Flaviemys purvisi
Very Well-Known Member
By Felicity Caldwell
15 May 2018
Commercial harvesting of crocodile eggs from the wild would be allowed under a Queensland government plan.
Under the proposal, people would be licensed to harvest wild crocodile eggs which could be sold, and resulting animal products, such as lucrative crocodile skins could be exported.
Katter's Australian Party MP Shane Knuth has a private member's bill before the Parliament, which would include crocodile egg harvesting.
Photo: Supplied
The Queensland government has asked the federal government, which regulates wildlife products, to approve a new wildlife trade management plan to allow commercial egg harvesting, and state legislation would also need to be amended.
The commercial wildlife harvest licences would only be issued in limited circumstances, where there was sufficient scientific evidence to show harvesting would not have a negative impact on crocodile populations.
It was expected Queensland's program would involve a maximum anticipated maximum of 5000 eggs per year statewide.
However, there would be an initial 10-year pilot in Pormpuraaw, on the west coast of Cape York, involving Indigenous land and sea rangers who have access nearby to a fully-operational crocodile farm with the necessary facilities for incubation of eggs and rearing of hatchlings.
Research at Pormpuraaw had shown there was a healthy crocodile population in the area, and also found the nests were subject to high levels of mortality due to flooding and predators, the Queensland government said.
At Pormpuraaw, the total number of eggs harvested would not exceed 800 eggs per year for the 10-year pilot.
Since the 1980s, crocodile egg harvesting has been allowed in the Northern Territory, with the industry supplying eggs for commercial crocodile farms that eventually supply skins and leather to international markets.
But the practice is illegal in Queensland, with farms often forced to resort to buying eggs from the Northern Territory because they cannot be sourced locally.
In the Northern Territory, about 120,000 eggs are taken every year, supporting an increasingly profitable egg harvesting industry, while crocodile numbers continue to increase.
Katter's Australian Party has been pushing for crocodile egg harvesting to be legalised in Queensland, with the measure among several proposed in a private member's bill, which also includes hunting safaris led by Indigenous communities and culling by landowners.
KAP MP Shane Knuth said the party would support any measures that introduced egg harvesting in Queensland.
"This is something, right from the beginning, that the KAP had pushed for," he said.
Mr Knuth called on the government to also adopt other measures to make north Queensland waterways safe, by either removing or culling crocodiles.
"If we don't start targeting the crocs, we're going to see serious injuries and further deaths and the loss of domestic animals increase dramatically," he said.
Mr Knuth said the ban on egg harvesting was costing Queensland "millions each year" as eggs had to be imported from the Northern Territory.
"This will be a good return to the state, but will also allow Indigenous communities to apply," he said.
In 2018, there have been 20 problem crocodiles removed and 276 crocodiles reported in Queensland.
There have been 11 fatal attacks and 24 non-fatal attacks in Queensland since 1985.
Estuarine crocodile populations have been recovering from extensive culling and harvesting, which was banned in Queensland in 1974.
There were 84 "problem crocodiles" removed last year, the highest number since 1985, and mostly from coastal wetlands and estuaries between Cooktown and Townsville.
Comments on the proposal close June 15.
