The Biden administration imposed restrictions on harvested wild game bird imports from Canada despite reassuring conservation groups it wouldn’t.
Ahead of Labor Day Weekend, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced the changes.
Citing concerns about highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) being detected in wild game birds and Canadian poultry, the agency said, “Hunter-harvested wild game bird trophies entering the United States from Canada must be fully finished, or accompanied by a VS import permit, or consigned directly to a USDA Approved Establishment. Hunters may find an approved taxidermy establishment by visiting the Veterinary Services Process Streamlining (VSPS) search page and searching for a taxidermist with the HPAI product code in your state.”
The decision immediately drew criticism from conservation organizations.
"Hunters are left to wonder why APHIS would reverse course on such a consequential decision, announced after hours on a holiday weekend, with zero notice or opportunity to be heard from stakeholders," remarked Ducks Unlimited CEO Adam Putnam. "DU members are justifiably upset by the absence of science and the total lack of transparency around this sweeping regulation that does not appear to have even included the US Fish and Wildlife Service in its development."
Delta Waterfowl echoed these sentiments. Their chief policy officer, John Devney, is quoted as saying this: “APHIS assured us just days ago that import would only be restricted on birds taken in Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza priority control zones. Who knows how many US hunters have headed to Canadian hunting camps believing they would be able to bring the birds they harvest back into the States by following the normal transport regulations that were in place when they left? Now they are going to be totally blindsided when they get back to the border.”
Devney continued, “It’s sadly all of the law-abiding, ethical waterfowl hunters who will feel the weight of this whip-lash policy change from APHIS. Their birds will be confiscated at the border and ultimately disposed of. What a terrible waste! The Duck Hunters Organization will do all it can to try to see that reasonable regulations are reinstated as soon as possible.”
Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse (R-WA) called this a “ridiculous” attack on America’s hunting heritage, remarking,“The Biden Administration choosing to reverse their previous guidance and enact this ridiculous restriction – in the evening hours heading into a holiday weekend – was a slap in the face of every American sportsman and woman who enjoys the Canadian waterfowl hunting season. Their failure to heed the feedback and concerns hunting advocates have been vocalizing demonstrates a continued affront. Birds don’t know borders, and this ban has left our sportsmen in limbo for nearly a week as Canadian hunting season opened on September 1. The Administration should immediately reverse this decision.”
Is HPAI in Canada a reason to stop importing harvested wild game birds back here? The USDA APHIS is jumping the gun here.
Despite being a problem, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency reports HPAI isn’t “a food safety concern”—adding there’s “no evidence to suggest that eating cooked poultry or eggs could transmit HPAI to humans.”
A 2018 report from Cornell Lab of Ornithology notes over 4 billion birds migrate from Canada into the U.S. annually every fall.
Forbes contributor Chris Dorsey wrote about bird migration patterns, explaining,“Waterfowl with the ailment, especially, often manifest few symptoms of infection and a duck can travel 800 miles in a single eight-hour migratory flight, leaving many biologists scratching their heads at the justification for the APHIS rule.”
Michelle Carstensen, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) wildlife health group leader, questioned the USDA’s decision and expressed her concerns to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
"In the last outbreak, in 2015, hunters' harvested birds were excluded from the import ban,'' Cartensen told the publication. "How a hunter bringing a bird that is in a cooler and cleaned except for having a wing on it could threaten poultry in Minnesota or elsewhere, I'm not sure.''
Given the aforementioned facts, why isn’t USDA APHIS following the science here? What is actually fueling this misguided decision?
It’s rooted in politics. Look at what the Biden administration is doing on the conservation front.
The Biden U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) entered into a “sue and settle” agreement with Center for Biological Diversity, a conservation foe, to repeal a 2020 decision opening two million acres across national wildlife refuges (NWR) and national fish hatcheries to new hunting and fishing opportunities. They cited lead ammunition and tackle usage as a reason for scaling back openings. After settling with the group, the USFWS soon announced a proposal to ban lead tackle and ammo use on some NWR public lands in June.
Adding insult to injury, Alaska’s Federal Subsistence Board – which reports to the Department of Interior – closed off 60 million acres of public hunting land for caribou hunting to non-local caribou and moose hunters.
Various Biden administration officials have also failed to commit to “No Net Loss” with respect to hunting access.
Wildlife conservation, including decisions pertaining to hunting, should be guided by science—not politics. Unfortunately for American hunters, the Biden administration leans on the latter.
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