Hunting

24,481 hunting license holders on average in 2021-22, an increase of 31% since 2016-17.
Licensed hunters harvested 13,914 pest animals as reported to DPI from NSW State Forests in 2021-22.
DPI Hunting conducted over 4,000 hours of active operations and over 25,000 days of electronic surveillance in 2021-2022.

Hunting is recognised as a legitimate recreational pursuit which provides substantial economic benefits to rural and regional communities in NSW. Additionally, recreational hunting is a tool used in the management of many game and pest animals that negatively impact the environment, agricultural production and communities.

The NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) oversees the education, licensing and compliance for hunting activities on both private and public land in NSW, with game and feral animal hunting in NSW subject to regulations to ensure the safety of surrounding communities. Conditions that apply to legal hunting in NSW are set out in the Game and Feral Animal Control Act 2002 and the Game and Feral Animal Control Regulation 2022.

Various educational programs are run by DPI Hunting to support responsible hunting and compliance by recreational hunters on public and private lands such as ethical bow hunting, responsible pig dogging, and the GunSmart program (the NSW firearms safety initiative). DPI Hunting also administers the Hunter Learning, Education and Accreditation Program (LEAP) that includes a range of accredited training, short courses, workshops and manuals.

Hunting in NSW

Average number of NSW recreational hunting licences (Restricted and General)¹⁶⁷^af

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There were 24,481 current license holders on average in 2021-22, an increase of 31% since 2016-17. A Restricted License is required to hunt game and feral animals on public land that has been declared and opened to hunting, or on private land with the permission of the landholder, while a General Licence is required for hunting game birds on private property in NSW, including native species under the Native Game Bird Management Program. General licences represented 7% of the total number of hunting license (General and Restricted) as of September 2022.¹⁶⁷

A total of 52,837 written permissions to hunt in NSW State Forests were issued for 2021-22 an increase of 5% over the previous year reflecting, in part, a continued recovery following the COVID pandemic impact on the ability of people to travel widely, in addition to the effects of bushfires and floods that have been experienced across NSW over the last three years. Increased recreational hunting is a useful economic contributor to many regional economies.

In undertaking the DPI’s function to ensure compliance of hunting activities, DPI Hunting conducted over 4,000 hours of active operations and over 25,000 days (600,000 hours) of electronic surveillance in 2021-2022 DPI 2022.¹⁶⁷

Licensed hunters harvested 13,914 pest animals as reported to DPI from NSW State Forests in 2021-22, ¹⁶⁷ reducing the impacts of these species on native animals and ecosystems. Of the feral deer harvested, 82% were Fallow deer. Additionally, hunters play an important role in biosecurity to prevent the spread of animal disease by adhering to biosecurity protocols and by developing an understanding of clinical signs of diseases to look for in pest animals, such as Foot and Mouth Disease.¹⁶⁶

Pest animals harvested from NSW state forests in 2021-22¹⁶⁷

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Stronger Primary Industries Strategy

Harvest Strategies

The NSW Department of Primary Industries is partnering with commercial, recreational and Aboriginal cultural fishers across NSW to develop tailored Harvest Strategies to improve transparent and effective management of key fish stocks in NSW.

Harvest Strategies are used all over the world, and have been adopted in most Australian fisheries jurisdictions to improve monitoring and management decisions for key fish stocks and the outcomes for fish resources and the stakeholders that enjoy or rely on them.

Strategic Outcome

Sustainable Resources and Productive Landscapes

A Harvest Strategy defines management objectives for a fish stock or fishery, and brings together the key scientific monitoring, assessment and management measures used to make decisions to achieve the objectives, including those related to the intensity of fishing activity to be applied to a species or catch to be removed from a fishery. This promotes transparent, proactive and decisive management that avoids ad hoc, reactionary or delayed decisions.

A Harvest Strategy can be developed at the species or fishery level to bring together commercial, recreational and Aboriginal fishing in an integrated fishery or stock management approach. Harvest Strategies are developed through Harvest Strategy Working Groups in partnership with Government and key stakeholders, with each working group considering ecological, economic and/or social and cultural factors in determining the objectives of each strategy.

Developing Harvest Strategies in NSW is progressing, with four Harvest Strategy Working Groups already established for Trawl Whiting, Lobster, Spanner Crab and the iconic Mulloway.

The Trawl Whiting Harvest Strategy is the first Harvest Strategy for NSW, adopted in early 2022 following public consultation and final review. This strategy provides a new management framework for two important commercial species (Eastern School and Stout Whiting – collectively known as ‘Trawl Whiting’), with stocks and harvest shared with Commonwealth and Queensland respectively. The new strategy was used by the independent Total Allowable Fishing (TAF) Committee to guide the setting of Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for Trawl Whiting for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 fishing seasons.

Adoption of the Trawl Whiting Harvest Strategy was closely followed by adoption of the NSW Lobster Fishery Harvest Strategy in early 2022. The newly adopted strategy was again used by the TAF Committee to guide the TAC setting for Eastern Rock Lobster for the 2022/23 fishing period, resulting in a Total Allowable Commercial Catch (TACC) of 200 tonnes, an increase of 20 tonnes from the previous fishing period and the highest TAC determined in the history of the fishery.

In addition to existing groups that have developed or are working on developing strategies, an Expression of Interest (EOI) was released in August 2022 to establish a new working group to develop Harvest Strategies for key species in the NSW line and trap fisheries, commencing with Snapper and Kingfish.

This is an important program, with development to continue to enhance effective and agreed approaches to support sustainable management of fisheries resources in NSW.