There are concerns that commercialised deer meat in Tasmania would fail to meet Australian standards for traceability as calls grow for a population management plan.
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A Senate committee, which is exploring the impact of feral deer, pigs and goats in Australia, met in Launceston on Tuesday.
It heard evidence from the Australian Deer Association, Tasmanian Deer Action Committee, Lenah Game Meats and the Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment.
Tasmanian Deer Advisory Committee chairperson Andrew Winwood raised several concerns about the potential commercialisation of deer.
He said commercialisation could lead to an increase in game theft and pointed to difficulties tracing where the meat has come from.
"If I sell it there is a responsibility under Australian law that I can provide traceability and I don't believe that can happen," Mr Winwood said.
Australian Deer Association Tasmanian coordinator Scott Freeman said the ADA was also against the commercialisation of deer in the state.
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Lenah Game Meats owner John Kelly disagreed and pointed to other states where deer meat was successfully sold on the commercial market.
He said commercialisation would also be an extra incentive to help control the population.
"I don't put to this committee that commercial use of deer is the answer to controlling deer in any way. I do however believe it can play a very significant role in deer control and management," Mr Kelly said.
"What deer commercialisation can do is offer an additional level of incentive to control deer. Recreational shooting and all of the other forms of deer control is one control however commercial use just adds another layer of incentive.
"What is also does is minimise waste."
Although the three groups could not agree on whether to commercialise deer meat they all agreed something needed to be done to get deer out of the World Heritage area.
They all also agreed that classifying deer as a pest would not solve the problem of overpopulation.
The committee also heard evidence from two DPIPWE representatives, Agriculture and Water division acting general manager Danielle Poirier and Gaming Services Tasmania manager Robin Thompson, on what the government was doing about the issue.
Ms Poirier said the government was taking a balanced approach to managing the deer population.
She said it was doing this to manage the differing opinions among stakeholders.
To listen to the entire two hour committee hearing click hear.
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Jackson Worthington
General news reporter with a special interest in social justice, the economy and family violence. Jackson.Worthington@austcommunitymedia.com.au
General news reporter with a special interest in social justice, the economy and family violence. Jackson.Worthington@austcommunitymedia.com.au
