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Katie Woolf spoke with NT Field and Game Association Bart Irwin · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hello, Katie Wolban three point sixty online at Mixed one
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: O four nine dot com.
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  Speaker 2: We learned a little bit earlier this morning that the
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  Speaker 2: Northern Territory have released their twenty twenty one dates and
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  Speaker 2: the conditions for this year's fifteen week hunting season. Now
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  Speaker 2: joining me on the line to talk more about well
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  Speaker 2: those conditions, it is the nt Field and Game Associations,
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  Speaker 2: Bart Erwin. Good morning to you, Bart.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning Katie mate.
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  Speaker 2: How are the conditions looking for this year for the
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  Speaker 2: fifteen week hunting season.
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  Speaker 3: Well, the water levels will stand up really well after
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  Speaker 3: an excellent wet where it was above just above average,
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  Speaker 3: but that will suit us because it rained all the
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  Speaker 3: way into April. Unfortunately, they'll be hunters and Ntfield and
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  Speaker 3: Game will be extremely disappointed that the means is announced
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  Speaker 3: the peg liment reduction to just three geese. This is
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  Speaker 3: on the back of a contentious population estimate that on
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  Speaker 3: one part age of the briefing season of population is
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  Speaker 3: at one point four million and on another says it's
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  Speaker 3: nine hundred and eighty thousand. So this is confusing messaging
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  Speaker 3: which doesn't give confidence of the formula applied the termine.
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  Speaker 3: The overall population is robust and would stand up the
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  Speaker 3: scrutiny in NT filling game have repreatedly asked for a
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  Speaker 3: copy of the briefing paper that we viewed and a
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  Speaker 3: PowerPoint display that to date nothing has been forthcoming.
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  Speaker 2: So but I mean, you and I have spoken a
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  Speaker 2: few times over the years about these bag limits. So
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  Speaker 2: this time around, so this year, the daily bag limit
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  Speaker 2: it's three magpie geese and ten ducks per person. Just
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  Speaker 2: for those of us that don't you know that don't hunt.
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  Speaker 2: How does that compare to last year?
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  Speaker 3: Well, it was it was seven last year, and out
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  Speaker 3: of that, the average harvestraight per day per person and
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  Speaker 3: they only went on an average four occasions, was three birds.
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  Speaker 3: So they already had you know, they're getting what they
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  Speaker 3: want of the three bird limit with a seven bird limit.
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  Speaker 3: When they had a three bird limit back in twenty
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  Speaker 3: seven AM, they got exactly the same thing. So seven
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  Speaker 3: bird limit is justified, and the science is already there.
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  Speaker 3: It's in their paperwork. The population stood at three point
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  Speaker 3: three million in nine eighty three when monitoring began, and
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  Speaker 3: despite a seven goose limit for thirty consecutive year, almost
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  Speaker 3: thirty consecutive years till twenty eleven, the population was still
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  Speaker 3: a two point nine million, and that was a dry
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  Speaker 3: that was a wet season count. The other was a
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  Speaker 3: dry Sidon camp. Had they have done a dry season
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  Speaker 3: count that year and all the birds attached from the nest,
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  Speaker 3: the count would have been four millions, so it would
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  Speaker 3: have actually been bigger than the two point nine million
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  Speaker 3: recorded earlier that year. And it's the President, Dan Cox
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  Speaker 3: and I tried desperately to indicate this to the Minute
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  Speaker 3: of yesterday with their own papers in front of them,
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  Speaker 3: and they just would not recognize this fact. And it's
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  Speaker 3: frustrating that they will only look at science from one side.
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  Speaker 3: And on always thought science was supposed to be questioned
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  Speaker 3: and it was never ever set in stone.
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  Speaker 2: So bad do you reckon? Is the problem here that
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  Speaker 2: they do you reckon? It's that they like that they're
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  Speaker 2: doing that counting and they're basing their evidence at the
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  Speaker 2: wrong time of the year. Do you think they need
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  Speaker 2: to broaden.
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  Speaker 3: It a bit?
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  Speaker 2: Well?
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  Speaker 3: Yes, their their own previous made play goose management plans
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  Speaker 3: said they should do a dry season count at least
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  Speaker 3: once every four years, and they haven't done one of
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  Speaker 3: those for about seventeen years. I think the last one
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  Speaker 3: was done in two thousand and three. You know they're
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  Speaker 3: doing wildlife management by the strike of a pen rather
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  Speaker 3: than getting their hands dirty. Hence the lawyers pulled the
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  Speaker 3: easiest wildlife management leaver of the lot, which is where
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  Speaker 3: a stroke of the pen just striking out number seven
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  Speaker 3: and putting in number three. When the real threats to
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  Speaker 3: the population the make Bogan's population are weed intrusion by
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  Speaker 3: olive haimer acne, then gamber grass, then pigs that predate
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  Speaker 3: on the nests, and remove the food sauce, which is
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  Speaker 3: the water chestnuts that food on the great pigs food too.
