Background
The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters is a
non-government, non-profit organization of
conservationists dedicated to the sustainable use of natural
resources by all Ontarians.
As a result of our interests, the O.F.A.H. has participated in the ongoing review of the Migratory Bird Convention Act. The following is a summary of the O.F.A.H.'s position regarding proposed amendments to the Act.
Rationale for Amendments
It has been stated that the closure of hunting between March
10 and September 1 each year represents a significant
restriction for residents of northern Canada, i.e., aboriginals.
This federation would point out that this statement is true only for residents living above the tree line, in relation to geese. The statement is not true for those residents along the Hudson/James Bay coast of Ontario and for duck hunters in the treed area of Northwest Territories.
The lack of legal access to some hunting opportunities is just as important and has just as significant implications to non-natives living in those areas.
The federation also questions the "tradition of a spring harvest" as claimed by some northern aboriginal peoples. Until European contact, a significant harvest of returning mating pairs would not have been possible with the technology available. There is, however, documented evidence of traditional aboriginal harvest of eggs(endnote 1) and flightless geese(endnote 2).
However, the Inuit tradition of harvesting goose eggs has locally extirpated the goose population in areas such as Southampton Island(endnote 3) Another traditional method was to corral moulting adults and pre-flying juveniles for slaughter(endnote 4).
This tradition, however, was not wide spread: it was limited to those groups of aboriginals that lived near goose colonies. To imply that all aboriginal peoples in the North have a tradition from time immemorial of harvesting sufficient quantities of returning waterfowl to constitute a major food source is inaccurate on many points. The significant spring harvest is only a result of the modern shotgun and advanced means of transportation.
The arguments advanced by provincial (and therefore other than Inuit) aboriginal groups that the amendment should acknowledge a treaty right to spring hunting are categorically rejected by tbis federation. They have access during the open season, and do not have a tradition of significant harvest since time immemorial.
Aboriginal peoples in the provinces are opposed, however, to non-aboriginal spring hunting on the basis that spring hunting is an exclusive aboriginal right and on the basis that non-aboriginal access to spring birds would pose significant conservation problems.
This federation believes that conservation knows no race, and aboriginal access to spring waterfowl when fall access exists also poses significant conservation problems. It should be remembered that prior to the Migratory Bird Convention Act and other wildlife harvesting restrictions, all residents of Ontario had the "right" to harvest at will. It was, however, in the interests of conservation and to ensure the availability of wildlife resources in perpetuity that this "right" was voluntarily restricted.
Acceptable MBC Amendment Scenarios
The only amendment to the Migratory Bird Convention Act
that this federation could possibly support would be one where
legal access to spring waterfowl would be provided only in
areas where fall hunting opportunities do not exist. This
provision must apply only to residents and there must be
strictly enforced personal and community limits.
In the event of a spring harvest being allowed, all egging activities must cease, and any shipment of spring-killed birds out of the local area must be prohibited, even if the shipment is for the personal use of the recipient. There must be no commercialization of the resource.
Summary
The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters is concerned
that the conservation of the migratory bird resource will be
sacrificed to meet the ends of a political agenda and to appease
a perceived cultural guilt. Our migratory bird resource is too
valuable to be used in this manner.
The O.F.A.H. advocates equal treatment before conservation laws for all residents and any differentiation between hunters on the basis of race is unacceptable. For those areas, largely in the territories, where residents, aboriginal and non-aboriginal, do not have access to geese during the open season, this federation would support a strictly limited and regulated spring harvest for residents only.
Gord Gallant is a Land Use Specialist with the Ontario Federaffon of Anglers and Hunters.
ENDNOTES
1. G.M. Sutton, 1932. "The Exploration of Southampton Island, Hudson Bay.
Part II." Zoology. Section 2: The birds of Southampton Island.
Carnegie Mus. Mem. 12(2): 3-268.
2. F.G. Cooch, 1958. "The Breeding Biology and Management of the Blue Goose Chen caerulescens", Ph.D. Thesis, Cornel I Univ., Ithaca, N.Y.
3. Sutton, 1932, and C.D. Ankney, 1993 personal communication.
4. Cooch, 1958.