Ministers play key role
Reed’s legacy in fisheries offers insight on future for goose hunting
WITH the recent passing of former CLP fisheries minister Mike Reed, I am reminded of the wonderful legacy of visionary politicians.
Mike Reed revolutionised the NT Fishery by recognising “the huge social, economic and conservation value of recreational fishing in the NT”, according to Alex Julius in his obituary in the NT News, November 26.
Waterfowl need a visionary minister like Mike Reed now.
When Victorian Field and Game formed in 1958 they went to the premier, Sir Henry Bolte, and together they created 180 state game reserves to arrest the destruction of wetlands to create farm land that was threatening the existence of the Pacific black duck.
Bolte’s foresight led to recreational hunting contributing $439m a year to the Victorian economy.
Mike Reed commenced the buyback of commercial barramundi licences to protect the fish and add value to recreational fishing.
Here in the NT the opposite is true for magpie geese. In recent years the recreational bag limit for geese has been reduced to just three birds while permits for commercial trapping and shooting were maintained at 4000 for a single permit holder and increased the following year to 6000 when our limit was lifted to only five geese.
The 2020-2030 Magpie Goose Management Program states that commercial permits could rise to 30,000 geese and recreational hunter limits will oscillate from zero to seven.
Why is the barra idolised, but the goose not given the recreational value it deserves?
Minister Eva Lawler announced in the weeks leading up to the August election that a new hunting reserve would be declared.
This follows on from the parliamentary motion put up by Kezia Purick and unanimously supported by members in September 2019, but here we are two hunting seasons on, and nothing has been forthcoming.
Minister Lawler could be the Mike Reed our geese and those who hunt them need.
Alex Julius wrote of Mike Reed: “He was in the box seat to do something about declining quality of fishing. He was passionate about it and listened to and worked with AFANT.”
NT Field and Game are keen to work with Minister Lawler because we have a passion to protect and rehabilitate the wetlands all our waterbirds rely on and oppose many aspects of the commercial harvest of magpie geese.
We can see that goose hunting could become as important to the NT economy as recreational barramundi fishing now is. It will be sustainable, and it will bring tourists from all over Australia and the world.