Kangaroos are an iconic symbol of Australia and seeing one is on the top of every tourist's must-see list, but there are too many of them according to farmers and they want to triple the number they can shoot.

After being decimated during the long drought years from the late 1990s to 2008, aerial surveys by state government agencies indicate that kangaroo numbers are up again at record levels.

There are about 50 million kangaroos now, about double the human population, with 22 million in Queensland and a record 17 million in New South Wales, according to the Office of Environment and Heritage in that state.

The problem with kangaroos

Without natural predators like dingos keeping their numbers down, kangaroos are causing farmers huge problems.

Mitchell Clapham, chairman of NSW Farmers' Conservation and Resource Management Committee, said kangaroos were causing huge problems for farmers.

He said roos were eating pastures that farmers desperately needed for livestock.

"We've got a proliferation of kangaroos, they're in plague proportions and we need to do something about it," he said.

There is some research from the Australian National University and Deakin University that supports the claim that they are having an impact on agriculture and the environment.

The research shows that large numbers of kangaroos can reduce the occurrence of native grasses, which livestock graze on and can also affect the diversity and cover of shrubs and the quality of habitat for various native species including beetles, reptiles, birds and bandicoots.

However, wildlife health and conservation expert from the University of Sydney, Catherine Herbert said that more work would be needed to prove this.

"What we need to look at is the total grazing pressure within the system, [the] stocking rates of farmers and also understanding more about the extent to which kangaroos actually compete with livestock," she said.

What can farmers do about it?

A lack of demand for kangaroo meat means there is less work for shooters and the number of shooters is declining in some areas. ( Supplied: ACT Government )

It is illegal to shoot kangaroos without a permit, and there are strict controls on the number of permits issued, but farmers and professional hunters can apply to the National Parks office in South Australia, Western Australia, News South Wales and Queensland for approvals.

Mr Clapham said farmers could only get about a third of the tags they needed and they want that number boosted.

"What we would like to see is the licensing regulation relaxed," he said.

The Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) is responsible for the management of kangaroos in NSW.

They haven't responded to the ABC yet about farmers' calls to increase the number of culling permits.

The harvest of kangaroos is limited to a maximum of 15-17 per cent of the population, depending on the species and also depending on the situation in particular management zones.

However, the OEH's 2016 Annual Report on NSW commercial kangaroo harvest shows the actual harvest was much lower than that.

There were only 360,000 kangaroos harvested in New South Wales last year, even though a quota of 2.5 million was approved by OEH.

Can the industry help to control the numbers?

John Kelly, executive officer from the Kangaroo Industry Association, said the industry was growing and harvesting kangaroo significantly helped increase farm productivity.

Kangaroo fillets in the supermarket. ( Supplied: Macro Meats )

"Harvesting kangaroos at a sustainable level can lead to a long-term increase in productivity of at least 25 per cent," he said.

Mr Kelly said exports were growing.

"The general volume of exports increases at least 10 per cent per annum. That's a pretty significant, pretty healthy growth."

Australia exported around 4,000 tonnes of kangaroo meat annually and had access to more than 60 countries but export volumes were low compared to the total red meat exports from Australia.

Also, there remained many countries that still did not approve kangaroo for human consumption.

Ray Borda, founder and director of Macro Meats at his facility. ( Supplied: Macro Meats )

The domestic market was also small, but founder and director of Macro Meats Ray Borda said it was growing.

"Over the last 10 years, it's grown about 500 per cent. Wherever there's a lot of tourism, we seem to sell a lot more," he said.

General manager of Aussie Game Meats (AGM) Don Church said it was hard for kangaroo meat to compete with traditional meats such as beef, lamb, pork and chicken because they were cheaper.

AGM's export market is three times the size of their domestic market and the company processed around 700,000 kangaroos a year.

Processors would undoubtedly like the industry to grow but without demand the number of kangaroos harvested continues to languish, with the industry generally shooting only about a sixth of the available quota.

While the kangaroo industry is believed to be an important provider of jobs in regional and rural areas, the lack of demand for kangaroo meat has pushed commercial shooters out of jobs.

Fewer roo shooters out west

Bruce Duncan from NSW Farmers Association said the restrictions on what shooters could and could not do made it difficult and there were fewer and fewer shooters in areas such as far-western NSW.

"There used to be 12 shooters here. Now, there's one who does it as part-time after work," he said.

So could the kangaroo meat industry help to control kangaroo numbers?

Wildlife expert Catherine Herbert did not think so.

"The quota has never been actually met," she said.

"So I think the kangaroo industry has an important role to play but it isn't set up to try and limit the damage by the kangaroos per se."