THE Eastern Australian Waterbird Survey (EAWS) is a long-running annual survey, which is now overseen by the University of New South Wales, and 2023 marks the 41st year of continuous data gathering.
Importantly, the university identifies that: “This long-term data provides the essential baseline information with which to assess changes and impacts on the environment, particularly wetlands and rivers. It also provides the only long-term objective data on waterbird populations in Australia. This has proved particularly relevant in understanding the dynamics of environmental water needs for biodiversity purposes, especially as they relate to waterbirds and wetlands. Changes in waterbird numbers provides a tangible way of indicating and measuring changes in the ecological health of river and wetland systems”.
The EAWS is an important and useful survey, however the survey is not a measure of waterbird (specifically game duck) abundance.
The survey draws no connection whatsoever between hunting and duck populations.
In fact, the survey’s creator and Australian leader in wetland science, Dr Richard Kingsford, has previously stated: “The results are equivocal about the role of hunting in determining waterfowl abundance” (1) – meaning that, despite trying, Dr Kingsford has been unable to draw a distinct connection to population and hunting impacts – leading him to further state that “duck hunting is not a major conservation issue”. “It may have an impact on a local area, but overall, migration dilutes out any of these effects.”
A decrease in the number of ducks counted on the wetlands surveyed does not mean there are fewer ducks in Australia. It only means there were fewer ducks in the wetlands the survey covered (which were limited) – or that the ducks that were in those wetlands could not be seen from an aeroplane flying overhead at more than 160km/h. This would be particularly true for ducks sitting on nests.
Dr Kingsford also made observations in his blogs during the 2022 survey. Comments such as: “Waterbirds are spoilt for choice at the moment in terms of habitat across eastern Australia”; and, “There were relatively few waterbirds across the river red gum forest. But a few pairs of ducks probably indicated breeding, another common observation during this survey.” (2)
The lack of ducks in his count is indicative of a huge amount of available habitat this year that is not in the survey area – and when ducks are breeding they are generally scarce as far as being able to be counted from a passing aeroplane.
Anti-hunters though – presumably none of whom have looked out a window recently and observed this boom in duck habitat – have seized on their favourite pastime, which is cherry-picking data and scaremongering to push their ideological agenda. They are making claims that the low count numbers are indicative of population declines, and that “only colonial birds are breeding” – again discounted by Kingsford himself, and the survey data which showed the measure of breeding birds (breeding indices) as being the second highest on record.
The RSPCA has even gone so far as to make the ridiculous claim that it is worried that the South Australian floods might have “decimated duck populations”. It seems to be completely unaware that Australian ducks float, can fly, are waterproof, and they breed in flood conditions.
Ducks respond very quickly to the ideal conditions created by flooding and spread out across the landscape to make the most of the abundant food and good nesting habitat. In dry times, they concentrate back onto the waterways and are easier to count – but this doesn’t mean there are more ducks in droughts than in floods – and the claim only works to destroy any credibility that these anti-hunters may have thought they had. They will literally say anything to raise concern – without caring if there’s any semblance of truth in it.
The truth is that the last quarter of 2022 and the first month of 2023 have been ideal conditions for ducks in eastern Australia. The Marry-Darling Basin is full to overflowing, and ducks are breeding in numbers rarely seen. Not only will this result in increased duck numbers this year, it has historically been an indicator of great numbers of ducks for several years to come.
There is no scientific reason for the calls to end duck hunting in Victoria; the argument is purely ideological.
People who avoid any meat or animal products only constitute one per cent of the population (3) – leaving the other 99 per cent of the population to make their own choices on where their meat comes from.
Harvesting a naturally sustainable, renewable, free-range source of meat, which was raised on land otherwise unsuitable for agriculture or food production, and which benefits the wider ecosystem as a whole, seems like the best choice to duck hunters.
