Wildlife consumption and recall accuracy - but is it recall of hunting, of cooking or of eating?

Yellow-Billed Loon Subsistence Harvest in Alaska: Challenges in Harvest Assessment of a Conservation Concern Species

The yellow-billed loon Gavia adamsii was designated as a candidate species for listing as threatened or endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 2009. Subsistence harvest was identified as a threat based on the 2007 harvest estimate for the Bering Strait region of Alaska. This estimate was unusually high and inconsistent with data on the species' abundance and distribution. We conducted this study in 2011–2012 on St. Lawrence Island, in the Bering Sea, to fulfill data needs related to this Endangered Species Act listing process. Our objectives were to clarify 1) loon species harvested, 2) numbers of loons harvested, and 3) loon harvest methods and uses by local subsistence communities. We conducted harvest surveys, ethnographic research, and shore-based bird counts. Loons were <1% of all bird harvest. Pacific loons Gavia pacifica were 96% of observed loons and likely comprised the majority of loons harvested. Local ethnotaxonomy grouped loons by size (large or small) and overall plumage (breeding or nonbreeding), differing from scientific taxonomy. We found no evidence that loon migratory aggregations occurred near St. Lawrence Island or that intense harvest effort targeted loons. We estimated that five yellow-billed loons were harvested annually in 2011 and 2012. Hatch-year loons were likely at least half of the loon harvest, lessening effects of harvest on loon populations. Our study exemplifies the importance of using multidisciplinary approaches and engaging subsistence users to improve harvest assessment and inform wildlife conservation policy.