HOW MANAGEMENT UNIT LICENSE QUOTAS RELATE TO POPULATION SIZE, DENSITY, AND HUNTER ACCESS IN NEWFOUNDLAND

Abstract

We recommend introducing habitat-based moose density as a management tool to be used in annual quota setting. We illustrate our recommendation with the case of Newfoundland, where moose densities are much higher than elsewhere in North America, and have led to local areas of habitat deterioration and subsequent population decline. We suggest more emphasis be placed on relationships between local densities of moose and reported hunter kill locations to stabilize populations. We calculated both moose density and moose-kill density using estimates of forest and “scrub” cover in management units surveyed between 1985 and 2001, comparing aerial surveys with license sales for the same year to hunter success. In the first part of our study period, license quotas were often well below 10% of population size estimates calculated by management unit, especially in central Newfoundland. In the latter part of our study period, a strong relationship between license quotas and population estimates (r² = 0.81) existed, in which quotas averaged about 15% of a population size estimate; however, moose kills and population size were less well correlated. Overall during this period, kill density increased, while moose density decreased, sometimes below target.