Association of Tundra Swan Hunters

Tundra Swan

Well-Known Member
798 Highway 59
Port Rowan, Ontario
N0E 1M0

September 01, 2014

Re: Association of Tundra Swan Hunters

Dear Fellow Waterfowlers:

I would like to start a small informal association of waterfowlers who are interested in having a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season implemented in Canada.

This association may include waterfowlers who already hunt Tundra Swans in the United States, waterfowlers who would like to hunt Tundra Swans in the United States and waterfowlers who would like to be able to hunt Tundra Swans in Canada as provided for within The Management Plan for the Eastern Population of Tundra Swans. Although there would be no charge for a membership in this association there would certainly be benefits in being a member ... more on this later.

I first asked Mr. J. Sullivan (Enforcement Officer, CWS) at the Toronto Hunting Show about 20 years ago about the possibility of a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season in Canada like they currently had in the United States and he said that it would depend upon the politicians since a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season was definitely sustainable ... way back then in the early 1990s.

I patiently waited year after year hoping that the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) might evenually take the initiative with this idea but this was not to be. I finally decided in January of 2010 that someone had to take the first step with this idea. As I had already met with Dr. S. Petrie (Executive Director, LPW) regarding my participation in the satellite tracking program of scaup I requested an opportunity to discuss the possibility of a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season with him. Although he was very generous with his time to meet with me to discuss my proposal for a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season he informed me that he would not support such a proposal. However Dr. S. Petrie did suggest that I consider presenting other proposals that he would support (as the OFAH waterfowl representative) and he provided me with the documentation that I would need to prepare these proposals ... you now know about some of these other proposals.

The late Dr. D. Ankney (Chairperson of the Scientific Advisory Committee, LPW) however supported me and he provided me with The Management Plan for the Eastern Population of Tundra Swans so that I could prepare my proposal. Mr. J. Hughes (Head of Population Management, CWS) told me in September of 2010 (just prior to the submission of my Tundra Swan proposal) that "we will never have a Tundra Swan season until someone like you asks for one" and then told me that he was looking forward to receiving my proposal.

The rest is history as my Proposal for a Tundra Swan Recreational Harvest in the Province of Ontario was discussed at the Ontario Waterfowl Advisory Committee (OWAC) in November of 2010 without support for it being established at that time. However several waterfowlers then submitted individual letters of support for my Tundra Swan proposal to Mr. J. Hughes after reading my Long Point Waterfowlers' Association (LPWA) "waterfowl" threads and my Hunt Ontario "waterfowl" threads that included additional supporting documenation for my Tundra Swan proposal. A decision was subsequently made by the CWS in April of 2011 to conduct a Tundra Swan Season Assessment (see my separate thread on this topic) and I made a presentation to the LPWA membership at our AGM in the spring of 2011 that included a short survey. The short survey was completed and returned by 20% of the LPWA membership and definitely demonstrated a level of support for a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season in Ontario.

The CWS Tundra Swan Season Assessment was completed in 2013 and supported a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season in the provinces of Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan with provisions for the Province of Quebec (currently not included within the official management plan) to participate in this Canadian harvest.

What is needed now is for waterfowlers who are interested in a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season to support this CWS Tundra Swan Season Assessment and insist that limited (tag only)Tundra Swan seasons are implemented in the appropriate areas of Canada as indicated within this assessment.

I realize that not every waterfowler in Canada will be interested in hunting Tundra Swans ... in fact ... only about 10,000 waterfowlers out of approxiamately 970,000 waterfowlers in the United States will hunt Tundra Swans from the eastern and western populations combined in any given year. I believe however that Canadian waterfowlers should have the option to hunt Tundra Swans without having to travel to the United States to hunt them.

Consequently I have pledged a $10,000.00 grant to help finance the CWS implementation of a Tundra Swan season in the Province of Ontario and a $4,000.00 annual grant for twenty (20) years to monitor the Tundra Swan harvest in the Province of Ontario. Furthermore I have also pledged to contribute another two (2) $5,000.00 grants for the implementation of Tundra Swan seasons in the Provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

This represents a total personal commitment of $100,000.00 to the CWS to implement Tundra Swan seasons in Canada.

