Tundra Swan Season Update (2024)
Date: March 26, 2024
Re: Tundra Swan Season Update
Mute Swan Population Control
Hello Guys,
I was involved in a series of correspondence (e-mails) with a senior representative of the Canadian Wildlife Service between March and June of 2023 in which she introduced me to several members of her staff regarding the potential (hopefully eventual) implementation of a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season for this province in the near future.
Our discussions which included some suggestions that I provided to limit (not eliminate) the potential risk of an incidental (accidental) harvest of a Trumpeter Swan during a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season within this province expanded in scope to the continued growth and expansion of the invasive Mute Swan population in this province ... over 4,000 birds in 2017 and rising as per the documentation that she later provided to me.
As a result of our discussions the Canadian Wildlife Service has agreed to have a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season as an agenda item when the Migratory Birds Regulations are reviewed again in the fall of 2025 for the 2026-27 and the 2027-28 hunting seasons. As you may be aware the Migratory Birds Regulations were reviewed in the fall of 2023 for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 hunting seasons in which a Sandhill Crane season was discussed and eventually proposed to take effect in the near future.
It should be noted at this time that the Canadian Wildlife Service has also expressed an interest in the implementation of a Mute Swan season for this province (as per my suggestion in response to an issue regarding an attempt to "delist" the bird from the List of Protective Secies). You should also know that several representatives of Delta Waterfowl as well as the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) were included (copied) during the entire series of this correspondence.
I subsequently attended a personal (one on one) meeting in August of 2023 with an Ontario representative of Delta Waterfowl as well as two telephone conference calls in October of 2023 with representatives of the OFAH and the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation following additional letters that I had submitted to them regarding these issues. All three organizations now support a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season for their respective provinces.
It may be prudent for the Long Point Waterfowlers' Association (LPWA) at this time to prepare for the eventual implementation of a Sandhill Crane season (involving the southern waterfowl dustrict), a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season and some form of a Mute Swan season so that we may be able to harvest these species within the Crown Marsh as these seasons are implemented in the future. We should also be able to harvest Mourning Doves and Cormorants within the Crown Marsh at this time.
I recently submitted a cover letter to the Board of Directors of the LPWA along with supporting documentation to confirm what I have stated here including my proposal to the Canadian Wildlife Service to expand our current provincial Trumpeter Swan population in the future. My proposal could be accomplished by gradually reducing the invasive Mute Swan population by 50% (4,000 to 2,000 birds) while increasing our provincial Trumpeter Swan population by 100% (2,000 to 4,000 birds).
My proposal should require no additional marsh habitat for our provincial Trumpeter Swan population to expand however I am prepared to provide the required funding to ensure that the habitat that is available is suitable as nesting sites. The Trumpeter Swan Society has kindly provided me with a document from the State of Wyoming with specific instructions on how to improve the marsh habitat that is available.
The support that I have received from both LPWA members as well as non LPWA members since I first presented my original proposal for a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season to the Canadian Wildlife Service in October of 2010 has been greatly appreciated. I trust that I can continue to depend upon your support in the future.
Jerome Katchin, D.V.M.
