06-11-2003 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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Results Page 6 of 8 The processing of Twin Cities Canada geese for human food was approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1995. A total of 325 adult geese were trapped and slaughtered in 1995, and 1,770 in 1996, including 154 immatures. St. Paul and Minneapolis foodshelf distribution centers agreed to distribute the frozen goose products, provided the geese were processed in either a USDA or MNDA inspected plant. The distribution centers also agreed to hand out a postage -paid client questionnaire. The questionnaire asked the client whether he /she had had goose in the past 10 years, how the client ranked the product taste (0- lowest to 10- highest), and if he /she would use the product again. Distribution center operators indicated that they had difficulty obtain donations of high protein products and that the centers would take "all" the goose products we could supply. The client surveys was small, 17 in 1995 and 36 in 1996, due to the confidentiality maintained at food shelves, but the results clear. Most (88 %) clients had not had goose in the past 10 years, they rated the taste at 8.4 (range 6 -10) in 1995 and 8 (5 -10) in 1996. Sixteen 1995 clients (94 %) and 32 (89 %) 1996 clients indicated that they would eat the goose product again. In 1995, the 125 geese held in a 1.5 ha pen consumed 8 kg food/month and required 8 hr /month care, or about $6 /goose to hold until September. Geese pasture rental and labor from July until November 1996 cost $6/bird . The processing plant costs ranged from $6 to $8 /goose, thus, the total costs per goose for holding and /or processing was from $6 (process in July), to $12 (feed and process in September), to $14 (pasture and process in November). Yields varied by the product produced. The birds butchered in July 1995 were made into ground breast and boneless breast. These products averaged 0.7 kg /bird. The 103 birds processed in September 1995 were packaged as whole breasts and legs because abundant pin feathers precluded an acceptable whole carcass product. This group yielded 1.6 kg/bird of meat. The 125 geese butchered on 11 January 1996 were packaged "in the whole" with giblets and weighed an average 4.1 kg. The geese processed in the summer and fall of 1996 were whole carcass products; the July products averaged 2.7 kg, while the November geese yielded 3.2 kg./bird. A literature search for potential contaminants was conducted prior to the 1995 processing and indicated that, except for those from heavy industrial areas, the geese posed no human health risk (Keefe 1996). The Minnesota Department of Health concurred with this conclusion. Because an industrialized area was added in 1996, the tissues of 3 brood -patch females trapped at this location were analyzed by MNDA. Breast muscles and their livers were tested for PCBs, mercury, and organochlorine pesticides. None were found at detection levels of 0.025 ppm for PCBs and pesticides, or at 0.125 ppm for mercury. Habitat Reduction Based on the relationship between the number geese using a wetland and the shoreline in mowed - grass or pasture (Figure 3), it was clear that a modification of the shoreline habitat would reduced the number of geese at a site. Furthermore, if sufficient shoreline was converted from grass, the population could be limited. Using areas of the 3,081 Meto wetlands, we estimated that Twin Cities has a minimum of 3,550 km of shoreline. Based on estimates of grass shoreline made at 227 wetlands in 1994, one quarter (25.1 %) of the shoreline is in mowed grass or pasture. This means that about 888 km of shoreline would have to be converted to alternative vegetation. Because we observed geese leading broods through up to 70 m of cattail to graze on grass beyond the wetland edge, we assume that at least this width of shoreline vegetation would have to be converted to non -grass plantings. -40- http: / /www.fw.umn.edu /research /goose /html /urban /manage6.html 4/7/00