At the opening of duck shooting season in on March 5th 2016 at Moulting Lagoon on the Freycinet Peninsula I am planning to hold a performance of Swan Lake. 

Think Priscilla Queen of the Desert meets Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo.

This mad plan has a serious intention though - to deter the ducks from the shooters guns and to draw attention to issue of duck shooting in view of getting it banned.

Moulting Lagoon is a Ramsar listed wetland. The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilisation of wetlands, recognising the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands.



From early March to early June each year Moulting Lagoon is open to duck shooters. Their hides are there all year round.
For many years duck rescuers have made their way to Moulting Lagoon on the Freycinet Peninsula, which is the main public wetland open to shooters, to do their best to deter the ducks from the shooters guns, rescue injured birds and where possible attract media attention. 



Tasmania is one of only 3 states to have a recreational duck shooting season with permanent bans in WA, NSW and QLD. The ACT has never allowed recreational duck shooting.

Many years of attending the opening season and standing in the cold of the lagoon has resulted in me concocting a plan, which will not only satisfy my artist's need to be creative, but more importantly will raise attention to the issue by attracting more people to take part on the opening weekend as rescuers/protestors, will hopefully also attract media attention to the issue, and will be a successful way of keeping ducks away from the shooters’ guns. Sadly, we cannot save all the ducks, though we do our best.


 
This grey teal died in my arms. It was not a peaceful death. 

The Duck Lake project is based around countering the ‘hides’ that the shooters occupy by making an ‘anti-hide’ – something that stands out as completely foreign. It also aims to counter the male dominated duck shooter presence and the ‘machismo’ of shooters’ attitudes (for e.g. I don’t ever recall seeing a female duck shooter there and female rescuers are not uncommonly subjected to sexist abuse from the duck shooters). Additionally, the novel and highly visual nature of the proposed ‘intervention’ will be highly attractive to the media whose response has been minimal in recent years, with little or no actual presence on the lagoon.

I have an amazing team of volunteers assembled - a mix of artists and activists and people who just want to be a part of this! We will construct a floating stage on which a small group of people will perform a version of ‘Swan Lake’, while others will perform in the water. It will be all tutus and sparkles and flowing pink banners, with a sound system playing the music to which the dancers will perform. A flotilla of kayaks with swan/duck heads will make their way around the lagoon as well.

But this can only happen with your help. We have a very modest budget, and some fabulous perks. Every little bit will help, so get quacking and sign up to support Duck Lake!

For the ducks,

Yvette and the Duck Lake team. 

We are hoping to raise $8000 to fund the project. Of course we would love to smash this target, but $8000 should cover all of our basic costs. If we raise any additional funds beyond the target we will use this money to support the ongoing campaign to end duck shooting in Tasmania.

This is a breakdown of our project costs and a committment to spend all pledges to cover the following:

$2000 Construction & Transport of the floating pontoon stage.
$2000 Construction of sets, props and costumes.
$1000 Music rights and equipment .
$1500 Event catering and overnight expenses for up to 30 participants / performers
$500 Hire of x2 on-site toilets
$500 Hire costs for transport / truck / minibus
$500 Video documentation

There's no doubt about it - this is a crazy idea, and there are any number of challenges we face. The logistics of coordinating the project are one thing - the logistics of getting the stage onto the wetland is a whole other story. But we are a determined lot! I'm confident we can make it happen.