I will have generated (earned) sufficient funds within The Dr. Jerome Katchin Waterfowl Foundation by the end of 2014 to be able to provide the CWS with the first $10,000.00 grant and will generate (earn) sufficient funds in subsequent years to be able to provide the CWS with the $4,000.00 annual grant for the next twenty (20) years. The remaining two (2) $5,000.00 grants will be available to the CWS as sufficient funds are generated (earned) by the additional capital being contributed to my charitable foundation between December of 2014 and December of 2019.

Consequently there will be an additional $21,000.00 (less the $10,000.00 for Manitoba and Saskatchewan if required) that will become available between the end of 2015 and the end of 2020 plus $6,000.00 annually thereafter for other waterfowl organizations whose members support this initiative.

The Tundra Swan tags in the United States currently cost $10.00 each. I have previously suggested a $20.00 fee for each Tundra Swan tag in my 2011 survey and the vast majority of respondents agreed that $20.00 (similar to the Wild Turkey tag) was reasonable. This could bring in nearly $80,000.00 per year in tag sales for the CWS to fund the program (since we are entitled to 41% of the 9600 tags available each year for just the eastern population) in addition to my $10,000.00 grant to implement the season and the annual $4,000.00 grant to monitor the harvest.

Furthermore I have pledged to reimburse 100 waterfowlers for their Tundra Swan tag (maximum of $20.00) if they support this proposal. So I have in essence "guaranteed" the CWS that they will sell at least 101 Tundra Swan tags (as I will buy one for myself) if they implement a Tundra Swan season in Ontario.

This is just Part 1 of the financial plan for my charitable foundation since another $250,000.00 will be transferred over from my RRSP account under Part 2 of the financial plan thereby providing an additional $10,000.00 annually for other waterfowl organizations whose members support this initiative.

Should you be interested in joining this Association of Tundra Swan Hunters regardless of where you live (since many American waterfowlers come to Canada to hunt) please contact me by e-mail (thebuddyboy@hotmail.com), regular mail (at the above address) or by telephone (519-586-9825) any evening (1900 to 2330 EST).

All the best to all of you this coming waterfowl season.

Sincerely,




J. Katchin, D.V.M.
 
Tundra Swan Fact Sheet 2010

The continental Tundra Swan population of North America is divided into two (2) populations.

The Eastern Population (EP) Tundra Swan (TUSW) numbers are 100,000 or 25% above the Management Plan goal of 80,000.

The Western Population (WP) Tundra Swan (TUSW) numbers are 80,000 or 33% above the Management Plan goal of 60,000.

The EP TUSW recreational international (Canada and the United States) harvest is currently set at 4800 birds and therefore a total of 9600 permits (based upon an estimated 50% harvest rate) are issued. The actual EP TUSW harvest rate in the United States is only about 37%.

Since there is currently no recreational EP TUSW harvest in Canada all 9600 permits are available to hunters in the United States. The Americans get their 59% of the 9600 permits as well as our 41% of the 9600 permits.

The native people in Canada already have their own "subsistence" harvest for both EP TUSW and WP TUSW which is now (since 1995) year round (spring migration, summer nesting and fall migration) with no bag limits.

Furthermore ... the native people of Canada may harvest the Trumpeter Swan (TRSW) as well.

Update 2014

The Eastern Population (EP) Tundra Swan (TUSW) numbers are remaining over 100,000 and the USFWS is now considering additional opportunities to hunt Tundra Swans in the eastern states.

The Western Population (WP) Tundra Swan (TUSW) numbers have also increased since 2010.

Additional Information

I have started four (4) threads on the LPWA web site:

1) Proposal for a Tundra Swan Recreational Harvest in the Province of Ontario - 2010

2) Tundra Swan Harvest Presentation - 2011

3) CWS Tundra Swan Season Assessment - 2013

4) A Tundra Swan Season In Ontario - 2014

Contact Information

You may send a letter indicating your support for a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season directly to Mr. Jack Hughes, Manager of Population Conservation, Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada, 335 River Road, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0H3 by mail, e-mail (jack.hughes@ec.gc.ca) or fax (1-613-949-8307).
 