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  Speaker 3: And if anyone's doing to any of the swamps across
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  Speaker 3: the top end, they will see that just it looks
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  Speaker 3: like a John Deere tractor is pulled all the way
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  Speaker 3: through some of those swamps with the with what make
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  Speaker 3: with what pigs do to make goose habitat. But we
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  Speaker 3: were pleading with the Minister yesterday to do more on
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  Speaker 3: weed control, and her remarks were we do a lot
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  Speaker 3: on weed control, but we're faced with issues that are
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  Speaker 3: like to bomba and siam weed and Indian rubber wine.
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  Speaker 3: I thought, yeah, well, none of those things are going
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  Speaker 3: to threaten and make POI goose. But yeah, yeah, you
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  Speaker 3: work on that, Minister instead of the real things. It's
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  Speaker 3: made at the case and waterfowl.
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  Speaker 2: But I have got someone's just text through and they
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  Speaker 2: said Katie, as a hunter, I won't be traveling all
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  Speaker 2: the way to the hunting areas for three birds. It's
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  Speaker 2: a joke. Damage to tourism as well. Government has got
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  Speaker 2: it wrong. But you know, for those of us who
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  Speaker 2: don't hunt, what kind of impact is this going to have, Well,
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  Speaker 2: firstly for hunters, but also then when it comes to
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  Speaker 2: the tourism side of things for people who travel to
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  Speaker 2: the territory to hunt.
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  Speaker 3: Well, exactly, I've already received remarks day of people that
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  Speaker 3: were coming and now they're not going to Keynes to
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  Speaker 3: catch fish. They're doing anything else with the domestic traveling
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  Speaker 3: dollar and a year now instead of coming to the
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  Speaker 3: territory to hunt key. But you know, waterfowl hunting has
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  Speaker 3: been been The government and the Department have indicated that
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  Speaker 3: waterfowl hunting tributes between twelve and twenty five million dollars
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  Speaker 3: to the end of the economy. Now it does that
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  Speaker 3: in the good times and as I say, this bag
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  Speaker 3: limit will What it does is it cuts people off
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  Speaker 3: the neck where they say, I'm not going for that
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  Speaker 3: sort of a limit. I'll go for seven. I may
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  Speaker 3: still on issue three, may still only get my three,
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  Speaker 3: but I've got the chance that possibly the opportunity to
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  Speaker 3: get seven. Well know, once again, this government just doesn't
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  Speaker 3: seem to want the territory to expand and use of
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  Speaker 3: a sustainable resource that has shown over the last forty
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  Speaker 3: years is indestructible. And a more recent example of that
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  Speaker 3: is in twenty seven eighten they said the count was
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  Speaker 3: seven hundred and twenty five thousand two. In the next
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  Speaker 3: two years, one of which had the worst wet season
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  Speaker 3: since nineteen ninety two, the population that covered to one
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  Speaker 3: point four eight million. It doubled. Yet they don't so
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  Speaker 3: they will not read the science that we prepared well
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  Speaker 3: that we indicate to them that is their own figures,
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  Speaker 3: not mine.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, but we're I mean, we are going to have
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  Speaker 2: to wrap up. But you know, if you if you
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  Speaker 2: could just give the minister one message, what.
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  Speaker 1: Would it be, Please please listen and work with the
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  Speaker 1: main stakeholder in the map point in the waterfowl hunting season.
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  Speaker 3: Which are the hunters. We're prepared to work their bums
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  Speaker 3: off to make sure there are more geese. That's the
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  Speaker 3: that's the main priority. But hunting has no effect on
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  Speaker 3: the overall population. Work with us and we can make
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  Speaker 3: it even better and it can be an economic driver
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  Speaker 3: plus a social and recreational tool that promotes well being.
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  Speaker 2: Bar Sherwin, I always appreciate your time, mate. It feels
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  Speaker 2: like we have this conversation every year, but some it's
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  Speaker 2: been not a bad you know, it's been a positive one.
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  Speaker 2: Unfortunately this year by the sounds of it, not a
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  Speaker 2: good one for you guys.
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  Speaker 3: No, we've got it in the next you can tell
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  Speaker 3: it's non election.
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  Speaker 2: Here, Barto, and thank you for your time. I always
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: appreciate it, mate, Thank you, thank you. That's Bartow and
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  Speaker 2: there from the end Field and Game Association. And yeah,
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  Speaker 2: a couple of messages coming through from hunters. As I said,
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  Speaker 2: I'm not a hunter, so I'm not sure you know
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  Speaker 2: how many geese sho'd usually go out and get it.
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  Speaker 2: But by the sounds of a couple of texts that
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  Speaker 2: are coming through this morning, are that limit of three
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  Speaker 2: goose three geese, I should say, and ten ducks per
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  Speaker 2: person isn't enough not enough to sort of you know,
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  Speaker 2: to take the time to get yourself organized to go
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  Speaker 2: out there. Says that that Texter