By Joe Mosby
Arkansas News Correspondent

LITTLE ROCK — The state Game and Fish Commission approved a 60-day duck hunting season Thursday.

The commission deferred action on proposed changes in outboard motor restrictions on management areas and rejected petitions calling for an immediate halt to commercial turtle operations in the state.

The duck season will be in three segments: Nov. 21-Nov. 29, Dec. 10-Dec. 23 and Dec. 26-Jan. 31. A statewide Special Youth Waterfowl Hunt will be held Dec. 5-6 for hunters 15 and younger. The dates also apply to the hunting of mergansers and coots.

Goose seasons also were set:

White-fronted or specklebelly geese: Nov. 14-Dec. 4, Dec. 12-24 and Dec. 26-Jan. 31.

Snow, blue and Ross’ geese: Nov. 7-Dec. 24 and Dec. 26-Jan. 31. Conservation Order, Feb. 1-April 25. This allows taking of snow, blue and Ross’ geese under some special rules.

Canada geese: Sept. 1-15, Sept. 26-Oct. 5 (Northwest Canada Goose Zone only) and Dec. 26-Jan. 31.

The daily bag limit on ducks will again be six, of which four can be mallards. Two of these can be female mallards. Other daily duck limits are three wood ducks, two redheads, one pintail, one mottled duck, one scaup, one black duck and one canvasback.

The season on canvasbacks was closed last year.

The commission set a daily limit of four ducks on Bayou Meto Wildlife Management Area.

Hunters can take five mergansers a day, of which two can be hooded mergansers. The daily limit on coots is 15.

The commissioners tabled action on changes in outboard motor restrictions on management areas until their September meeting.

Motors are currently limited to 25 horsepower or less on Bayou Meto, Dr. Lester Sizes Bois d’Arc, Shirey Bay/Rainey Brake and Steve N. Wilson Raft Creek management areas.

The commission staff has proposed extending the 25-horsepower limit to Bell Slough, Beryl Anthony Lower Ouachita, Choctaw Island, Cut-Off Creek, Cypress Bayou, Ed Gordon Point Remove, Earl Buss Bayou DeView, Galla Creek, Harris Brake, Holland Bottoms, Mike Freeze Wattensaw, Petit Jean River, Sheffield Nelson Dagmar, Sulphur River and Trusten Holder management areas.

A 50-horsepower limit is proposed for Henry Gray Hurricane Lake and Red Hancock Black Swamp management areas.

Also Thursday, commissioner member Emon Mahony proposed eliminating the fall turkey hunting season. The commission agreed to consider the measure at its September meeting, along with plans for the spring 2010 turkey season.

The panel rejected a petition from several groups, both in Arkansas and out of state, for an immediate halt to commercial turtle operations.

In March, a coalition of conservation organizations asked the commission to immediately halt the taking of turtles because of the possibility of disease and because of the impact on the turtle populations in the state.

The commissioners had previously instructed their Fisheries Division to gather detailed information on the turtle population and turtle harvesting. Mark Oliver of the fisheries staff told commissioners Thursday that compiling the information would take four to six months.

Oliver said the U.S. Department of Agriculture also is investigating the matter.

The commission renamed a management area to honor former commissioner Freddie Black of Lake Village, whose term ended June 30. It is now Freddie Black Choctaw Island Wildlife Management and Deer Research Area. This is a wildlife-rich tract on the Mississippi River near Arkansas City in Desha County that was acquired by AGFC in 1997.

The panel took under advisement testimony regarding a proposed change related to trout fishing on the North Fork River in Baxter County in northern Arkansas.

The area is a 4.5-mile stretch of the river from Norfolk Dam to the junction with the White River at the town of Norfork.

The river is generally regarded as a top trout fishing stream, drawing anglers from all over the nation and from a number of foreign countries.

Some fly fishermen have wanted the river limited to fishing with artificial lures and barbless hooks. Bait-using fishermen oppose the restriction. Current rules have a mile-long stretch of the North Fork designated a catch-and-release area with only artificial lures and barbless hooks allowed. Fish caught must be returned to the water immediately.

A proposed change would extend the catch-and-release area to cover 2.6 miles of the river. The proposal grew out of a two-year program of public meetings and work by a citizens’ trout advisory committee.