'Be careful what you wish for'

Rural News / opinion

Guy Trafford isn't impressed with the National Party's lurch into a hunting & fishing policy that reverts to ideas first floated more than a decade ago. Farmers should be very wary, he says

25th Jul 23, 4:35pm by Guy Trafford

A release from the National Party has raised the ire of more than a few conservationists. National has promised to institute a new Ministerial position of Hunting and Fishing. I’m not sure how this aligns with their commitment to reduce red tape and regulations. Along with this, National has promised to stop game animals being classified as pests. In the release National said:

National will:

Establish a Minister for Hunting and Fishing
Strengthen the Game Animal Council and designate 'herds of special interest'
Change the law so game animals are not pests
Guarantee access to public land for hunting and fishing
Establish the 'Huts of Recreational Importance' Partnership to maintain huts in the DoC estate
Support Fish & Game New Zealand and protect trout and salmon fishing
Not introduce recreational licences for game animal hunting or sea fishing.

At this stage the shadow minister for agriculture Todd McLay appears to be acting as Nationals hunting and fishing spokesperson.

While feed back from interest groups is limited at this earlier stage at least one hunter is cynical of both the need and the purpose of the reclassification saying "Hunters are already managing our huts. They're already maintaining our huts, already got those organisations in place doing that herd management, it just seems like we'll keep the status quo". What a reclassification will do to DoC’s ability to control wild game (pests) if a no classification is forthcoming.

For those with longer memories this is actually a rehash of a proposal from back in 2010.

Back then it was United Future (Peter Dunne) who was advocating for the change. Back then DoC replied to the then Minister of Conservation Kate Wilkinson opposing the change saying among other things;

“The current legislative context favours native plants and animals and the statements of general policy for public conservation land support the goal of healthy ecosystems which deliver wide ranging benefits to all New Zealanders. The GAC (Game Animal Council) Establishment Committee recommendations may purport to contribute to those goals but they are on the terms of one interest group only”.

Farmers should be wary of such a recategorisation in the context of controlling TB in feral animals and what it might mean if other animal health diseases become endemic in wild animals.

Would a reclassification limit future control options?

Something else that has emerged in recent years, which farmers should support, is that if feral animals in the wild had numbers constrained there is a potential 15% reduction in New Zealand’s CO2e liabilities due to the improved health of the native forests.

National's historic record on conservation is not great with funding reductions being the norm as the graph below shows.

The forecasted drop post 2017 did not eventuate as in 2018 the Labour coalition government allocated a further $181 mln over four years. This has led to a greatly improved control programme on many feral pests, although the Thar lobby managed to get a win by getting the reduction numbers that DoC was prosing reduced.

Currently DoC’s management appears to be, except where numbers exceed sensible limits, to leave the easier accessible areas to private hunters which allows DoC to then focus upon the further back more difficult areas to access.

The cynical hunter mentioned that there was no mention of funding for the new proposal and with licences free it may even drag funding from the conservation vote.

It is notable that the trout and salmon fishing licencing fees have not been retracted. The hunter thought it was more likely a hope to attract some of the ex-National now ACT supporters back into the fold.

Perhaps National believe that the likes of Forest and Bird who are likely vehemently against such a proposal are already a lost cause. Perhaps this is a clever way for National to help meet the Predator Free by 2050 programme that John Key brought in. Perhaps the game animals are not predators but they also heavily impact on the environment the predator free programme was designed to protect.

Unfortunately for Labour with yet another shot in the foot, presumably from a licenced gun, with Kiri Allen now resigning, they are in no position to gain any traction against National over the issue.

*A tool to compare all political party policies that have been released for the 2023 election is here.

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25 Comments

by Wrong John | 25th Jul 23, 5:03pm 1690261398

Finding exactly where National will land their plane this year will be an interesting watch. Exactly how much of the new ROC coalition they will have control of is still up for grabs, but sadly, they have a recent history of also shooting themselves in the foot, as the 2020 election year ''leaderless debacle'' shows. They also have selection issues & I would suggest that, just as conservative parties right across the western world have had marketing problems selling to their potential message to voters of exactly what they stand for, National are in the same situation in NZ today. The left of centre education system of the past 50 years is now so entrenched in peoples minds & hearts, that they are unable to see the benefits [and there are many] of voting for right of centre parties, as they are now doing in southern Europe after multiple decades of failed left of centre authority.

by solardb | 25th Jul 23, 7:26pm 1690269990

National seem to think they have Labour beat by default, and are obsessed with reducing ACT's vote.apparently ,one reason for this is , on current polling, they would do well in the electorates, and are in danger of not getting any list seats.

to the policy listed above, it very much looks like it is been written by the people I heard rumoured to be writing National's policy. Paid consultants.

