Evidence of Population Decline in Common Eiders Breeding in Western Greenland
ARCTIC Vol. 57, No. 1 (March 2004) P. 27–36
ARCTIC Vol. 57, No. 1 (March 2004) P. 27–36
ABSTRACT.—The ingestion of spent lead shot was known to cause mortality in wild waterfowl in the US a
century before the implementation of nontoxic shot regulations began in 1972. The biological foundation
for this transition was strongly supported by both field observations and structured scientific investigations.
Despite the overwhelming evidence, various societal factors forestalled the full transition to nontoxic shot
for waterfowl hunting until 1991. Now, nearly 20 years later, these same factors weigh heavily in current
Wildl. Biol. 12: 257-265.
“As the Eider is a bird very resistant to shot, often 2-3 birds are wounded for each that is shot dead…”
(Müller, South Greenland, 1906)
The large numbers of common eiders Somateria mollissima and king eiders S. spectabilis wintering
in southwest Greenland are subject to intensive hunting, and in addition to direct harvest an unknown
number of birds are wounded and become carriers of embedded lead shot. We conducted the first
assessment of the magnitude of this undesirable side effect of hunting in Greenland by X-raying 879
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1993 Proc. Annu. Conf. SEAFWA
Other laws also gave particular attention to breeding animals: gathering the eggs of birds
was prohibited in 1533 and in 1710, salmon were protected during their spawning runs, so
that they might "become very plentiful and common . . . as they were formerly" (Lund 1980).
Physical changes in animals' defensive abilities were also the occasion for English regulations.
In 1533 birds were protected when "the said old fowl be moulted, and not replenished with
The Atlantic Flyway Sea Duck Survey, conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was established in 1991 to record sea duck numbers using near shore (within 700 m of shore) habitats from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia to Jacksonville, Florida. Existing breeding population surveys for North American waterfowl do not cover the core ranges of about half of North American sea duck species. Many species of North American sea ducks breed across vast Arctic regions that are difficult and costly to survey.