Agriculture Minister, Johnson Drigo has announced that the hunting season is officially opened.
The minister made that announcement while speaking to the media on Wednesday.
He said following the passage of Tropical Storm Erika, concerns were raised about the season, however Drigo noted that the season has been from October 1 and will end on December 31, 2015.
“Hunting season is officially opened as of October 1st 2015 in its traditional form,” Drigo said. “Certain persons did express some concerns, even within the ministry itself there were certain divisions in the ministry who raised some concerns, but the season is officially opened and it’s opened for both fresh water fishing and wildlife …’
The minister advised hunters that they must purchase licenses at offices in the Botanical Gardens before attempting to hunt any wildlife on the island,
“Hunters must understand that there are laws governing hunting and therefore anybody found hunting illegally will be prosecuted under the laws of the Commonwealth of Dominica,” he warned.
It was rather heart warming when Minister Drigo announced to the general public that the season was opened, however upon arrival to the Forestry, they refused to provide with the license…… My question here now is THE FORESTRY DIVISION IS IT SOME HOW BIGGER THAN OUR HONORABLE MINISTER??
STOP MISLEADING THE CITIZENS OF THIS COUNTRY!
I feel sorry for our crabs this time of year. You know how many millions “Bubbles” earned from selling “Crab Back.” At this rate, they’re quietly heading for extinction.
I feel sorry for them too. Cus after they hunted all during the off season they get a blow from erika and now they gonna continue to be hunted. MORE POLICING OF ILLEGAL HUNTING NEEDS TO BE DONE DURING OFF SEASON!!!
They need to hunt these animal into extinction. We don’t need no Manicou on the Island. If we had mongoose and monkeys they too would be eaten too? Come-on people, we now live in an enlightened age where food is now in abundance. Why continue with the “hunters and gatherers” culture? Shoooooot
He has a Villas 2 show how much was harvested lol
cant wait to eat some crabs, Breadfruit and Codfish, oh how I wish I was country side.There is nothing here in Roseau than Misery.
As regular visitors to Dominica, my family took painful note of how animals are treated, including domestic animals tied up and caged up all day, as well as zoo animals who are trapped in concrete enclosures, never seeing the sun filtering through the leaves or feeling the fresh grass. I have read several bad reviews in Trip Advisor about this, and the image of animals suffering can only make it worse, even if it’s what you call rodents for wildlife hunting… especially with that picture! If you truly want to help the island, educate the people about taking care of their dogs humanely and with love. The vast majority of tourists, especially eco-tourists want to see relaxed, happy animals living in harmony with man and nature.
You picked the wrong island to see that. An island in which the people don’t treat their animals in a humane and caring manner also doesn’t treat it’s people well either.
No matter open or close hunting will still take place,this has been going on for over many centuries even before columbus! So we have the appetite for our wildlife crayfish etc,where rivers were not too compromised we continue to get food to eat. The rivers flood many times every year and they keep replenishing,the forest gets heavy winds and the wildlife survives. This is a tradition which will continue, we know how to control the situation,wildlife is sustainable. Let us go into the forest and keep ourselves healthy!!
personally i see no reason to put a ban on hunting because no amount of hunting or fresh river fishing can cause the amount of damage that is being done by the excavators in the roseau river at this time
I have yet to see the prosecution happen except if you are trying to ship shellfish illegally out od DA.. These hunters come on peoples’ private lands and do their hunting and there is no one to stop them. There should only be designated lands where they can hunt. The Forestry Dept. needs to address this.
The manicous must have been hiding during the storm. They were lucky they found a place to hide.
I understand that hunting is tradition during the independent season but my goodness, give the wildlife a break to recovery, well at least the aquatic life (fish, cray fish etc) a chance to recover.
So your experts advised you against it and you completely ignored them. Hurrah ! Good for you.
Concerns raised within the ministry itself!! Johnson you really know what you saying!! I guess politicians will always be politicians. So your technical people plausibly suggest that based on the extent of the storm damage a fair assessment of the wildlife population is short coming and it would probably be not so prudent to exert hunting pressure. Wildlife habitats were damaged and given the fragile nature of ecosystem balance after a ragging storm such as Erika better we make the stocks recuperate for next year. Added with phyto issues of water quality for fresh water fishing (rotting animals in isolated water ways etc). But that was since 27th Aug 2015 and unpopular decisions can only be popularly supported through public education. Dominicans were never under the notion that come Independence celebrations the possibility of not eating manicou could be. So on what basis was the hunting season opened. Did the Forestry Division give an up to date prelim survey of wildlife pops.
Is it safe to fish?….And why would ppl eat that thing?
If you can eat this, you can eat anything. We must cleans ourselves of this unclean culture. Me? I don’t eat nastiness. Eating this animal reduces your mental capacity to think right.
With the extent of damage our rivers did on fresh water fishes, Mr. Minister you have the audacity to open the hunting season and not put a banned on fresh water fishing. Atleast give fresh water fish a period of time to reproduce and replenish our rivers. Mr. Minister if this was an over sight I hope its reviewed at the soonest and if its not Sir you and your office are much more wicked than Tropical Storm Erika.
fishing….what is wrong with those guys
What animals are you hunting in Dominica?
Manacou and aguti.
Awww see the cute manicou. Watch your back lil fellah!
ADMIN, it would be wise of you to review this article as it is repetitive.
Well, it is nothing new. What else is new to say about hunting manicou? It is only for information. Why would any one mind?