Outdoor Notes : A 25% Reduction in Duck Hunting Is Proposed

The Federal government has proposed rules to reduce duck hunting this fall by about 25%, saying the restrictions are needed because of a significant decline in the duck population.

Statistics compiled by the U.S. Interior Department’s Fish and Wildlife Service and its Canadian counterpart earlier this year show the breeding populations of most ducks were down 19% from last year’s level and 24% below the average for the last 30 years. The agencies attributed the decline to a drought in major nesting areas in Canada and the northern United States.

Data placed the number of breeding mallards at a record low 5.5 million, pintails at less than three million and other species well below last year’s levels.

In a separate forecast, the agencies estimated the fall flight of ducks will be 62 million, down 22% from last year.

The proposed regulations call for later opening dates for the duck hunting season and earlier closings to reduce the number of hunting days by about 20%.

Under the proposal, bag limits would be reduced, point values would be increased and special restrictions would be set on hen mallards and certain other species.

Plans call for the hunting season to run from Oct. 8 through Jan. 13, with a conventional daily bag limit of four ducks in the Atlantic, Mississippi and Central flyways and five ducks in the Pacific flyway.

Bag limit restrictions have been proposed for mallards and pintails, with additional restrictions for females. Where the point system is in effect, hen mallards will be valued at 100 points, male mallards and pintails at 35, and most ducks valued at 10 points last year will be 20 points this year.

Public comment on the restrictions can be made until next Thursday by writing, Director (MBMO), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Matomic Building, Room 536, Washington, D.C., 20240. That department will issue a framework of final guidelines during the first week of September. The respective states will issue their regulations later in the month.

Sunday, Sept. 1, marks the opening of the 1985 dove season. The first half of the season closes Tuesday, Oct. 15. The second half will open Saturday, Nov. 16, and close Saturday, Nov. 30.

Under no circumstance may a hunter take more than 15 doves, in the combination of species, in any one day. However, if he has hunted two or more days, he may possess a maximum of 30.

Representatives of Lyman’s Concrete Company, San Clemente, have been ordered to appear in court Aug. 26 for arraignment on charges of polluting the Sequnda Desecha Canada Creek flood control channel.

DFG warden Darryl Avila, filed a formal complaint Aug. 7 when he found a grayish substance in the water from the point where the plant is located, running all the way to the ocean, some 1 1/2 miles away.

Water-quality tests revealed a higher than normal alkaline content. No plant or animal life could be seen in the affected area. According to Avila, the buildup of sediment in the stream bed may have been continuing for as long as six months.

Elmer Good of the Laguna Niguel (Calif.) Billfish Club hauled in a 568-pound Pacific marlin to give his team the lead after the third day of the 27th annual Hawaiian International billfish tournament off Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

Good boated the fish on 50-pound tackle to give his team 957 points and the tournament lead. The team has 1,127 points.

The Alaska Trolling Club is second with 815 points.

There are 68 teams from 18 nations competing in the tournament, which ends today.

Briefly The 1985 Arizona dove season opens Sept. 1 and runs through Sept. 22, reopens Nov. 23 and continues through Jan. 9. . . . Charles Cruden of the Nevada Dept. of Wildlife reports that two 42-pound stripers were caught recently at Lake Mead. There are also reports of schools of stripers boiling near the surface. Anglers drifting with anchovies report catches in the two- to five-pound range, some as large as eight. . . . After a threatened boycott by some of the top competitors, the 1985 Bass Masters tournament is under way at Pine Bluff, Ark. Organizers of the event, which features a first prize worth $50,000, were threatening to bar any patches or other display of sponsorship, but rescinded the ruling. Last year, Vice President George Bush was on hand to congratulate the winner, Rick Clunn of Montgomery, Tex.