VIC: Shooters, protesters return to first day of duck season
21 Mar 2009 3:15 PM
MELBOURNE, March 21 AAP - The majority of hunters who greeted the beginning of the Victorian duck season behaved responsibly, authorities said.
The duck season runs from March 21 to May 29, with new restrictions, after duck hunting had been banned the previous two years.
Department of Sustainability and Environment director of biodiversity policy and programs Dr Paul Smith said wildlife officers only detected a small number of minor breaches of the stricter restrictions.
"We are heartened that members of the public and licensed duck hunters have largely acted responsibly," he said.
He also warned there were strong penalties for those who ignored these restrictions, which included fines of up to $24,000 or two years prison for anyone who shoots a threatened duck species.
However, the war of words continued between protesters and game shooters who turned out to hunting sites in Victoria.
Field and Game Australia CEO Rod Drew said thousands of hunters turned out to hunting sites across Victoria and enjoyed a "careful morning of shooting" where no birds were left injured by hunters.
It was the duck activists who engaged in illegal and dangerous practices on the morning, he said.
"Field and Game Australia observers held serious concerns for protesters who moved illegally close to hunters' positions and obviously had very little experience at hiking through mud and reeds," he said.
However, Coalition Against Duck Shooting campaign director Laurie Levy said the new restrictions did not improve the behaviour of duck shooters he observed in the Gippsland region on Saturday morning.
"You only had to look at today where duck shooters were shooting before the opening time," he said.
"They were also shooting into the fog where they knew they were being watched by the police, the Department of Sustainability and Environment and media, and they were still doing it."
Mr Levy, who was joined by about 170 protesters, said duck numbers were low this year, as were the number of shooters turning out for the first day of the season.
