones: Nov 7 – Jan 31 Co R Zone: Must match Arizona Goose seasons remain 100+ days

NE Zone: Oct 10 – Oct 18 (9) & Oct 27 – Jan 11 (77) BOS, So CA, SSJV Zones: Oct 24 - CO R Zone: Must match Arizona Goose seasons remain 100+ days

2012 = 243, = 127, = 106,370 Most species declined in harvest in 2014

States discuss options at flyway meetings Goose discussions largely dominate Framework changes require approval at 3 levels Subcommittee, full committee (technical) level and council (policy) level Flyway forwards recommendations to Service Service establishes framework States set regs (FGC role) Must be within framework

Team approach State and federal management agencies Systematic process for making objective decisions Technical Group Deliberation of System Dynamics Policy Guiding Document or Body Development of harvest objectives Routine check-in with Flyway Councils