Number: 1983-20
WHEREAS, the Black Duck has traditionally been one of the principal waterfowl species taken by hunters in the Atlantic Flyway; and
WHEREAS, continental Black Duck populations have gradually declined over the past 20 years; and
WHEREAS, the National Wildlife Federation, as an organization of conservation-minded sportsmen, supports the goal of returning Black Duck populations to higher levels; and
WHEREAS, biologists are unable to identify a specific cause for this decline but consider that hunting, inter-specific competition and hybridization with mallards, degradation and loss of breeding, migration, and wintering habitat, acid rain, lead shot poisoning, pesticide use, and loss of breeding females to predation may all contribute to the population decline; and
WHEREAS, the National Wildlife Federation has addressed many of these factors through activity on environmental and conservation issues in the Black Duck’s range; and
WHEREAS, restrictions on hunting have been considered effective in reversing declines in some waterfowl populations and such restrictions are considered by wildlife biologists as the only quick and effective means to alter the declining Black Duck population trend with the goal of returning populations to higher levels; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s five year stabilized hunting regulation program for Black Ducks concluded with the 1982-83 season; and
WHEREAS, Black Ducks are an international resource and to be effectively managed require cooperation between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Canadian Wildlife Service;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, in annual meeting assembled March 17-20, 1983, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, calls on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in cooperation with the Atlantic Flyway Council and the state fish and wildlife agencies to take immediate affirmative steps to address the Black Duck population decline including expeditious analysis and publication of results of the five year stabilized hunting regulations for Black Ducks, developing a program to implement such hunting restrictions on Black Ducks beginning in the 1983-84 hunting season as may be necessary and desirable, and urging the negotiation of similar and appropriate restrictions in Canada;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation calls on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Canadian Wildlife Service to take the following steps and others that may be necessary to initiate a more comprehensive approach to the Black Duck population decline problem:
- Develop more reliable inventory techniques;
- Implement such regulations establishing non-toxic shot use zones as are necessary to reduce lead shot ingestion rates for Black Ducks in the U.S. and Canada;
- Define declines in habitat quality and quantity and initiate habitat preservation and management activities to benefit Black Ducks in the U.S. and Canada;
- Develop an information program about the Black Duck situation, possible restrictions to be initiated in 1983, and the need for those restrictions;
- Initiate an extensive study of the impact of commonly used pesticides on the Black Duck.