The Parliamentary Inquiry into Victoria’s Recreational Native Bird Hunting Arrangements has received more than 9000 submissions — a parliamentary record — which include those from hunting, conservation and government groups.
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More than 120 submissions from individuals had their names withheld.
Leading duck population ecologists provided an inquiry hearing on June 29 with published results on the main contributors to duck populations.
University of NSW researcher Richard Kingsford and Deakin University ecologist Marcel Klaassen have studied population changes in 50 duck species across Australia.
Professor Kingsford has studied duck populations for more than 30 years in the world’s longest-running waterbird survey and told the committee that shooters had a minimal effect on duck populations.
He said the best way to cater for conservation of game species and other waterbirds was to ensure their habitat was conserved.
“Currently we are not doing that, and that is by far the biggest driver of these long-term declines,” Prof Kingsford said.
“The fundamental issue here is that we have been losing waterbird habitat, wetland habitat over decades, as a result of increasing extractions and regulation of the rivers for the Murray-Darling.”
Prof Kingsford said waterbird populations in southern NSW had declined by 72 per cent since the banning of hunting.
He also said ducks did not recognise state boundaries and so changes in waterbird numbers were in relation to the size of water bodies in eastern Australia.
“So the ducks of Victoria are not just the ducks of Victoria,” he said.
“At the same time, we also investigated whether there was any effect of hunting on those species, and we found a very small effect, which was considerably overridden by the loss of habitat.”
Change the bag limit, not the season
Professor Klaassen told the committee the average frequency of hunters visiting wetlands to hunt was four times per season and had not changed over time regardless of season length.
“So let us keep it simple and only change the hunting bag (limit),” Prof Klaassen said.
“That has been shown in other countries to be an effective way of regulating hunting.”
Prof Kingsford said conservation would benefit from making bag limits species-specific.
“But by and large the hunting season takes place in a period in which there is very little reproduction going on — very, very little,” he said.
Ecologist Holly Sitters submitted population data for species hunted in Victoria and also said birds with significant declines in population would be affected by the large declines in NSW.
According to Dr Sitters, populations of pink-eared duck, wood duck and Pacific black duck have recently risen.
One source used by Dr Sitters described grey teal as suffering “significant hunting pressure” but also described the species as “least significant” on the threatened species index of the International Union for Conservation of Nature .
Arthur Rylah Institute researcher Peter Menkhorst used data from Prof Kingsford to advise the Game Management Authority on duck season length and duck numbers.
“We are really the synthesis side of the equation,” Mr Menkhorst said.
“A threshold indicator from the analysis has been used by the government for the past three years.”
Hunters are ‘lawless’ say opponents
Regional Victorians Opposed to Duck Shooting reported in its submission that a survey it conducted in April this year found more than half of respondents felt anxious and unsafe with shooting occurring close to homes.
The survey was aimed at members of their online community and was in response to the group’s continual request to the Game Management Authority to conduct their own.
“It’s important to note this was not aimed at being a random survey,” the submission said.
“This was to be able to balance the previous taxpayer-funded surveys of shooters.”
RVOTDS also reported on yearly “lawlessness” committed by hunters.
“Every bird shooting season, there are reports of lawlessness around the state,” it said.
“Bird hunting is uncontrollable.”
Accounts and photographs of dead birds and littered cartridges provided to Country News were from the 2015 season.
The group also reported cases of gunshots being heard within proximity to residential areas and lead shot landing on local roofs.
“It happens all the time,” a spokesperson from the group said.
RVOTDS did not provide evidence of the complaints.
The group provided a photograph of a juvenile great crested grebe with an x-ray showing shot inside the bird, which it says was taken this year.
Field and Game Australia chief executive officer Lucas Cooke said duck hunting protestors were often “pulling stunts” to seek a total ban on the sport.
“They are doing this because they want a closed meeting with the inquiry and are dredging up old stories,” Mr Cooke said.
“(Protestors) have not had a sound scientific argument but are basing their concerns only on ideology.”
Mr Cooke said other dead ducks which had been used in protests to claim shooters were not taking all shot birds had been tested for evidence of shot in their body.
“They were checked and x-rayed at the time, and they hadn’t been shot.”
Several speckled ducks that had been brought in and x-rayed each had a single shot in the centre of their head.
“Given a shotgun cartridge sprays many shot at once, lo-and-behold, these had just one shot each in exactly the same place, on the same day where they reported there had been no hunting.
“But shot landing on someone’s roof — we debate that this is happening.
“There are pretty clear boundary markers and it’s not worth our members not honouring them.”
Mr Cooke also said Victorian hunters were conserving habitat areas and in one case had bought property on which to build a wetland.
Call to adopt the adaptive harvest model
Two models for duck sustainability are widely recognised in hunting ecology.
The interim harvest model is currently in use and is likely to be replaced by the much-lauded adaptive harvest model.
Mr Cooke said the research behind the adaptive harvest model had already been undertaken extensively in the United States where hunting is much more common.
He said there was no need to “reinvent the wheel” by repeating studies here to develop the adaptive harvest model.
“We think it is unequivocal that the adaptive model is the way to go and the science feeds that idea as where we want to go.
“And we will make sure the harvest models will remain sustainable.”
Prof Kingsford also supported the adaptive harvest model.
“We have got more and more sophisticated in terms of translating data into decision-making, and the adaptive harvest model is the most recent sophistication of that,” he said.
“Certainly, it gives me a lot more confidence than I had in the past that we are moving to a more rigorous basis for managing duck hunting.”
Country News journalist