Premier Gutwein says hunting and fishing okay

Game Services have asked us to remind people of the following:

• Public land managed by Parks and Wildlife Services remains closed to the public for all activities including hunting and fishing. 
• Areas managed by Sustainable Timber Tasmania remain closed to the public for all activities including hunting and fishing. 
• All lakes, lands and boat ramps managed by Hydro Tasmania have been closed to the public for all activities including hunting and fishing. 
• People should stick to hunting private land. Due to the stricter quarantine requirements, and the fact that a lot of private hunting land is also working farms, hunters should seek specific permission from the landowner to ensure access is still being granted. 
• People should take care when travelling to hunt or fish, bearing in mind that they are entering into communities and regions with limited health care facilities and older populations at greater risk from Covid-19. 
• If you can hold off on hunting and fishing during the lockdown period, Game Services would urge you to do so, following the Premier’s over-riding plea to Stay Home and Save Lives. 

Our advice: Things seem to be changing very quickly and government departments are scrambling to keep up with all the changes. DPIPWE and Game Services did not know about Premier Gutwein’s comments this morning until after the fact, and have been flooded with many phone calls from confused people trying to seek clarity on what is allowed and what isn’t.

We would urge everyone to exercise caution and practice patience.

It is highly possible if you get pulled over travelling to or from your hunting or fishing property that the police officer you are talking to may not be aware of Gutwein’s comments relating to hunting and fishing.

We would strongly advise people to download a copy of the video in this article and save it to your phone.

We would also strongly advise checking with the relevant authorities directly before you leave, as the situation may have changed since this article was written. 

We would also recommend limiting your travel as much as possible and taking care of your interactions in the local communities you are travelling into. You can also choose to remain at your hunting or fishing property for the duration of the lockdown.  

As frustrating as some of these restrictions may be, it’s also important to remember that hunters in other states and countries have it even tougher. In New Zealand, all hunting has been banned. Western Australia, Queensland and Victoria have recently shut down gun shops and made it illegal to purchase firearms or ammunition. For the moment, the Tasmanian government is still allowing us to hunt and fish. 

DISCLAIMER: This information was accurate at the time of publication. Due to the fast-changing nature of current events, we cannot guarantee the accuracy after publication and acknowledge things may change. We are doing all we can to see clarification from the relevant authorities before publishing updates.

Please note, this applies only to Tasmania. We are not aware what changes have been made or how they apply to hunters in other states or countries. We strongly urge you to contact your local government departments to ask directly how any changes, regulations or lockdowns affects your ability to hunt or fish. We would also like to make it clear that we are not the official source of information for this, but simply passing on important information to our members and followers. For official information on Covid-19, please refer to the following websites:

• coronavirus.tas.gov.au
• http://www.dpac.tas.gov.au/divisions/ssmo/coronavirus
• https://www.primaryhealthtas.com.au/for-health-professionals/novel-coronavirus-response/
• https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert/coronavirus-covid-19-current-situation-and-case-numbers