The Canadian Wildlife Service of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) are responsible for migratory game bird management and have highlighted several important considerations for migratory gamebird hunting in Newfoundland and Labrador (NL).
Modernization of Migratory Bird Hunting Regulations
A free Migratory Game Bird Hunting Permit for minors (under 18 years of age) has been introduced. This initiative was suggested by hunters, and will encourage younger hunters to hunt waterfowl with their mentor without the cost of having to purchase a Migratory Game Bird Hunting Permit.
There are also new provisions that allow legally harvested waterfowl to be transported with either a fully feathered wing or head to be used for species identification. This change provides hunter’s choice on how they field dress birds for transportation.
Waterfowl that are preserved in a location outside of the hunting area do not count towards the possession limit. Preserved means eviscerated and plucked, or edible portions removed, and then frozen, made into sausage, cooked dried, canned or smoked.
For Murres, the possession limit applies to all murres including those that have been preserved.
Under the Migratory Birds Regulations, it is prohibited to abandon migratory game bird meat harvested under a migratory game bird hunting permit, and there are rules surrounding the gifting of migratory game bird meat to another person or the holder of a charity permit.
For more information on the modernized Migratory Birds Regulations please consult the ECCC web site Hunting regulations summary for migratory birds: Newfoundland and Labrador – Canada.ca
If you have questions on the Migratory Birds Regulations, you may contact the Canadian Wildlife Service at enviroinfo@ec.gc.ca or to speak to someone please call toll free 1-800-668-6767.
Reporting Bands
We remind hunters that it is important to report any band found on a migratory bird by entering its number on reportband.gov. Recovered banding data is essential for many conservation projects, as well as for setting waterfowl hunting regulations and understanding how diseases like Avian Influenza and Avian Cholera affect waterfowl populations.
Avian Influenza
Hunter Safety
Avian influenza has been documented in waterfowl and other gamebirds throughout Atlantic Canada, including strains that are highly pathogenic to both wild and domestic birds. Hunters should consult Public Health Agency of Canada’s “Recommendations for Hunters of Wild Birds and Other Susceptible Wildlife” before handling and consuming wild birds. Hunters should not harvest or consume birds found dead or that look sick. Hunters should cook game meats thoroughly before consumption. There is no evidence to suggest that fully cooked game meat, organs, or eggs are a source of avian influenza infection for people.
Use of Retrieving Dogs
Standing advice prepared by the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, and endorsed by U.K. Governments, is that retrieving dogs are not at any particular risk from bird flu but as a precaution do not allow dogs to eat any wild birds found dead and do not feed uncooked birds to animals. Well cooked birds can be safely consumed by humans and animals alike. Dogs are known to have contracted certain strains of flu and therefore precautions are warranted. Dog owners should prevent contact with sick or dead birds that were not harvested and should as a safety precaution limit the amount of time that dogs are interacting with retrieved birds. Owners should prevent contact between their dogs and wild bird feces, to the extent possible.
Export of Migratory Game Birds
As of 2024-02-13, there is one primary control zone in Atlantic Canada (near Bridgewater Nova Scotia). However, hunters that are transporting birds in Canada should check the map on the CFIA website regularly as control zones may change.
On September 2, 2022, US Department of Agricultrue Animal and Plant Health Inspection Serivce (USDA APHIS) issued a stakeholder alert implementing restrictions on hunter harvested wild bird meat/carcasses from all of Canada, regardless of province, due to the risk of transmitting highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). HPAI is an extremely infectious poultry disease spreading throughout North America, primarily by wild birds. APHIS regulations implement strict import controls to prevent HPAI introductions resulting from people transporting contaminated wildlife meat, carcasses, and trophies into the United States.
APHIS has been working with stakeholders and other federal agencies to provide options for importing hunter-harvested wild bird meat/carcasses that address the HPAI transmission risk to our domestic poultry. Effective September 12, APHIS will allow the import of hunter harvested wild bird meat/carcasses as outlined below.
Unprocessed hunter-harvested wild game bird carcasses, originating from or transiting Canada, must meet following conditions:
- 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.
APHIS further recommends that boots and any equipment used to process the carcasses should be clean and visibly free from dirt, blood, tissue, and feces.
Cooked or cured meat and meat products (for example, sausage, jerky, etc.) will not be allowed import as U.S. FWS requirements cannot be met to identify the species of wild bird.
Hunter-harvested wild game bird trophies entering the United States from Canada must be fully finished, or accompanied by a VS import permit, or consigned directly to a USDA Approved Establishment. Hunters may find an approved taxidermy establishment by visiting the Veterinary Services Process Streamlining (VSPS) search page and searching for a taxidermist with the HPAI product code in your state.
For any questions regarding import of animal products and by-products, please contact Animal Product Imports at 301-851-3300 or send an email to APIE@usda.gov.
For US Fish and Wildlife requirements for the hunter harvested wild game birds from Canada, please contact them at www.fws.gov.
Status of Murre populations and harvest in Canada
Following an episode of mortality caused by avian influenza during 2022, the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) has reviewed abundance, population trends, and mortality incidents for Common Murres and Thick-billed Murres in eastern Canada.
As of September 1, 2023, CWS is not considering changing migratory bird hunting regulations to reduce the harvest of Murres in Newfoundland and Labrador during the 2023 to 2024 hunting season. CWS can however invoke an emergency closure of murre hunting on a local or province-wide scale at a future date if conditions lead to excessive harvest.
