A 30-day emergency closure has been established for the 2023 Alaska subsistence spring migratory bird harvest in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region. Federal authorities worked with the Association of Village Council Presidents (AVCP) to determine the time of the closure.
According to a Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge press release, the spring waterfowl season will be closed during the initiation of migratory bird nesting from June 6 through July 6, 2023 for all species except scoters.
The spring waterfowl season will be closed for scoters from June 10 through July 10, 2023. This emergency closure comes after consultation with the AVCP Waterfowl Conservation Committee and field biologists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
A special closure for black brant geese, from the time of egg laying until young birds are fledged, remains in effect through July 15, 2023. Egg collecting for emperor geese is closed for this year, as it has been in the past.
For more information, contact Federal Subsistence Coordinator Aaron Moses at 907-543-1021.
The Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge also issued a special notice: avian influenza has been detected on the Yukon Delta. If dead or sick birds are seen or found, please call 1-866-527-3358 to report sightings so that the disease can be tracked.