798 Highway 59
Port Rowan, Ontario
N0E 1M0

October 12, 2014

Re: Association of Tundra Swan Hunters

Dear Fellow Waterfowlers:

Further to my letter of September 01, 2014 I would like to thank those individuals who have expressed support (either privately or publically) for a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season, have submitted a letter of support to Mr. J. Hughes (Head of Population Conservation, CWS) and have expressed an interest in the Association of Tundra Swan Hunters to encourage other waterfowlers to support this proposal.

I acknowledge the unfortunate reality that many individuals who would like the opportunity to hunt Tundra Swans in Canada are currently not comfortable in publically stating their support for a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season. I am also aware of the fact that some individuals have written letters of support to Mr. J. Hughes without sending me a copy of their letter as previously requested. However my offer to purchase 100 Tundra Swan tags or to reimburse 100 individuals for the cost of a Tundra Swan tag once the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) implements a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season remains for anyone who supports (either privately or publically) this proposal.

One individual expressed his/her objection to Mr. J. Hughes regarding a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season but he/she was unable or unwilling to provide any reason for his/her objection. I attempted to initiate a discussion with this individual privately but he/she apparently did not want to be informed of the scientific facts supporting this proposal. I eventually discovered that his/her concern was only regarding a potential negative public response to such a season.

I acknowledge that other individuals may have a concern regarding a potential negative public response to a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season however this concern is hypothetical, speculative and unfounded in nature since there has been no public survey to support this concern. Furthermore my offer to financially support a public survey regarding a potential limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season similar to the public survey regarding a potential Mourning Dove season (which illustrated extensive public support for it) was declined by the same organization that conducted the previous public survey.

If you are interested in the Association of Tundra Swan Hunters or in supporting a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season in Canada regardless of where you live (since many American waterfowlers come to Canada to hunt) please contact me by e-mail (thebuddyboy@hotmail.com), regular mail (at the above address) or by telephone (519-586-9825) any evening (1900 to 2330 EST).

All the best to all of you this waterfowl season.

Sincerely,




J. Katchin, D.V.M.
 
798 Highway 59
Port Rowan, Ontario
N0E 1M0

May 12, 2015

Re: Association of Tundra Swan Hunters

Dear Fellow Waterfowlers:

Further to my letter of October 12, 2014 I am writing to advise you of the progress that the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) is making towards the potential implementation of a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season.

I received confirmation from the CWS in December of 2014 (in response to a series of questions presented to them last September) that they are now in the process of reviewing the Migratory Bird Regulations (MBR) including the addition of a mechanism to the amended MBR that will permit a tag system (for any species). The completion date for this review is the Fall of 2017.

This will be required before the CWS could even apply for a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season. Consequently the earliest that we could possibly have a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season implemented in Canada would be the fall of 2018.

I have recently advised the CWS that I now have the $10,000.00 available that I had previously pledged to them for the implementation of the limited (tag only) Ontario Tundra Swan season, will have the additional $10,000.00 available that I had previously pledged to them for the implementation of the limited (tag only) Manitoba and Saskatchewan Tundra Swan seasons by January of 2018 and will have the $4,000.00 available that I had previously pledged to them for monitoring the Ontario Tundra Swan harvest each year after that for the next twenty (20) years.

I have also agreed to pay for the first one hundred (100) Tundra Swan tags (based upon $20.00 per tag as previously suggested) for those individuals who submit a letter of support to the CWS with a copy to me for my files. Consequently the CWS is assured of selling at least 100 tags.

If you have not submitted a letter of support for this initiative to Mr. J. Hughes then do not expect a Tundra Swan season anytime soon since no support will result in no season.

Sincerely,




J. Katchin, D.V.M

PS Regarding my previous proposal to remove the Mute Swan from the List of Protected Species ... I understand that representatives for the CWS and the MNR are discussing this issue. I suspect the sooner this proposal is implemented the sooner the Tundra Swan proposal may be implemented.
 
Keep up your hard work. I'm sure it will pay off. I for one appreciate your efforts.
John
 
Hello John,

Thank you for your support.

I have had limited access to this forum due to computer problems.

I bought a new Samsung tablet last week and have just started to use it.

The CWS appreciates hearing from waterfowlers regarding this initiative as per a recent e-mail that I received from Mr. J. Hughes in response to a letter of support from another LPWA member.

Please consider submitting a letter of support to Mr. J. Hughes by mail, e-mail or fax with a copy to me for my files.

Thanks again for your support.

Jerome
 
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