Service Response: The service and four flyway councils have adopted an AHM protocol for Pintail (75 FR 44856; 29 July 2010), where we have established rules for pintail hunting in the four flyways based on the status and demographics of these birds. Season length and daily pocket limits: 107 days. The daily pocket limit is a total of 7 ducks and merganser, including no more than 2 female mallards, 1 pintail, 2 canvasbacks, 2 scaup and 2 redheads. For Scaup, the length of the season is 86 days, which can be divided according to the applicable areas and divided duck hunting configurations approved for each state. The daily limit of bags of coots and gallinules is 25 in total. An economic analysis has been prepared for the 2022/23 migratory bird hunting season. This analysis was based on data from the 2016 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife Recreation (National Survey), the latest year for which data are available (see discussion under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, below). This analysis estimated the consumer surplus for three alternatives to duck hunting regulations. As defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget in Circular A-4, consumer surplus is the difference between what a consumer pays for a unit of a good or service and the maximum amount they would be willing to pay for that unit.

Regulatory alternatives to duck hunting are (1) restrictive regulations that allow fewer days than those issued during the 2021-22 season, (2) moderate regulations that allow more days than those in Variant 1, and (3) Liberal regulations similar to those in the 2021-2022 season. For the 2021-2022 season, we chose Variant 3, with an estimated excess consumption on all routes of $270 million to $358 million with a median estimate of $314 million. We also opted for variant 3 for the 2009-10 to 2020-21 seasons. Analysis 2022-23 is part of the dataset for this rule and is available at www.regulations.gov under the file number. FWS-HQ-MB-2021-0057 Properly marked packaging: The package or container in which these birds are transported must have the name and address of the consignor and consignee, as well as an accurate indication of the number of birds and species it contains, clearly and distinctly marked on the outside. Unmarked birds: If the birds are not marked as stated above, the only legal storage place is the personal residence of the hunter who legally took and owns the birds. We typically establish migratory bird hunting frameworks for adjacent U.S. states by flyway or management unit/region. The frameworks for Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are included in separate sections at the end of the Frameworks section of this document. The states included in the flyways and the management units/regions are described below. Hunting seasons on migratory birds are 1/2 hour before sunrise at sunset every day.

Aids and equipment: It is legal to use migratory birds with dogs, artificial lures, manual or mouth bird calls, arrows and hand bows, crossbows, the practice of falconry or with a shotgun not exceeding force No. 10 and unable to hold more than three grenades fired from the shoulder, to hunt. Any other method is illegal. The 2016 amendments to the sea duck regulations for the Atlantic Flyway did not achieve the targeted reduction in the total sea duck harvest. Therefore, we support the changes recommended by the Atlantic Flyway Council due to ongoing concerns about the status and trends of sea duck populations in the Atlantic Flyway and our desire to reduce the Atlantic Flyway sea duck harvest below the 2011-2015 average annual harvest. As regards the existing regime for the slaughter of paralyzed waterfowl from a live vessel in the sea duck special area currently defined, the purpose of this Regulation is to protect human security and minimise the loss of stun ducks associated with duck hunting at sea on the Atlantic flyway. As part of the Ministry of the Interior`s retrospective regulatory review in 2015, we developed a timeline for regulating migratory bird hunting that is more effective and sets the dates for the hunting season earlier than was possible under the previous process. As part of the current process, we are developing proposed framework conditions for the hunting season for a given year in the fall of the previous year. We then finalize these frameworks a few months later, so that state authorities can select and publish their seasonal data in early summer. We provided a detailed overview of the current process in the Federal Register on August 3, 2017 (FR 82 36308).

This final rule is the third in a series of proposed and final rules that set out rules for the 2022-2023 migratory bird hunting season. The use or possession of ammunition loaded with shots other than non-toxic shots when hunting wild ducks, geese, brants, rails or coots is prohibited. Non-toxic injection means any type of shot that does not cause disease and death when ingested by these birds and approved for use by the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Steel, bismuth tin, iron-tungsten, iron-tung-sten-nickel, copper-coated iron, copper-anticorrosion copper, tungsten bronze, tungsten-iron-copper-nickel, tungsten-ma-trix, tungsten polymer, tungsten-tin-iron, tungsten-tin-bismuth, tungsten-tin-iron-nickel, and tungsten-iron-polymer have been approved as non-toxic by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. For more information, see the UsFWS website for Nontoxic Shot: fws.gov. Due to the migratory nature of some bird species, the Migratory Birds Act has given the federal government responsibility for these species. We prescribe annual frameworks from which states make choices regarding the hunting of migratory birds, and we apply guidelines to establish specific regulations for Indian federal reserves and surrendered lands. This process preserves the ability of states and tribes to determine which seasons meet their individual needs. Any state or tribe may at any time be more restrictive in its regulations than the federal framework.

The framework conditions are developed through a process of cooperation with States and migration route councils. This process allows States to participate in the development of the framework conditions from which they make a choice, thus influencing their own regulations. These rules do not have a significant direct impact on fiscal capacity, do not alter the roles or responsibilities of federal or state governments, or interfere with state policy or administration. Therefore, according to E.O. 13132, these regulations do not have a significant impact on federalism and do not have a sufficient impact on federalism to justify the preparation of a summary assessment of the impact of federalism. ** While teal and wood duck only – 6 (of which only 2 can be wood ducks) Teal only – 6, general duck – 6 ducks, of which no more than 2 mallards (of which only 1 can be female), 4 sea ducks (including no more than 3 scoters, long-tailed ducks or eiders and no more than 1 can be a female eider duck), 3 wood ducks, 2 redheads, 2 black ducks, 2 canvas holders, 1 pintail, 1 speckled duck (Florida duck) and 1 fulvous pipe duck. 1 Scaup from 19 to 27 November and 10 November. December – January 9, 2 Scaup from January 10 to 29 and during hunting days for young people and veterans / military. Blackbirds often build three types of large dormitories: States must send their seasonal selections to: Chief, Migratory Bird Management Division, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: MB, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803. You can comment on the rules for hunting migratory birds at www.regulations.gov to the file number.

FWS-HQ-MB-2021-0057 You can download copies of the referenced reports from the above address or from the Migratory Birds Management Division website in www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/ or, if www.regulations.gov, to the file number. FWS-HQ-MB-2021-0057 J. A person shall also keep the bird in his or her effective custody, at or between the place where it was taken and (a) his motor vehicle or principal means of transport by land; or (b) their personal residence or place of temporary or temporary accommodation.