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Further implications
One of the intended consequences of the Northern Territory's new Crocodile Management Program is to provide more economic opportunities for the Territory's indigenous citizens.Most of the areas where Indigenous populations are concentrated in the Northern Territory have limited potential for conventional economic growth. Economic activity has been restricted to a handful of industries, such as mining, tourism, and arts and crafts, and more recently payment for environmental services. To expand and diversify income and establish more sustainable livelihoods, Indigenous people have become involved in the commercial use of wildlife, including crocodiles.
The harvesting of crocodile eggs is already an established source of income for Indigenous people in the Northern Territory even before the recent increase in the number of crocodile eggs that could be legally harvested from the wild. A 2019 CITES report on the economic impact in The Northern Territory of harvesting wildlife stated, 'The livelihood benefits of the crocodile harvest and trade to rural communities are diverse, significant, and hard to replace. Hundreds of people from rural communities, including many Indigenous communities, are employed in the harvest, and farming of saltwater crocodiles. Most of these jobs are in remote rural areas with very few alternative sources of employment or non-welfare income. Egg payments at an average AUD 25 are an important source of additional income. At 30,000 eggs harvested from Indigenous lands, at an average of approximately AUD 25, the egg harvest generates around AUD 750, 000 per year to Aboriginal Traditional Owners of land from the egg payments alone. The Aboriginal communities that have established facilities for incubating eggs and raising stock to a yearling stage locally, within their community, gain increased benefits from selling yearling crocodiles.
Under the new Northern Territory Crocodile Management Program, the egg harvesting quota has been lifted from 70,000 to 90,000 crocodile eggs per annum which should increase the earning opportunities of Indigenous harvesters. Though the income provided to individuals through this employment is only moderate, as the CITES report notes, it is important in regions offering few employment opportunities to Indigenous workers. In 2012, a study was untaken of the success of an Indigenous owned and operated crocodile egg harvesting operation in the Maningrida region. The Djelk Rangers of Maningrida in Arnhem Land represent over 102 clans and 12 language groups. One of the areas the collaborative (Djelk Wildlife Enterprises or Djelk) operates in is crocodile egg harvesting. Commercial crocodile egg-harvesting ?rst began in this area in the 1980s and was primarily conducted by non-indigenous operators who did not focus on Indigenous livelihoods. The Djelk enterprise is an example of an Indigenous ranger collaborative owning and managing a business which harvests and incubates crocodile eggs before selling them on to crocodile farms. Again, the income opportunities this offers are moderate, however, having Indigenous people running the enterprise offers larger incomes and more stability of employment than simple egg collection.
The Arafura Swamp Rangers Aboriginal Corporation (ASRAC) has taken the process a stage further with the establishment of a hatchery and grow out facility. The Corporation has stated, 'As well as boosting employment opportunities and providing increased economic independence, the hatchery is a source of pride as people can work with an animal with which they have a close cultural connection. For many years harvested crocodile eggs have been sold to farms elsewhere but returns can be significantly increased by hatching and growing the animals on-site. Crocodiles grown by ASRAC will be sold once they are almost a metre in length. The profits will fund land management activities that protect crocodile habitat in Gurruwiling.' Indigenous people appear to want greater involvement and control in the harvesting and farming of crocodiles. One of the Central Arnhem Land Traditional Owners, Balngarra man Otto Bulmaniya Campion, has called for more Indigenous involvement in the crocodile industry. He has stated, 'My father, all the elders, used to go and harpoon crocodiles, get a skin, and go and trade it for tea, flour, and sugar. . . Now, we want to see our own people handling reptiles.'
A more controversial area where some Indigenous people are seeking greater involvement is in the physical harvesting of live crocodiles. Currently killing fully grown crocodiles is a carefully monitored activity in Western Australia, Queensland, and the Northern Territory. Jida Gulpilil, son of the world famous Yol?u actor David Gulpilil, is calling for more involvement of Aboriginal landowners in live crocodile harvesting. Gulpilil's interest is in the hunting of crocodiles. Gulpilil has stated, 'People do want to live and prosper on their own homelands.' Referring to his own plans, he has stated, 'We are seeking the support and approval towards the sustainable use of saltwater crocodile live harvest commercially. . . You have the potential to bring in high-paying clients to live harvest saltwater crocodiles around our community areas . . .' Gulpilil ha been careful to stress that the business model he is proposing would be very different form 'safari-hunting . . . This is not Africa, this is Australia, we don't do safari,'
Crocodile safaris have been proposed intermittently in the past and have always proved controversial. In 2014, the then federal government rejected a Northern Territory proposal for safaris. The then federal environment minister Greg Hunt stated, 'My view is that there was a risk of cruel and inhumane treatment.'
Other federal governments have been similarly unsupportive. Under Northern Territory law, including the new Crocodile Management Program, saltwater and freshwater crocodiles are protected and can only be killed or removed with a permit. Permits may be given to ranger groups, shires, or land managers to trap or shoot problem crocodiles where there is a clear need to do so and there is no other alternative. Protected species also need federal approval to be killed or culled. Jida Gulpilil appears to hope that there will be scope within the current regulations to run crocodile hunts and charge those who take part. He has stated, 'We are reframing it to be more of a sustainable management system, [as] part of our land management and conservation efforts.' He has indicated he hopes to set up an enterprise where permitted clients would be able to take a trophy such as a skull or a skin of a crocodile pegged for removal. The Northern Territory government clearly favours Indigenous businesses built around crocodile harvesting. The Northern Territory Environment Minister Kate Worden has stated, 'Whether it's trophy hunting or it's starting a small enterprise in a remote community, what we do want is to get Aboriginal people across the Northern Territory working.'
The response of federal governments is more uncertain.