THE state’s kangaroo harvesting industry is set for a jump-start with government announcing it will lift the cap on commercial processing licences.
Currently there are only 11 licences held by seven companies.
Deputy Premier John Barilaro and Minister for Primary Industries Niall Blair said the change would open the door for at least 18 companies that were waiting to enter the roo processing market.
In 2016, the commercial harvesting quota for red and grey kangaroos was 2,547,318 but only 352,464 were harvested.
In February The Land reported the harvest quota - about 15 per cent of the kangaroo population – is never met, failing by nearly 90 per cent in recent years. The number of harvesters has also declined dramatically from seven years ago from 900 to 380 last year (slightly up from 2016).
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An Office of Environment and Heritage-commissioned analysis of roo management framework in 2017 showed the licence cap arrangement is was, at best, contributing to an unnecessary regulatory burden and impeding the commercial kangaroo harvesting industry.
At worst, it was creating and sustaining anti-competitive behaviour, and “has resulted in sub-licensing arrangements that undermine the cap and distort the market”.
Mr Barilaro said lifting the cap would encourage more companies to start processing kangaroo meat, but will not affect the current quota of kangaroos that can be culled each year.
“(These changes) means we have a chance to grow the kangaroo processing industry by over 86 per cent within the current and sustainable quota that already exists,” Mr Barilaro said.
Commercial harvest of kangaroos remains prohibited within National Parks and other reserved areas.
Last month farmers in the state’s Western Region reported they had been dealing with high kangaroo numbers since the good seasons of 2010-11, and that commercial harvesting was doing little to control them.
The drought-related mass roo deaths out west have been dubbed an animal welfare shame, while the huge population is also impacting graziers’ paddocks.
“Lifting the cap is just one measure that allows us to manage kangaroo populations in a humane and sustainable way, reducing the burden on landholders, the environment and primary production,” Mr Blair said.
OEH is responsible for all aspects of the kangaroo management program including licensing, monitoring kangaroo populations and the commercial industry, reporting, public consultation and program development and review.
The Kangaroo Management Advisory Panel is established under the NSW Commercial Kangaroo Harvest Management Plan 2017–2021 and includes representatives from industry, natural resource management and conservation, animal welfare, landholders, harvesters, and the Aboriginal community.