The U.S. Agriculture Department Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHI) has changed its mind — again — and is granting American game bird hunters in Canada a chance this fall to bring ducks, geese and other fowl home with them.
U.S. hunters in Canada get a break, can bring fowl home, with certain provisions
Government agency changes its mind again around bird flu threat.
September 15, 2022 at 9:52PM
Earlier, the agency had said Americans in Canada can return to the United States with harvested game birds provided the birds weren't harvested in, or transported through, certain Canadian "hot zones'' where highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) had been detected.
Then on Sept. 2, APHI prohibited altogether the import of hunter-harvested birds from Canada, due to the bird flu threat.
Now, as of Monday, after input from Ducks Unlimited, Delta Waterfowl and other waterfowl groups and hunters, the agency will allow unprocessed hunter-harvested wild game bird carcasses, originating from or transiting Canada, to be imported with hunters to the U.S., provided:
- Viscera, head, neck, feet, skin, and one wing have been removed; and
- Feathers have been removed, with the exception of one wing — as required by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) for species identification; and
- Carcasses must be rinsed in fresh, clean, potable water prior to packaging and must not have visible evidence of contamination with dirt, blood, or feces; and
- Carcasses must be imported in leak-proof plastic packaging and stored in a leak-proof cooler or container during transport and import; and
- Carcasses must be chilled or frozen during transport and import.
The only downside to the provisions, though perhaps reasonable considering the threat HPAI poses to the North American poultry industry, is the requirement that skins of imported fowl be removed. Duck, especially, roasted or otherwise prepared with the skin on is considered by many to be a delicacy.
More information is at tinyurl.com/s42x6zyt.
None of the boat’s occupants, two adults and two juveniles, were wearing life jackets, officials said.
