That is really scary and upsetting. I am booked on a Melb. water bus tour
at WTP tomorrow. I thought the whole area was a sanctuary and a safe place
for the poor ducks.This will have to be cleared up with Melbourne water, as
they have obligations under The RAMSAR agreement. But the shooters, as
always. are supremely arrogant and play on the fact that there arent the
resources to police the area and stop them.
David Richardson
On Sat, May 2, 2009 at 6:42 PM, <
> wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> While at the Western Treatment Plant today, mainly surveying for
> Orange-bellied Parrots, I came across two duck shooters snapping large
> branches off the native Salt Bush along the beach to construct make-shift
> hides. They both had shot guns and a large supply of cartridges clearly
> visible on their belts. They also had about a dozen realistic wooden duck
> decoys floating in the water. After a brief confrontation where I was
> saying they were not allowed to shoot there and them saying they had
> permission from a Department of Sustainability and Environment employee to
> shoot there I decided to ring the police to settle the argument. A Senior
> Constable attended and after talking to the shooter and to a few contacts
> of mine it was decided that they could stay as long as they were on the
> beach (within 30 metres of the high tide) mark and that they only shoot out
> to sea.
>
> I would like to know if anyone knows what is the official rules in regards
> to duck shooting at the Western Treatment Plant. I personally find it
> offensive that duck shooters choose to shoot at a sanctuary where they know
> there is a good chance of bumping into birdwatchers.
>
> A few reasons why I think duck shooting should be banned at or near the
> Western Treatment Plant are:
>
> Members of the general public frequent the area and drive within metres of
> where they are shooting. Today for example was an open day and had a tour
> bus driving right past the shooters.
>
> There is a good chance of Orange-bellied Parrots being in the area or
> flying past. The bushes the men were tearing apart where within metres of
> where I saw 5 Orange-bellied Parrots several years ago.
>
> The area is a RAMSAR listed sanctuary. What is the point of having this
> status if shooters are allowed to pick off any duck which dares to fly over
> the beach?
>
> By the way, one of the shooters yelled out that the whole world was stuffed
> because of bird watchers. These shooters had departed by the time I left
> however another shooter was walking in from the Beach Road Boat ramp with a
> shotgun over his shoulder. At least these shooters didn't take dogs in with
> them like a pair I saw there 2 years ago.
>
> A lady who was with me mentioned that the fact that these guys can walk
> around with shotguns actually scared her. Any help regarding the official
> rules or what can be done to tighten the rules would be appreciated,
>
> Cheers, Paul
>
> Paul Hackett
>
>
>
>
>
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