By DON DUBUC

If you think Casey’s famous “K” was bad news for Mudville, there’s not much joy in Duckville either.

And according to the United States Fish & Wildlife Service’s annual survey of breeding ducks and its report on prairie pothole conditions, it may be quite some time before duck hunting fans can cheer once again.

USFWS figures released this week show a whopping 31 percent decline since 1999 in the spring mallard population count which are the birds we count on to replenish their numbers for the fall migratory flight. And it is not only mallards that are down from last year, the third in a descending spiral.

Pintails fell 46 percent and are now at the lowest number of breeders since 1955. Gadwall or gray ducks, our southeast Louisiana bread and butter species are down 17 percent, Widgeon – 6 percent, Green-winged teal – 7 percent, Blue-winged teal – 27 percent, Shoveler – 30 percent, Redhead – 21 percent, Canvasback – 16 percent and Scaup (dos gris in south Louisiana) – 5 percent.

Total duck populations are down 14 percent from last year.

OK that is bad news, but haven’t ducks been there and bounced back from low breeding populations before?

Sure they have, but that takes increased production. And increased production requires good nesting habitat conditions, namely wet weather.

And that is where there is more bad news. Because the prairie pothole region is dry, the number of wetland breeding ponds has dropped 41 percent. The number of these ponds in Canada is the lowest since surveys began in 1955.

Facing current conditions, the USFWS will almost certainly mandate that states reduce duck hunting days and/or bag limits for the 2002-03 seasons. There is talk of reducing the 60-day, six-ducks-per-day seasons we have enjoyed for the last few years to 45 or possibly 30 days with limits reduced anywhere from five to as little as three ducks per day. That word will not come until next month.

So where do we go from here?

Rob Olson, director of Delta Waterfowl, a conservation organization, thinks he has a solution by improving the production rate using the ducks and habitat we have.

“Hunters should not panic about the drought and its effects, but focus on the biggest challenge, that of poor production. Our findings on Hen Houses and predator management illustrate that these tools can significantly increase production and ensure nesting success in targeted areas even when habitat conditions are poor. (Some data suggests rates of up to 80 percent loss of ducklings due to predators.) We need to use every arrow in our quiver of duck production tools to help ducks right now,” Olson said.

There is one more thing we duck hunters can do to bring cheers back to the duck hunting stands – pray for rain on the prairies.

Shortened teal dates recommended

The early special teal season has been tentatively set by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and it reflects USFWS restrictions resulting from low numbers indicated by its breeding population survey.

If approved, the nine-day September teal season will run Sept. 9-16 with a daily bag limit of four birds per day. This is a drop of seven days including an extra weekend that hunters have enjoyed the last few seasons under more liberal regulations.

During that period, limits of 15 gallinules; 15 king and clapper rails; and 30 Virginia and Sora rails will also be allowed.

The dove seasons were also set with three splits: Sept. 7-15, Oct. 12-Nov. 24 and Dec. 21-Jan. 6. Daily bag limit is 12 per day per hunter.

Shooting hours for waterfowl are 30 minutes before sunrise until sunset; for doves 30 minutes before sunrise until sunset except on the opening weekends of each split when hours are noon until sunset.

CCA meeting set for Tuesday

Members of the North Shore Chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association will meet Tuesday at the Mandeville Community Center on East Causeway Approach.

Featured guest speakers include Captain “Deadly” Dudley Vandenborre on fishing in Lake Pontchartrain, Mike Rabalais of Cajun Quest and Lori Leblanc of Restore or Retreat will speak on Coastal Restoration.

Doors open for cocktails and a jambalaya dinner at 6:30 p.m. and the meeting will begin at 7 p.m. The group’s Annual Fundraising Banquet is set for July 30 at the Castine Center in Mandeville. For more information call 985-624-9971.

DON DUBUC is the outdoors reporter for L’Observateur.