Framework-Date Extensions and the Adaptive Management of Mallard Harvests

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) regulates the earliest opening and latest closing dates that States may use to establish duck-hunting seasons. These “framework dates” traditionally have centered around October 1 and January 20. The possibility of extending these dates so that seasons could open earlier and remain open later has been the subject of extensive and contentious debate within the management community. The controversy has stemmed from concern over potentially substantive increases in harvest, shifts in the distribution of harvest toward more northerly and southerly States, and possible deleterious effects due to changes in duck reproductive behavior or physiology. The magnitude of these effects remains largely speculative because there has been no experience with extended framework dates at a national level.