Wetland bird hunters in Victoria will have a longer duck shooting season and can take home more birds under new rules.
The Victorian duck hunting season will begin on March 19 and run for 83 days until June 9, up from 56 days in 2024.
Hunters can bag nine ducks a day, up from six, with seven duck species allowed.
But the blue-winged shoveler is off the list this season, and lead shot cannot be used for quail hunting.
New shooters seeking a licence must undergo online training, including Aboriginal cultural awareness training, as part of promised safety and sustainability measures.
Outdoor Recreation Minister Steve Dimopoulos said duck hunting was a legitimate activity that could be done sustainably and responsibly.
"Our wounding reduction action plan will improve animal welfare and is a significant step to make sure recreational hunting can continue sustainably in Victoria," he said.
But Victorian Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell slammed the government over the "most reckless season" in over a decade.
Ms Purcell said the decision to go through with another duck hunting season would condemn 400,000 native waterbirds to "ruthless" slaughter.
"This is an unpopular decision by an unpopular premier who continuously cowers to the shooting and gun lobby," she said.
Waterbird populations have dropped almost 50 per cent in the past year due to drought conditions, according to the Eastern Australian Waterbird Survey.
An estimated 391,900 ducks were hunted in the state in 2024, about 22 per cent higher than average, Game Management Authority figures show, despite bag limits and a shortened season.
More than 455,000 stubble quails were harvested - almost triple the long-term average.
Those figures followed the Victorian government ignoring a parliamentary inquiry which recommended a ban on duck hunting in 2023.
Instead of a total ban, the government in 2024 shortened the season, implemented a bag limit of six per day and pledged to introduce adaptive harvest management, hunter education and training and waterfowl wounding reduction measures.
Duck hunting has long been banned in Western Australia, NSW and Queensland.
