Big win for croc farms
State go-ahead on harvesting wild eggs
AFTER years of wrangling with the State Government, Far North Queensland crocodile farms are now permitted to harvest wild crocodile eggs.
Amendments to the Estuarine Crocodile Conservation Plan through the implementation of parts of the Safer Waterways Bill will mean 5000 eggs can be harvested annually to approved licence holders.
Hartley’s Crocodile Adven- tures co-owner Angela Freeman said it was a positive step forward for the industry, which had previously relied on egg sales from the Northern Territory.
“I think it is an encouraging sign but the problem is the socialist Labor government who doesn’t like farmers in general and certainly does not support crocodile farming,” she said.
According to the Department of Environment and Science, comprehensive monitoring requirements will need to be observed to ensure there are no impacts to the local croc populations.
Hill MP Shane Knuth welcomed changes, which he said will lead to more local indigenous jobs and prevent money flowing interstate.
“Instead of now spending millions purchasing eggs from the Northern Territory we can now keep that money within our own state and actively compete for the $100 milliona-year international market,” he said.
For Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures, north of Cairns, law changes come too late as the business has marketed products as being sourced from within the property.
“We have been arguing with the government for 25 years to try and make egg harvesting (legal) and we gave up,” Ms Freeman said.
The new Wildlife Trade Management Plan, which became law on November 1, will assist any business in obtaining an export permit for croc skins or other crocodile products that have come from wild harvested eggs. FEMALE saltwater crocs lay between 20-80 eggs at a time, worth about $20 each. The temperature of the nest determines the gender of the newly-born baby croc.