Hunting

Previous duck season considerations

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The considerations for the 2020 duck season were provided to stakeholders and informed decisions regarding the 2020 duck season.

The GMA’s recommendation to Government, in December 2019, was based on assessments of rainfall data, wetland conditions, waterfowl abundance and distribution, harvest data and whether hunting activities could impact on the conservation and sustainability of waterbird populations.

When developing advice on season arrangements, the GMA consults with hunting organisations, animal welfare and conservation groups before making a recommendation to Government on duck season arrangements.

View the GMA recommendation to Government on the 2020 duck season arrangements.

Aerial Survey of Wetland Birds in Eastern Australia - October 2019 Annual Summary Report.

The following documents were submitted by invited stakeholders for the 2020 duck hunting season.

The considerations for the 2021 duck season were published on the GMA website and provided to stakeholders and informed decisions regarding the 2021 duck season.

When developing advice on season arrangements, the GMA consults with hunting organisations, animal welfare and conservation groups before making a recommendation to Government on duck season arrangements.

The GMA’s recommendation to Government was based on assessments of rainfall data, wetland conditions, waterfowl abundance and distribution, harvest data and whether hunting activities could impact on the conservation status and sustainability of game duck populations.

View the updated GMA recommendations to Government on the 2021 duck season arrangements - April 2021

View the GMA recommendation to Government on the 2021 duck season arrangements - January 2021.

Note: Some information has been removed from this document, including the names and contact details of non-executive employees for privacy reasons. NSW has released information on its damage mitigation program. As a result, the data provided by NSW to the GMA is now available in this document.

See the Summary of data used to inform the GMA’s recommendation for the 2021 duck season arrangements.

The University of New South Wales has published the summary report of the results of the Eastern Australian Waterbird Survey. View the Aerial Survey of Wetland Birds in Eastern Australia - October 2020 Annual Summary Report.

The following documents were submitted by invited stakeholders for the 2021 duck hunting season.

Please see the considerations for the 2022 duck season, which are provided to stakeholders to inform decisions regarding the 2022 duck season.

When developing advice on season arrangements, the GMA consults with hunting organisations, animal welfare and conservation groups before making a recommendation to Government on duck season arrangements.

The GMA’s recommendation to Government was based on assessments of rainfall data, wetland conditions, waterfowl abundance and distribution, harvest data and whether hunting activities could impact on the conservation status and sustainability of game duck populations.

View the GMA recommendations to Government on the 2022 duck season arrangements

The University of New South Wales has published the summary report of the results of the Eastern Australian Waterbird Survey. View the Aerial Survey of Wetland Birds in Eastern Australia - October 2021 Annual Summary Report.

Please see the Preliminary results from the 2021 survey of game ducks in Victoria.

The full technical report Abundance estimates for game ducks in Victoria 2021 was published on 8 March 2022.

Interim harvest model

The interim harvest model is a tool to inform the daily bag limit for duck seasons.

The model uses information from long-running duck population data to explore the relationship between abundance and habitat availability for Victoria and eastern Australia. This generates five indices that provide information on the current population status of ducks in south eastern Australia. Collectively, these five indices are awarded points and, when totalled, equal the proposed daily bag limit, which could range from zero (closed season) to ten.

Results from the interim harvest model outcomes report, including its advice for the 2022 duck season, can be found in Using duck proxies and surface water to inform hunting arrangements.

The model has been developed by two members of the 2019 expert panel that reviewed the proposed revised approach to implementing Adaptive Harvest Management (AHM) (Professor Marcel Klaassen and Professor Richard Kingsford), in consultation with the community. This interim harvest model was developed to inform decisions on duck bag limits while AHM is being prepared for implementation. The AHM requires several more years of data before it can function effectively.

The results of the interim harvest model will be considered by the GMA Board together with stakeholder feedback and the information presented above.

Stakeholder submissions

The following documents were submitted by interested stakeholders for the 2022 duck hunting season

When developing advice on season arrangements, the GMA consults with hunting organisations, animal welfare and conservation groups before making a recommendation to Government on duck season arrangements.

The GMA’s recommendation to Government was based on assessments of rainfall data, wetland conditions, waterfowl abundance and distribution, harvest data and whether hunting activities could impact on the conservation status and sustainability of game duck populations.

View the GMA recommendations to Government on the 2023 duck season arrangements.

Information considered

Please see the summary of information considered for the 2023 duck season.

The GMA considered a range of data to inform its recommendation to Government on the 2023 duck season. Including:

  • Daily bag limit recommendations from the Interim Harvest Model
  • Abundance, breeding and habitat availability indices from the Eastern Australian Waterbird Survey (EAWS) produced by the University of New South Wales
  • Climate and water data for eastern Australia from the Bureau of Meteorology
  • any additional data submitted by stakeholders.

The GMA consults with hunting organisations, animal welfare and conservation groups.

Interim harvest model

The interim harvest model is a tool to inform the daily bag limit for duck seasons.

The model uses information from long-running duck population data sets to explore the relationship between game duck abundance and habitat availability. This generates five indices that broadly inform on the current population status of ducks in eastern Australia. The relationship between the total point score and historic seasonal arrangements produces a recommended daily bag limit for the forthcoming season.

Results from the interim harvest model output report, including its advice for the 2023 duck season, can be found in Using duck proxies and surface water to inform hunting arrangements for 2023.

The model has been developed by two members of the 2019 expert panel that reviewed the proposed revised approach to implementing Adaptive Harvest Management (AHM) (Professor Marcel Klaassen and Professor Richard Kingsford), in consultation with the community. This interim harvest model was developed to inform decisions on duck bag limits while AHM is being prepared for implementation. The AHM requires several more years of data before it can function effectively.