Our glorious goose

How far the goose's stakes have fallen. From premiere game bird to "pest", we now find ourselves being asked to consult on Waikato Regional Council's Regional Pest Management Strategy, and how the "goose problem" should be dealt with. Despite not strictly being "our" (Fish & Game's) problem any more, it would be remiss to not at least make a submission on how to effectively control the goose numbers in the region, rather than allowing for wasteful and expensive culls paid for by rate payers.

Here is Dave Klee's email:

Dear Goose Hunters,
I hope the start of the season is treating you well despite the rather fine and sunny conditions on opening weekend.

I am writing to inform you that the Regional Pest Management Strategy is under review and Canada Geese are in the cross hairs. Below is what the discussion document currently states.

What needs to pointed out is that geese are currently a schedule 5 bird “Not Protected” this is different to being considered a “Pest”. If geese are put on the pest schedule by our Regional Council they will need to be managed. This will invariably involve techniques such as helicopter moult culls.

You have until Next Friday, May 16, to have your say on this proposal. Have your say by going to the following link and clicking on Have your say online http://www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/RPMSreview scroll down to question 9:

This is only a preliminary discussion document, however. it is important for hunters to have their say early on.

Points you may wish to raise may include;
- Geese in our region only affect a proportionately very small number of farms.
- Goose control (such as helicopter culls) are expensive and ratepayers or the farming community as a whole should not be expected to pay for something that affects so few individuals.

- We have a large number of dedicated goose hunters with the necessary knowledge and experience to control geese in areas they are causing problems and that their details are freely available.

- Many of these hunters have and continue to spend a lot of $ time and effort hunting geese and inclusion of geese in the RPMP would undermine their success and participation leading to greater problems in the future.

- Hunters are no longer constrained by season lengths and bag limits and can therefore have a much higher kill rate now that geese are on schedule 5 and can be available year round for control.
- One of the main issues hunters face is getting access to private lands and information from landowners. If there is greater cohesion between hunters and landowners this will benefit farmers in the long term.

- There are plenty of areas of public conservation and F&G lands where geese can happily reside, the focus should be on effects based control on farmland where they are causing problem. Hunters are the most cost effective way of doing so.

-  Many hunters regard geese to be world’s premier game bird both for hunting and eating qualities. To indiscriminately kill large numbers of these birds is wasteful.
- Techniques such as helicopter moult culls can be detrimental to other wildlife utilizing the same areas as the geese.

If you have any questions, comments of feedback do not hesitate to contact me.
Regards

David Klee
Southern Game Bird Manager
Auckland/Waikato Fish & Game Council
156 Brymer Rd
RD9, Hamilton

phn 07-8491666
mobile 021 300 183