Is an
answer that Australian Painted
Snipe is not a "game bird".
Philip
-----Original Message-----
From: Megan Mears
[mailto:]
Sent: Saturday, 9 February 2013 2:06
PM
To: COG Chatline
Subject: [canberrabirds] Souris vs
Snipe
Dear all,
Jack Holland's editorial in the
recent Gang-gang prompted me to find out more about the Australian Painted Snipe
(APS). I hadn't realised that the APS is 'nationally threatened under the EPBC
Act'
http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/publications/pubs/painted-snipe.pdf
though I'm sure many of you are well aware.
On the APS Project section at
the Birds Austalia website the APS is listed as
- Endangered in New South Wales
- Threatened in Victoria
and 'In 2011 BirdLife Australia nominated the Australian Painted Snipe
to be upgraded to Endangered under the EPBC Act; a result will be found in
2012.' http://birdlife.org.au/projects/painted-snipe-project
I
was interested in the APS's status, as a form letter I received from The Hon
George Souris last week, states the following (italics):
Under
existing legislation game bird hunting is allowed on agricultural land for pest
management purposes. Under the new laws game bird hunting will be allowed for
“sustainable agricultural management purposes only”.
Currently under the
National Parks and Wildlife Act individuals can obtain a licence to hunt game
birds on private land in NSW for pest management purposes.
The Office of
Environment and Heritage (OEH) administers the native game bird licensing regime
for land-holders and hunters. Hunters are also required to have a Game Council
issued general licence.
The OEH establishes annual quotas of
native game birds to be culled based on scientific evidence. In the year
2009/10 when John Robertson was the Environment Minister the quota was
33,425.
Game bird hunting predominantly happens in rice growing areas
like the Riverina and towns nearby the Murray. Some are issued for cereal crops
or to protect areas such as golf courses.
The Shooters and Fishers
Party’s Bill proposed removing many restrictions on native game bird hunting,
with the policy development and administration of licences to be done by the
Game Council.
The Government’s amendments that were supported by
Parliament provide better protection for native game birds and ensure an ongoing
role for the Office of Environment and Heritage.
Under the changes native
game bird hunting will be restricted to sustainable agricultural management
purposes only.
The policy development and science, including the setting
of quotas, will be done by a new Game Bird Management
Committee.Naturally my first thought was for an alternative universe
where this is not happening but then I became curious about a conflict between
the laws that protect the APS and those that allow game bird hunting nearby the
Murray. At
http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/publications/pubs/painted-snipe.pdf
it
states
The species has a scattered distribution throughout many parts of
Australia, with a single
record from Tasmania. Though some individuals are
apparently resident in some areas, other
individuals appear to be nomadic,
temporarily occupying areas where suitable habitat exists.
The Murray–Darling
drainage system appears to have been a key area for this species, as
many
records of this species come from this region.
Although the
Australian Painted Snipe can occur across Australia, the areas of most
sensitivity
to the species are those wetlands where the birds frequently
occur and are known to breed.
Ideally one of you will tell me a process
is already well underway, that it will clog the court for years, buying lots of
time for the APS and other birds, until there are policy or gov't changes
however I also looked on the Duck Hunting website which starts in Victoria in
March and is looking like an excellent season. Is anyone aware of whether the
effects of shooters removing 33 000 game birds from areas near the Murray
consitutes 'a significant impact on a matter of national environmental
significance' for the APS? If it is likely there is a referral procedure
through the Australian Government Dept of the Env. Water, Heritage and the Arts,
