Lack of patrol putting seabirds at risk, advocate warns

The head of the Rod and Gun Club in Lewisporte says the area's seabird population could be at risk, because of a lack of enforcement on local coastlines.

Perry Cooper says the Canadian Wildlife Service no longer has an enforcement officer working on Newfoundland's northeast coast and he is concerned that too many migratory birds are being killed by hunters.

"With the encroaching northern ice, eider ducks and turrs will be pushed closer to shore and into pools of water where they could easily over-harvested, or if you want to use the word — slaughtered," said Cooper.

"If there's nobody patrolling as an act of deterrence then you can see destruction of a resource rather quickly."

Under pressure

Cooper said that since the retirement the lone wildlife officer in the area, the patrol office in the community has remained empty, with nobody left to patrol the area.

Since the enforcement of the migratory game bird resource falls under the responsibility of Environment Canada, he said they petitioned the federal government for an officer roughly a year ago.

Now, the situation has become desperate and people are worried the turr population will not hold up under so much pressure.

"There is nobody in the northeast coast left to patrol the waters of Notre Dame Bay and Bonavista Bay and to enforce the federal migratory rules and regulations pertaining to the harvest of waterfowl, which are mostly turrs and eider ducks," Cooper told CBC's Central Morning Show.

He added that around 25 years ago, the government strategically placed the office in the area because of the importance of waterfowl conservation.

Harvest patrols

Cooper said the area was supposed get an officer from Corner Brook or St. John's to patrol from time to time, adding that is near impossible since there are "just a handful of officers in Newfoundland and Labrador."

He said this is peak duck and turr hunting season and without enforcement the resource could be destroyed.

"It's impossible for them to look after their own jurisdiction and to patrol an area which was once covered by two officers, I mean you can only spread yourself so thin," said Cooper.

"Over the years Environment Canada and other agencies spent a lot of money enhancing the migratory game bird population and the eider duck population along our coast ... once it's gone, how do you get it back?"

Greedy hunters?

Copper hasn't witnessed poaching personally but said the province is small and you don't need to go very far before you hear the stories.

Stories like Walter Parsons', a turr hunter who lives in Placentia.

He said hunters are arriving in Placentia Bay by the dozen, filling their boats with seabirds, and coming back for more.

"It seems that the same people are coming every time the weather is fit to go out ... and I often wonder what they do with all the turrs because your only allowed a possession of 40 according to the rules," said Parsons.

"So they're either eating a lot of turrs or they got other ways of disposing of them."

While he's not opposed to people from other areas hunting in Placentia Bay, he's just worried the rules aren't being followed.

"Some of the people seem to be a bit greedy, from stories I've been told, that some hunters come in and they dump their turrs aboard a waiting truck and head out again ... and then there's stories told about that a lot of these turrs are being sold," Parsons told CBC's The Broadcast.

"I can't help but wonder how long they'll last … we are told that turrs do not even hatch until they are five years old and at the rate they are being slaughtered now, I don't think too many of them are going to see their fifth birthday."

"I think it's due time that some action be taken."

Taking action

Cooper said many people in the Lewisporte area have expressed concern and he will be meeting with MP Scott Simms on Monday, to talk about the problem.

The goal is to have the two vacant positions in Lewisporte filled.

Given Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's emphasis on environmental protection, Cooper said he is hopeful that their concerns will be taken seriously .

"Not only do these wildlife officers ... protect the migratory game bird population but they keep their eyes open for other things such as oil spills ... and without these individuals out there patrolling, it's a free-for-all," said Cooper.

"Having officers patrolling our coast benefits everybody, not just the resource but the environment as well."