Maryland Moratorium

Back in the day, Maryland was the premier Canada goose hunting location. Hunters would flock--pun intended--to Maryland’s Eastern Shore, a landmass covered in ag fields and flanked by the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay, with several major rivers in between. Throughout the mid 20th century, goose hunting was as good as it gets on the East Coast. Geese were plentiful, and regulations were liberal. Hunters throughout the Atlantic Flyway harvested hundreds of thousands of geese. But as the ’90s rolled in, populations and harvests decreased, leading to the infamous moratorium.

Background

Throughout the 70s and 80s, the Chesapeake Bay region was putting a hurting on the migratory Atlantic Population (AP) of Canada geese. For many of those years, Maryland hunters were afforded liberal regulations: 70 and 90 day seasons with 3-goose bag limits. Eastern Shore hunters took advantage of these limits and the concentrations of wintering birds and enjoyed years of fantastic hunting. People would travel from all over the country to shoot Canada geese on Eastern Shore. The world-class hunting even attracted international shooters. The hunting success continued and injected millions of dollars into the local communities. Hotels rooms were booked, restaurants packed, and guiding operations were numerous and busy. Near the end of the 80s, however, it became apparent that hunters were shooting too many AP geese.

Now, this brings up an important aside. During this same time, resident geese populations boomed throughout the Atlantic Flyway, contributing to increased hunter harvests and human interactions--think property damage and golf course nuisances. This phenomenon became more and more visible in the 1980s. “Biologists also became concerned that increasing numbers of [resident] geese might be masking a decline in the number of migratory Atlantic Population Canada geese.” These biologists were correct.

The population nearly collapsed in the early 90s, bringing on the moratorium that began with the 1995 hunting season. From the mid-80s to 1995, the population of wintering AP geese went from nearly one million to 650,000. Even more concerning was the decline of breeding pairs: estimates for nesting pairs went from 118,000 in 1988 to just 29,000 pairs in 1995.

The Moratorium

Knowing something had to be done, Biologists at the US Fish and Wildlife Service made the difficult, yet necessary, the decision to close the 1995 AP goose season throughout the flyway. The coming years struck a blow to hunters up and down the flyway. Waterfowl hunters would have to look elsewhere to satisfy their pursuits. Those still obsessed with Canada geese were allowed to target and harvest residents in those specific seasons and regions. In fact, hunters were encouraged to target resident geese to take the pressure off of the AP population and also improve estimations of migrant populations. Other regions of the flyway made do, but Maryland took a massive hit. For years prior, Maryland benefitted from a booming hunting and tourism economy directly tied to Canada goose hunting. The industry all but vanished with the drop of a hat. Sure, some outfits made the switch to other waterfowling opportunities. “I will never forget the following years,” said Nick Michael of Black Duck Outfitters. “Anytime we would be duck hunting, the geese would just be dumping into the decoys. It was Catch and Release.” But after 1995, however, Maryland’s Eastern Shore’s title of“Canada Goose capital of the world” was challenged.

The goal of the moratorium’s underlying management plan was to bring the AP population back to “150,000 breeding pairs in the Ungava region, 15,000 in the Maritimes Region, and 15,000 in the Boreal Forest Region.” Sport hunting would not restart until several metrics were hit: 60,000 breeding pairs in the Ungava Region was the primary prerequisite in addition to several years of consistent growth and commitments to long term research and population monitoring.

Ultimately, it was a long seven seasons without massive tolls of decoying Canadas, but the moratorium worked: AP Canada Geese made a strong and quick comeback. Just one year into the Moratorium, biologists noted a "substantial increase" in the number of pairs of birds. Obviously, hunting pressure was nullified, which had an immediate effect on the population, but several years of favorable weather conditions played an important role too.

In 2001, managers reviewed the much improved AP Canada geese breeding pair and population data and lifted the moratorium. "The numbers of breeding pairs have never been better. All this shows that the moratorium worked," said Ladd Johnson, a Maryland waterfowl manager. Hunting returned slowly at first, with a 30-day season and one goose daily limit. But over the next few years, hunting was fantastic, and the seasons loosened up. In 2005 for example, Maryland hunters were afforded a 45 day season with a 2 goose daily limit; that year, Maryland harvested an estimated 159,600 geese, which was twice as much as any other state that year. “The hunting pressure returned at large again as more guides/Outfitters started operations, hunting forums and social media had pages opening everywhere, and more and more stories were told,” recounted Nick.

Today, the famed Eastern Shore is hanging on to its historic hunting heritage. Hunting opportunities are down due to inflated lease prices, late and mild winters, fewer--and arguably smarter--birds, and did I mention locked-up land. And for the past couple of seasons, Maryland hunters have only been allowed to shoot one goose a day over a shortened season. Is the Atlantic Flyway heading towards another moratorium, I’m no expert, but would guess no. Managers and stakeholders seem to be avoiding the hard axe closure of another moratorium by tightening the regs. But the Maryland controversy remains: the state often touts tighter regs than other AP states. Now, some can gripe all they want about unfairness, and it is warranted, but the Chesapeake Bay and Maryland’s Eastern Shore provide essential wintering grounds for Canadian geese. In addition, the region consistently leads harvest estimates.

“In my opinion, this needs to be addressed across our entire flyway,” said Nick. “And all states need to be on the same page. You cannot just continue to hammer the birds, with breeding pairs on the decline and horrible hatches each year--you will just deplete the population. Unfortunately, that is where we are at this point. We want our kids to be able to enjoy this sport and their kids. More control of the population and conservation needs to take place again. I think if we get a few good winters and good migration timing back to the breeding grounds, the AP population will begin to come back with a good hatch and young birds. As long as the entire flyway is on the same page, it will happen. Will there be another moratorium for us soon? I would say it’s very possible if the proper actions aren’t taken into consideration.”

What are your thoughts on the matter? Do you remember the moratorium years? Is Maryland near another moratorium? Time will tell.