Fawnsfoot (Truncilla donaciformis) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 11
Existing Protection or Other Status Designations
The Fawnsfoot is considered globally secure (G5) and is listed as nationally secure (N5) in the United States but nationally imperiled (N2) in Canada (NatureServe 2007). This species is not currently listed under Canada’s Species at Risk Act or the Endangered Species Act of the United States. It is also not on the IUCN’s Red List. The national general status assessment of freshwater mussels in Canada (Metcalfe-Smith and Cudmore-Vokey 2004) assigned a national rank of 2 (May be at Risk) to the Fawnsfoot that corresponds with a sub-national rank in Ontario of Imperiled (S2) (Natural Heritage Information Centre (NHIC) 2007). The Fawnsfoot is considered vulnerable to possibly extirpated in 12 U.S. jurisdictions, secure or apparently secure in six and not ranked in an additional five (Table 3).
| Conservation rank | Description | Jurisdiction |
|---|---|---|
| SH | Possibly extirpated | New York |
| S1 | Critically imperiled | Georgia, Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia, Wisconsin |
| S2 | Imperiled | Kansas, Ohio, South Dakota |
| S3 | Vulnerable | Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana |
| S4 | Apparently secure | Alabama, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi |
| S5 | Secure | Oklahoma, Tennessee |
| SNR | Not ranked | Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska |
The federal Fisheries Act represents the single most important piece of legislation currently protecting the Fawnsfoot in Canada. As shellfish, freshwater mussels are considered ‘fish’ under the Fisheries Act and receive the same protections granted to vertebrate fish. The collection of freshwater mussels requires a collection permit issued under authority of the Fisheries Act. In Ontario, this permit is issued by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. Other indirect protections are realized through the habitat protections identified earlier (Habitat protection/ownership).
The last remaining lake population of this mussel is located in the territorial waters of the Walpole Island First Nation (WIFN). These waters are relatively low-impact areas used primarily for hunting and fishing. Access to these areas is regulated through user permits issued by WIFN.
Areas where the Fawnsfoot occurs overlap with the distributions of several mussel species protected under Canada’s Species at Risk Act. The Fawnsfoot may benefit indirectly from protection afforded to these species or by actions implemented (e.g., research, stewardship and outreach) under the direction of recovery strategies for the Round Hickorynut and Kidneyshell (Morris 2006a), Northern Riffleshell, Snuffbox, Round Pigtoe, Mudpuppy Mussel and Rayed Bean (Morris and Burridge 2006) and Wavyrayed Lampmussel (Morris 2006b).
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