Magpie geese limits fly in the face of hunters’ advice, says NT Field and Game

MAGPIE geese limits fly in the face of hunters’ advice, writes spokesman for NT Field and Game, BART IRWIN

Magpie Geese at Fogg Dam. Picture: Elise Derwin

NT FIELD and Game had five meetings with DENR scientist Tim Clancy to come up with a season length and bag limit that would be sustainable to the goose population and acceptable to hunters.

We asked for seven birds and four months.

These weren’t random numbers picked out.

This was the standard season that had endured for most years from 1983 to 2010 and were in line with the most recent Magpie Goose Management Program (MGMP).

This program contains all the science gathered by the DENR since research has been undertaken.

He countered with five geese and three months.

We went back and called for a compromise of six birds and three months.

This too was rejected.

We then went to the Minister’s adviser and then environment minister Lauren Moss.

Later that day she dumped the environment portfolio, so we contacted the new Minister, Eva Lawler.

She too rejected our call for six birds.

It has been a long drawn out process of Claytons Consultation.

Déjà vu in fact.

Last year we had no input into the season conditions.

This year we drove all over Darwin attending meetings to have all our input rejected.

We could have stayed home for this outcome.

This is typical Government tactic of saying they are consulting with stakeholders only to reject all their recommendations.

The Territory Government used Field and Game as window dressing for this decision.

Consider this sentence from Minister Eva Lawler’s press release: “we have been in consultation with recreational hunters to make sure we are working closely together to ensure the ongoing sustainability of the Territory’s waterfowl population. I would like to thank them for engaging so constructively in this process”.

The elephant in the room here is WEEDS.

No mention of protecting vital habitat from weed intrusion in the press release.

Non-indigenous hunters are bearing the full brunt of wildlife management by being the only lever pulled to aid the recovery of the population.

There has been no effort to reduce indigenous hunting and collection of eggs.

The Government didn’t substitute subsistence hunting of geese with truckloads of beef and poultry. We see no evidence of them encouraging them to shoot feral pigs and buffalo instead of geese.

While all this was going on, the Department issued a permit to take 4000 geese per annum to make butchers and restaurateurs in South Australia rich.

That was the number issued in 2016, 2017 and will continue in 2018.

Why don’t they trap magpie geese in South Australia?

They have magpie geese at Bool Lagoon in SA. This is the first commercial permit issued.

How many will follow and whose quota of harvest do they come from?

There has been no reduction for that commercial quota!

What inspections are being conducted to ensure a black market isn’t developing in this market trade of wildfowl?

The method of trapping flies in the face of the MGMP which states that eggs should be collected, incubated and birds raised in captivity.

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This would encourage the wild parents to breed again and thus there would be minimal loss of wild birds and create a captive breeding flock.

The trapping method removes breeding birds for commercial profit.

Most countries around the world ceased the market trade of wild game birds in the early 1900s as did Australia.

Now we are seeing it return thanks to this government decision at a time when they are saying the population is low to hunters but not low enough to affect interstate diners.

Everyone can come out and try clay target shooting every Friday arvo at the NT Field and Game range, Brandt Rd, Mickett Creek Shooting Complex, Knuckey Lagoon from 5pm till 9pm.

The Festival of Clays is only weeks away now on July 20 — 22.

Thanks to Coolalinga Guns and Ammo there will be two shotguns as lucky door prizes over the weekend to be won.

■ Bart Irwin is a spokesman for NT Field and Game