Home Forums Birds & Dogs Waterfowl Import of gamebirds from Canada banned

Kinda breaking news as of yesterday

https://www.ducks.org/press-room/usda-bans-import-of-harvested-game-birds-from-canada?poe=home

We're heading to Alberta the 21st. Looks like we may not be bringing any back unless there's a rapid change in policy.

Not this again. I'm sure Border Patrol will be given the resources to prevent birds from crossing into this country.

About 20 years ago Border Patrol confiscated and tossed into the dumpster waterfowl being brought back by US hunters over concerns regarding one of many avian influenzas that have "ravaged" the world. It lasted about three days and at a single post if I recall correctly. The situation cleared up when enough people began asking how live birds were being prevented from migrating into the US.

This will cause me great annoyance and displeasure. And I don’t think it follows the science, either. Maybe just a bureaucratic power play with an anti hunting slant?

Yup in spades...mb

Wait a couple weeks and shoot the same birds in Montana and NoDak.

I would really like to know when we can get some really solid policies built in this country,
For this country,that actually make sense .Instead of all this political BS!!! Do they really think the birds are going to quit flying south!!

Exactly…would like to see where these two departments have authority to make declarations re any form of hunting and specifically the transport of migratory game birds.

Very simple, APHIS is a part or a part of the USDA tasked with preventing the introduction and/or spread of diseases into the US that may affect domestic livestock or other food sources. This is the same department, or one of them, that prevents the importation of meat from many other places such as Africa.

As such, APHIS is making no declarations in regards to hunting, just the importation of food stuffs (dead birds in this case) from Canada. This authority has been given to them by Congress in one form or another. Whether the decisions of APHIS make sense or not is a totally different question.

Thanks, and from their website i see a definite similarity to the government response to Covid...

However, from their website, the declaration only applies to unprocessed wildfowl...Question then is what is the definition of processed...


Restrictions on Hunter Harvested Wild Bird Game Meat from Canada
Published: Sep 2, 2022 Print
Stakeholder Alert: Restrictions on Hunter Harvested Wild Bird Game Meat from Canada

Issued: September 2, 2022
Effective: September 2, 2022

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been detected in both wild birds and poultry in Canada. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency have a zoning agreement in place to reduce the movement restrictions for trade in poultry and poultry products. However, these zones do not apply to wildlife.

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.

Hunter-harvested unprocessed wild game bird meat/carcasses, originating from or transiting Canada, will not be permitted to enter the United States regardless of the Canadian province from which the bird was harvested. APHIS is aware of the impact this will have on hunting season and will provide updates if new information is received.

Processed is easy, it is cleaned and packaged as if it were from the store - i.e. fully dressed, cleaned, and packaged. This isn't an option for most as it is necessary to leave a fully feathered wing and/or foot for identification. If the birds were processed by a commercial operator they might be importable but there are then import fees that may apply. This is actually similar to transporting venison from chronic wasting disease areas.

A VS (vetinary services) permit is typically issued for animals being transported into the U.S. I've known of these to be issued for live research animals and had an acquaintance get one (in addition to a CITES permit at the time) to ship a crane to a taxidermist as he wasn't going straight home from that hunt. Whether it can be used for transport of dead meat I don't know.

I'm guessing a USDA approved establishment might be a licensed meat processor or holding facility where the animal(s) could be quarantined or tested for specific disease. I think this is what is done when animals are brought into Hawaii.

Since a foot or wing isn't one of their stated organs for transmission....Seems like it could be left attached and outside the wrap. Typical .gov...make a statement that gives an exemption, without defining the how to comply with the exemption.

Of course, APHIS "is aware of the impact this will have on hunting season." Aware???? Vaguely at best.

I hunt the Canadian side of Lake St Clair, which borders Michigan on the west and Ontario on the east. The birds fly back and forth daily. A live mallard flying into the USA is apparently acceptable, but me bringing back a breast with wing attached is not. More "good government" in action.

