For northern harbour residents the game bird season in May cannot come soon enough as they struggle with fouled beaches and esplanades.
Julie Bezett wades through swan poo.
Omokoroa resident Julie Bezett can't condone running down black swans with a jet boat, but she says they need a cull.
'I'm not opposed to a cull this year,” says Julie.
'Do they realise what these animals are doing?”
She can look across towards Pahoia from Omokoroa to see the water black with swans, and when they move across to the other side, the shallows are left green with drifts of swan poo.
The black swans are counted every year by Eastern Region Fish and Game, with the count this year about 4000, the same they have been for the last three years, says Eastern Region Fish & Game manager Rob Pitkethly.
The birds are counted in January when they are in moult, and shooting them during the hunting season remains the most effective means of population control, says Rob.
'We encourage game bird hunters to target swans.
'The annual organised hunt that occurs on the harbour is organised by the Western Bay of Plenty Fish & Game Club. I don't know if that is happening this year or not.”
Recently released results on the impact swans have on the harbour's sea grass beds is going to give Fish & Game a number to manage the swans to, but the shooting season tallies can vary greatly from one year to the next.
Fish & Game agree the numbers need to be controlled at times but the control options are not as wide as what people say.
'The trouble with the Tauranga swans is they are coming from the Waikato and Rotorua Lakes populations. They are highly migratory birds. They will fly to Tauranga Harbour when the food is in Tauranga Harbour, and fly to the Rotorua Lakes when the food is there.
'Their movements are great. If we walked around Tauranga Harbour and tried to find swan nests it's not going to work. We need a far wider control system, and the best we have is recreational hunting.”
The game bird season starts on May 4.
3 comments
Pests
Posted on 24-03-2013 13:02 | By justice
They are a pest and also a danger to the aviation industry, 1 Swan could easily down a plane. They need to be culled. I disagree that you should not have to buy a season licence to shoot them, if you have a Firearms licence that should be good enough. I know I would knock a few down but not with having to pay near on $100 to do it!
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Posted on 24-03-2013 22:54 | By CC8
The entire Fish and game idea is an outdated imported english model . They imported these pests for their own pleasure, they are responsible for them. They have let it get out of hand and they should be made to get rid of them and or pay for the damage they are causing, those of us who are not interested in their Ho Rah Henry "sports" shouldn't have to pay for the right to rid ourselves of these unwanted space wasters . We don't need them here at all they are not NZ natives, just get rid of them. They are the rats of the waterways.
ya hoo
Posted on 25-03-2013 10:24 | By Sambo
finally I have back up!!!!, a few of us have been trying to tell you all the damage these invasive pests cause for years, and they should be deemed a PEST, like Canada geese, and be able to be shot year round, I dont bloody care if they are migratory or not, if you see one get rid of it, may be you may see all threatened sea life return to OUR harbour, to be enjoyed by the young and others for years to come, not having it destroyed by these flying cess pits.
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