The FWS also established a conservation order that allows states to initiate aggressive harvest management strategies without having to obtain individual permits. The Canadian Wildlife Service has implemented similar changes, as well as Sunday hunting and increasing daily bag limits. Mid-continent light goose populations have quadrupled in numbers from 1966 to the present. In addition, Canada and the U.S. now have more than 2 million resident Canada Geese. Historically, goose populations were limited by lower food resources, less wintering habitat, and fewer migration staging areas.
Many problems arise from overabundant goose populations.
Physiological stress has caused reduced body size of geese. Large, dense populations of geese create a string of effects throughout coastal Arctic ecosystems by contributing to changes in water chemistry and altering plant communities, creating additional adverse impacts on invertebrate populations. Fecal droppings in suburban areas spur the rapid spread of parasites and diseases. Geese carry avian cholera, a disease to which all waterfowl are susceptible. Overabundant goose populations cause airplane strikes, extensive agricultural damage and crop loss.