- most birds harvested by murre hunters are Thick-billed Murres. Mortality associated with highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been largely restricted to Common Murres, which represent a smaller portion of birds harvested
- based on the best available data at this time, the mortality of Common Murres along with observed overwinter mortality (unrelated to HPAI) of Thick-billed Murres in 2022, while concerning, is not sufficient to warrant a change in hunting regulations when total population size is considered
All hunters are reminded that it is an offense to harvest more than 20 murres per day or to be in possession of more than 40 murres. It is illegal to sell, buy or barter murres. Members of the public can support the sustainable management of murres by not engaging in the illegal sale or purchase of murres. Wildlife Enforcement officers will be actively pursuing offenders, and upon conviction, the mandatory minimum fine of $5000 per offence is consistently being applied in the courts of NL, in addition to the potential forfeiture of guns, boats and vehicles.
Two species of Murres comprise the harvest in Newfoundland and Labrador: the Thick-billed Murre and the Common Murre.
In Canada, the total number for these two species is approximately 8.7 million individuals.
The number of Common Murres is estimated at 3.2 million reproductive and non-reproductive individuals in Canadian waters of the North Atlantic. It is estimated that there are 789,000 breeding pairs of Common Murres at 25 colonies in Newfoundland and Labrador, in addition to 96,000 breeding pairs at colonies in Quebec.
The total number of Thick-billed Murres attributed to Canadian colonies is estimated to be 5.5 million reproductive and non-reproductive individuals. The Canadian breeding population of Thick-billed Murres is approximately 1.5 million pairs mostly from colonies in the Eastern Canadian High Arctic and the Hudson Bay / Strait area.
The estimated annual harvest of Murres in Canada ranges from 60,000 to 120,000. On average, 75% of murres harvested in Newfoundland and Labrador are Thick-billed Murres.
Mortality among Thick-billed Murre mortality was observed during the late winter of 2022, which is a normal phenomenon for this species. Emaciated birds were observed in a large geographic area, indicating a lack of access to food. Birds sampled tested negative for avian influenza.
Mortalities were noted in the southern St. Lawrence River in late May. During the summer of 2022, the Canadian Wildlife Service undertook a variety of surveys to better understand the extent and impact of avian influenza on Common Murre colonies. Approximately 2,000 murre carcasses were counted in the summer of 2022. HPAI testing confirmed a number of positive cases among these mortalities.
In early July, murres likely from the Cape St. Mary’s colony began washing up on beaches in southern Newfoundland. Mortalities were then noted in eastern Newfoundland, implicating the breeding colonies in the Witless Bay colony and other colonies on the northeast coast.
On August 22, CWS re-visited Witless Bay and noted that large numbers of murres were still present on the island and that they were successfully raising chicks, which appeared healthy.
CWS continues to assess mortality in wild birds associated with HPAI.
In December 2022 near Twillingate, 13 Murres (3 Common Murres and 10 Thick-billed Murres) shot by hunters were tested for avian influenza. All of these Murres tested negative for the virus.
Between January and March 2023 in St. Mary’s Bay, Trinity Bay, and Placentia Bay, 422 Murres (134 Common Murres and 278 Thick-billed Murres) shot by hunters were tested for avian influenza. All of the Common Murres tested negative for the virus, while six of the Thick-billed Murres were positive for low pathogenic avian influenza. None of the birds tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza, which caused the mass mortality of Common Murres in the summer of 2022. Colony surveillance of murres in 2023 did not reveal any mortality related to HPAI.
Harvest and Avian Influenza
Avian influenza has been documented in waterfowl and other gamebirds throughout Atlantic Canada, including strains that are highly pathogenic to both wild and domestic birds. Hunters should consult Public Health Agency of Canada’s “Recommendations for Hunters of Wild Birds and Other Susceptible Wildlife” before handling and consuming wild birds. Hunters should not harvest or consume birds found dead or that look sick.
Hunters should cook game meats thoroughly before consumption. There is no evidence to suggest that fully cooked game meat, organs, or eggs are a source of avian influenza infection for people.
All hunters are reminded that it is an offense to harvest more than 20 murres per day or to be in possession of more than 40 murres. It is illegal to sell, buy or barter murres. Members of the public can support the sustainable management of murres by not engaging in the illegal sale or purchase of murres. Wildlife Enforcement officers will be actively pursuing offenders, and upon conviction, the mandatory minimum of $5000 per offence is consistently being applied in the courts of NL, in addition to the potential forfeiture of guns, boats and vehicles.
As Minister of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture, I am pleased to share the 2024-25 Hunting and Trapping Guide with you. Hunting and trapping are entrenched in our traditional values of respecting and interacting with the land. These activities continue to play an essential role in Newfoundland and Labrador’s past, present and future, and offer increased food security, recreational benefits, and significant economic opportunities to the people of our province.
Torngat Mountains National Park.
Akami-Uapishkᵁ-KakKasuak-Mealy Mountains National Park Reserve 
Break-away devices such as “S” or “J” hooks placed on fox, coyote, lynx or wolf snares is an easy adaptation that trappers who build their own snares can use to potentially reduce capture of wildlife such as moose, caribou and black bears or free ranging livestock. This is achieved by adding a “J” hook to the base of a slide-lock or “S” hook to a cam type lock or by adding a breakaway release ferrule (BAW) to the end of snare. The S, J hook or BAW ferrule retains enough strength to capture the intended animal but the strength of larger animals will break the hook or breakaway ferrule and allow them to escape relatively unharmed. Purchasing snares constructed in this fashion from trapping suppliers is widely available. Adding a stop to the snare so that it is still effective for capturing furbearers but allows a moose or caribou’s leg to slip through is also beneficial. There is some variability in the cost and effectiveness of break-away devices that trappers will need to consider, particularly for larger furbearers such as wolves. The end result, however, is that these devices can make a difference towards protecting wildlife or livestock that are not meant to be captured in the first place. Learn more about their use by contacting trapping supply retailers, the Newfoundland and Labrador Trappers Association or the Wildlife Division.
