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Legislative History
As early as 1916, Migratory Bird Treaties with Canada and Mexico failed to recognize Alaska’s traditional spring/summer subsistence harvest.
After negotiations, the treaties were amended in 1997. The Alaska Migratory Bird Co-Management Council was created, which included representatives from the Alaska Native community, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acting as equal partners. The Council’s primary purpose is to develop recommendations for the subsistence migratory bird harvest regulations.
Eleven regional management bodies were created to provide local input to the Council on the bird harvest list, regional season dates, methods and means and other annual regulatory recommendations. Additional information on the Migratory Bird Treaties, the Council, harvest surveys, press releases and hunter bulletins can be found at
https://www.fws.gov/office/alaska-migratory-birds/alaska-migratory-bird- co-management-council and https://alaskamigratorybirds.com/
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Definitions
Alaska Native means the same as “Native,” defined in section 3(b) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, 16 U.S.C. 1602(b).
Authentic Native article of handicraft or clothing means any item created by an Alaska Native to which inedible parts of migratory birds authorized for use in handicrafts or clothing are incorporated and which is fashioned by hand, or with limited use of machines, provided no mass production occurs.
Closure means the season is closed to all forms of harvest, including hunting and egg gathering, unless specified otherwise.
Co-management Council means the Alaska Migratory Bird Co-management Council, consisting of Alaska Native, Federal, and State of Alaska representatives as equals.
Edible meat means the meat from the breast, back, thighs, legs, wings, gizzard, and heart. The head, neck, feet, other internal organs, and skin are considered inedible byproducts, and not edible meat, for all provisions of these regulations.
Eligible person means an individual within the State of Alaska who qualifies to harvest migratory birds and their eggs for subsistence purposes during the spring and summer.
Excluded areas are defined on page 5.
Flyway Council means the Atlantic, Mississippi, Central, or Pacific Flyway Council.
Game Management Unit, also referred to simply as GMU or Unit, means 1 of the 26 geographical areas listed in the codified State of Alaska hunting and trapping regulations and on maps of the Alaska State Game Management Units.
Immediate family means spouse, children, parents, grandchildren, grandparents, and siblings.
Included areas are defined on page 5.
Indigenous inhabitant means a permanent resident of a village within a subsistence harvest area, regardless of race.
Migratory bird, for the purposes of these regulations, means the same as defined in 50 CFR § 10.12 . Species eligible to harvest are listed on page 29.
Migratory birds authorized for use in handicrafts or clothing means the species of birds listed on page 34 that were taken for food in a nonwasteful manner during the Alaska subsistence-harvest season by an eligible person of an included area.
Native means the same as “Alaska Native” as defined in this section.
Nonwasteful taking means making a reasonable effort to retrieve all birds killed or wounded, and retaining all edible meat until the birds have been transported to the location where they will be consumed, processed, or preserved as human food.
Partner organization or regional partner means a regional or local organization, or a local or tribal government that has entered into a formal agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the purpose of coordinating the regional programs necessary to involve subsistence hunters in the regulatory process described in this part.
Permanent resident means any person whose primary, permanent home for the previous 12 months was within a subsistence harvest area in Alaska. Whenever absent from this primary, permanent home, the person has the intention of returning to it. Factors demonstrating a person’s primary, permanent home may include: an address listed on an Alaska Permanent Fund dividend application; an Alaska license to drive, hunt, fish, or engage in an activity regulated by a government entity; voter registration; location of residences owned, rented, or leased; location of stored household goods; the residence of the person’s spouse, minor children, or dependents; tax documents; whether the person claims residence in another location for any purpose; or status as a tribal member of a tribe in a subsistence harvest area.
Sale by consignment means that an Alaska Native sends or supplies an authentic Native article of handicraft or clothing to a person who sells the item for the Alaska Native. The consignment seller need not be an Alaska Native and the Alaska Native craftsman retains ownership of the item and will receive money for the item when it is sold.
Seabirds refers to all bird species listed on page 29 within the families Alcidae, Laridae, Procellariidae, and Phalacrocoracidae (in general: gulls, kittiwakes, jaegers, murres, puffins, auklets, fulmars, and cormorants).
Service Regulations Committee means the Migratory Bird Regulations Committee of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Shorebirds refers to all bird species listed on page 29 within the families Charadriidae, Haematopodidae, and Scolopacidae (in general: sandpipers, plovers, oystercatchers, dunlin, godwits, turnstones, knots, and phalaropes).
State means State of Alaska.
Subsistence means the customary and traditional harvest or use of migratory birds and their eggs by eligible indigenous inhabitants for their own nutritional and other essential needs.
Subsistence harvest areas encompass customary and traditional hunting areas of villages in Alaska that qualify for a spring or summer subsistence harvest of migratory birds under these regulations.
Taxidermy refers to birds preserved and mounted in lifelike representations. Taxidermy does not include preserving bird parts to be integrated into traditional arts and crafts.
Village is defined as a permanent settlement with one or more year-round residents.
Waterfowl refers to all bird species listed on page 29 within the family Anatidae (ducks, geese, and swans).
