I completely agree with you and think we are well enough informed at the department to know when the fishing or hunting season is or other traditional indigenous activities. They same applies to other groups. We do not consult crab fishers during crab fishing season. Our objective is to communicate with as many people as possible.
I would like to point something out, however. We invite people to consultations, but some are not interested or do not consider it a priority to attend one consultation or another. The fact that they are not present does not mean that we have not held consultations. If their absence is justified and we hold consultations when they are not available and we know it, then I agree with you. You are right in saying that does not constitute appropriate consultation.
We often invite people who say that are not active in the sector or do not have any rights to assert. They say then that they will not take part in the consultations. Some simply do not reply. In those cases, I would say that we have made the effort to consult them. Moreover, we cannot consult everyone. Our intention is to consult the people affected by the policies or measures we put forward.