500th

Anniversary of famed Italian firearms maker Beretta, founded in 1526 by Bartolomeo Beretta. Originally a producer of musket barrels, Beretta today is best-known in hunting circles for its quality shotguns and rifles. The company is still owned by the Beretta family after 15 generations.

 

8,500

Length in feet of fish-killing “ghost gear”—abandoned or lost fishing nets and tackle—removed from the Fraser River since 2016 by the Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society and First Nations partners.

 

5,620

Estimate of eastern population sandhill cranes that could be harvested each year without impacting the overall mean population of 98,320, according to a study in *The Journal of Wildlife Management.* An estimated 3,065 of the cranes are harvested annually in the southern U.S., fueling calls to allow a hunt in Ontario.

 

24

Times more cod (above) and other fish species eaten by Newfoundland and Labrador’s 4.4 million harp seals than harvested by fisheries, according to a study in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series. The findings confirm seals are hindering recovery of the region’s groundfish stocks.

 

22

So-called assault-style firearms surrendered through Ottawa’s six-week pilot “buyback” program, launched in Nova Scotia this past fall. Designed to collect firearms recently deemed illegal by Ottawa, the test program fell well short of its 200-gun target. Still, plans continue to roll out the program nationwide.