As stated by others, the birds are coming anyway. Migration is a thing. Senseless BS which would likely not happen under a conservative administration. In a better world this would be reversed tomorrow. It might be difficult for bureaucrats to backpedal from this level of stupid, so I’m not real optimistic.

Think about it, not only does a "fully finished" bird from a processor not have feathered wing or foot still attached but it also has the blood and internal organs removed as well as being nicely wrapped and probably frozen. Requiring the bird to be fully processed leaves out the subjective measurement of how well cleaned a bird is, especially in individual border agents. Without an objective measurement a militant vegan agent could determine none of a person's birds met import requirements while another agent checking the next vehicle allows whole, unfrozen and uncleaned birds through the entry portal.

As I mentioned earlier, this has happened before regarding game birds. It has also happened around the same time regarding beef during another mad cow disease outbreak in Canada. There was also a requirement of rabies vaccination of one's dog going to and from Canada. The certificate had to be dated within two weeks of crossing the border. Both ways. That made it tricky for some to bring their dog home.

If I thought about it some more I could probably remember other instances of poorly thought out requirements of this type. I tend to believe things like this are more often the result of incompetence rather than malice. Especially, when government digs in its heels as incompetents are not smart enough to fold in their hand but double down when put under the spotlight. Those with malice slink off to try again or in a different manner as they do not want to be noticed.

Agree completely....

However, there should be hunter friendly politicians....and there are those with the power.....that when the situation is brought to their attention as evidenced by the DU letter, quickly correct and if necessary exercise their clout to correct the situation.

I think there is more than an even chance the declaration will be reversed or a compromise definition of processed will be coming shortly. While at the same time allowing those who made the error to save face.

That was the case ~20 years ago under GW Bush and likely what will happen again as I alluded to in my first post. Bureaucrats tend to be very narrow sighted and have great difficulty seeing anything other than the results they want. Getting them to change thier mind or course is difficult at best.It takes outside pressure to affect a change, in this case from Canada and Congress. the FDA is part of the Executive Branch and admitting the desk jockeys acted without thinking blows back on the higher levels. In the ego driven world of politics, admitting such can be a career ender.

There are good reasons a donkey and an elephant are the representations of our major political parties. This is just one of them.

I've already emailed APHIS with my complaint but don't expect them to admit any mistake. I've also contacted my Congressman and The Congressional Sportsmen Foundation. My Rep is R but is kind of a weasel, so we'll see. It appears that the CSF is already working (?) on this issue. Time will tell. My Senators are both D and would probably prefer all hunters just up and died.

Ban has been reversed. Must have been my email 😁. Gotta skin, wash and chill the birds. Still kinda stupid but much less so. I like to cook them with the skin on, but many trips will be saved.

Pretty much as I figured. Stick around long enough and one will see similar policies again and again.

Contacting legislators is a good start but email carries the least clout as it is so simple and easy to use; especially the form letters that some organizations put out for responders to click on. This is basically thought of as junk mail by most legislators. Just look at what one gets back when an email is sent- typically a generic form letter.

Far more effective is a phone call as that requires more time on behalf of the petitioner. Greater importance is put on a phone call as those willing to do so are also more inclined to motivate themselves into action regarding the policy in question. It can also be a force multiplier on the state and local levels as 2-3 legislators often share a secretary. 3 calls to each individual legislator then translates into 6-9 as they often ask how many calls on a given subject and the aggregate is given rather than the individual. A hot topic on the state level gets 5 phone calls so anything to push that number up helps focus attention on the dispute.

If one really wants to get an elected official's attention, first email, then make a phone call and reference your email, followed by a letter referring back to both the email and phone call. Letters are more likely to be considered than a phone call as it requires more effort.

https://www.wideopenspaces.com/usda-waterfowl-ban-reversal/

Not sure about leakproof bags. Outfitter usually bags them with one wing outside the bag. We’ll see.