Duck hunters blasted

Tourism, conservation claims ‘load of baloney’

THE annual debate over whether Tasmania should continue to allow duck hunting has fired up again in the lead-up to the season, when between 40,000-50,000 native birds will be shot.

The Tasmanian Greens, Birdlife Tasmania and the RSPCA all want Environment Minister Roger Jaensch to intervene and ban duck hunting in Tasmania as it is in some other states.

The season runs from March 11 until June 12 and the roughly 1150 duck hunters registered in the state are allowed to shoot 10 ducks each day.

Greens MP Rosalie Woodruff said the “recreational event” was allowed to continue despite the obvious pain and suffering inflicted on birds, the threat to declining duck populations, and widespread community opposition.

“Supporters of duck shooting have again attempted to justify this retrograde practice as important for tourism, necessary for farmers, essential for conservation, and helping people put food on their plates,” Dr Woodruff said.

“What a load of self-serving baloney. The argument from shooters that each of them only takes a handful of ducks each year is patently false. If that’s the case, why is the 2023 season limit per shooter a ludicrous 10 ducks each day for three months? The government is sanctioning the opportunity for each individual hunter to shoot 930 ducks over that period.”

A government spokesman said monitoring showed wild duck numbers were at levels within the range seen in recent years. “The Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania manages a wild-duck open season to provide access for recreational hunting and the department has strict regulations and procedures in place to ensure that the hunting of ducks is both humane and sustainable,” he said. “Tasmania has a number of species of waterfowl but only five may be hunted during the open game season.”

The RSPCA said there was “no justification for continuing to license hunters to shoot ducks for sport”. “Some birds will die from their injuries, some will survive but live in pain and become disabled, but because of their inability to forage, they’ll suffer through starvation and thirst, or they’ll be predated on,” RSPCA chief executive Jan Davis said. “Tasmania’s native wildlife is globally recognised as un-ique and remarkable.

“It’s an essential responsibility of the government to ensure the wild populations of these animals remain at healthy, sustainable levels. Even more shocking is that Moulting Lagoon, one of the main hunting grounds, is a world-renowned RAMSAR wetland.”