WASHINGTON (January 8, 2026) – Senator John Kennedy (R-La.) today called on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Director Brian Nesvik to study the impact of unfair “legal baiting” on duck migration.
“Legal baiting,” an unsportsmanlike practice in which cornfields are needlessly flooded to attract waterfowl, comes at the expense of southward communities—particularly those in Louisiana. Since the 1990s, policy changes have opened the door to more widespread cornfield flooding, and Louisiana has suffered a massive downturn in its mallard harvest.
“In 1998, Congress enacted the Migratory Bird Treaty Reform Act, which repealed the strict liability standard that previously governed federal waterfowl baiting violations. In 1999, USFWS. . . removed the enforcement mechanism that previously restricted the growth of hunting over intentionally flooded standing crops, particularly corn. As a result, Louisiana has witnessed a significant decline in annual waterfowl migration since the late 1990s,” Kennedy explained in a letter to Nesvik.
“Mallard harvest in the state of Louisiana dropped 95% from 1999-2021, more than any other state in the Mississippi Flyway. In Missouri, the mallard count rose from 280,000 in 1999 to 550,000 in 2016 . . . [T]he data indicates that mallards are concentrating and stopping in regions where the manual flooding of corn has become widespread,” the senator wrote.
“Unlike rice, which requires flooding as part of its natural growth cycle, there is no agronomical justification for flooding corn. Put simply, the intentional flooding of standing crops has enabled an unsportsmanlike practice, weakened long-standing protections for migratory birds, and adversely impacted waterfowl populations in Louisiana,” Kennedy added.
“This trend has troubling implications for the future overall health of duck populations, particularly considering the growing threat posed by avian flu, as noted by a research biologist at the U.S. Geological Survey: ‘The basic idea is that the more you concentrate animals into a small habitat, there’s probably a greater opportunity for transmission between individuals, and then the greater chance for disease spread within waterfowl,’” he continued.
“Therefore, I urge the USFWS to initiate a formal study to evaluate the impact of flooded corn on migratory waterfowl behavior, wintering distributions, and associated economic outcomes in the Mississippi Flyway. Ensuring fair access to waterfowl hunting for current and future generations of Americans is a shared priority, and I appreciate your attention to this important matter,” Kennedy concluded.
View Kennedy’s full letter here.
