As farms across the Saanich Peninsula prepare for spring seeding, the issue of goose depredation has come to the fore. Some landowners are seriously considering whether it is worth planting certain crops any longer.
The sa国际传媒 goose population has soared in recent years, and most of the birds have become full-time residents of the region. There are about 6,000 sa国际传媒 geese on the peninsula, and that number is projected to expand 10-fold over the next two decades.
Moreover, it appears other species are being attracted by the resident flocks. White-fronted geese, which traditionally migrate down the West Coast from Alaska to California, have been spotted. Snow geese have also arrived.
The economic impact is considerable. Some farms report annual losses of $40,000 to $60,000. Others have abandoned more vulnerable crops, such as lettuce and corn, entirely.
There are accounts of whole fields being either eaten or trampled, and this at a time when the industry is struggling. Between 1996 and 2011, productive farmland in the capital region declined from 15,000 hectares to 13,600. Farm income also fell, and fewer young families came into the business.
Other pressures are involved, of course, in particular the growing cost of land.
Yet demand for locally grown food has never been higher, both because consumers enjoy eating home-grown produce, and because the falling Canadian dollar has made imports less affordable.
The question is whether that demand can be met, if something isn鈥檛 done to reduce the goose population.
Juan de Fuca Electoral Area director Mike Hicks has offered a proposal. At present, federal crop-protection regulations allow farmers to shoot between five and 10 geese a week.
Blinds and decoys must not be used, and the birds must be left where they fall. Their meat cannot be harvested. The objective is not to reduce the population in any meaningful way, but simply to scare the birds away.
This is at best a poor solution, since most of the geese simply fly off to someone else鈥檚 land.
Hicks proposes that local municipalities relax their firearm bylaws to allow hunting within their boundaries. Provincial regulations would then take over, and those permit larger bag limits.
Farmers, or hunters they allow on their land, could each shoot 10 geese a day during the eight-week open season. Blinds and decoys could be used, and the meat could be retained for human consumption.
Safety regulations would still apply, meaning no shooting near houses, livestock or roads.
Central Saanich councillors have directed staff to consider this proposal, and Fred Haynes, a member of Saanich council, is hopeful his colleagues will adopt it. Hicks has asked other municipalities in the region to lend their support.
This is obviously a controversial proposal. Shooting geese will raise the same objections that accompany deer or rabbit culls.
Many residents firmly believe geese, like other wild creatures, have as much right to exist as we do. If pushed, some can live with less radical steps, such as addling eggs. But they oppose an outright cull.
There is no easy answer here. Yet the projected increase in the goose population compels our attention. If even half the anticipated number take up residence on the peninsula, many small farms will be endangered.
Jobs will be lost, food production will fall and some neighbourhood lakes might become too polluted for human use. Half measures will not suffice in the face of such risks.
And time is running short. Once our goose population has reached the tens of thousands, whatever options remain will not be attractive.
Ideally, public policies should be sensitive to those most affected. In this instance, farmers, whose livelihood is on the line, have most to lose. Theirs is the dominant concern.