The effect of pests on native forests are well documented, anything not native will destroy our forest and fauna.

Hunting and fishing on all public land , well that's clearly not in the interest of the public, those areas where it is currently not allowed would not be safe hunting areas.

by C'est la vie | 25th Jul 23, 7:39pm 1690270762

ACT recently lost my vote due to their commitment to removing SNAs. So, my vote had shifted over to National, and now this?

What political party actually cares about our native habitats anymore?

Green, TPM and Labour are out of the question as I can't stand their narrow minded identity politics. Who's left then... TOP?

by Palmtree08 | 26th Jul 23, 9:29am 1690320574

I feel your pain. When the only choice is between stupid and stupider, it makes me as a voter complicit when I cast my ballot. I take my endorsement more seriously than these clowns deserve.

by sheepdog | 25th Jul 23, 7:49pm 1690271351

Doc can not handle everything under their umbrella and only really look after popular tourist areas like the great walks. the rest they don't give a toss about and it is mainly only looked after because of volunteers. They would be better off focusing on the tourism side of our conservation estate and doing that properly and leaving the more remote huts and tracks to a separate group who have more experience in these areas.

by Davo36 | 26th Jul 23, 7:36am 1690313803

They don't do it because they don't have the funding to do it. It's not that they don't care.

by sheepdog | 25th Jul 23, 8:02pm 1690272162

The problem with docs current idea of controlling animal numbers in the more remote areas and leaving the closer easier accessible areas is that that is the wrong way round. All the high animal numbers are close to the farm edges on the front country were the good feed is. The further back more remote areas have lower populations because of less preferable feed which therefor also means they don't breed as fast.

by CeeJ | 25th Jul 23, 8:40pm 1690274445

I'm not sure that's the case. A lot of 1080 is done around the first 10 km of native behind pasture to reduce TB possibility.

by solardb | 25th Jul 23, 8:57pm 1690275462

And whereever there are threatened species of birds hanging on .

which is usually very remote spots.

by LouB | 25th Jul 23, 11:01pm 1690282866

10km strip is wide. Of the animal health board 1080 programs I've heard of it's been 2km into the forest park and 1km on farmland along the forest park boundary.

by rastus1 | 26th Jul 23, 11:53am 1690329189

Pretty sure 1080 still has not been approved for deer - so DOC cannot load up and target then as such. The deer that hit are a by product of possum control. DOC does not have a deer 1080 programme as such.

by Hans Brink | 25th Jul 23, 8:44pm 1690274659

Telling you now, as a back country farmer, we are doomed unless the relevant authorities classify all browsing animals as pests. There needs to be tighter laws to enforce pest control on private land.

Unless the owner has absolute fencing to contain their animals,

the vermin such as deer, goats etc should have to be controlled.

All land owners should be accessed as to what pest control measures are being under taken on their properties. Penalties should apply to those who refuse to participate in regional pest control measures.

All these browsing pests, particularly deer, goats and possums, are degrading existing native forests to the point of no return.

And here we are being told to plant natives which are the most vulnerable to these pests, that will work out real well.

by zane | 11th Apr 24, 2:09am 1712758191

Hey dad, been waiting on your text, be really good if I could hear from you before the 19th. Cheers

by CeeJ | 25th Jul 23, 9:25pm 1690277134

I don't know that the easier areas are left to hunters and the farther back areas are culled by doc. In my area they eradicated goats that I would have loved to take some of from all the easily accessable areas within 50km.

The proposals from national look good for me. It seems like essentially no change from the present but with guarentee that things are not going to be suddenly changed.

by LouB | 25th Jul 23, 11:15pm 1690283734

Declassifying feral deer and pigs is a ridiculous step. Where I live in Southern Hawkes Bay, deer and pigs (very few goats) are definitely viewed as pests by farmers.

Deer numbers have exploded in the last 40 years, post helicopter live capture. And with the expansion of production forestry, idiot hunters have liberated pigs (historically there were no feral pigs north of the Akitio River).

I see no reason for removing pest species status from deer, pigs and goats. I'd rather see a policy that reinstates government funded culling.

by Davo36 | 26th Jul 23, 7:41am 1690314088

I'm a dairy farm owner in Auckland. 165Ha. I've had wild deer shot on my place in the last few months. I had seen hoof marks in areas I planted about 8 years ago. And bark being stripped off some of the larger trees.

I thought the guy would get like 3. So far he's shot 34 on my place, another 6 across the road and there's still more around.

They are out of control. And now he's see pigs too - which have been released by someone.

Farmers have been encouraged to spend a lot on fencing and planting over the last 20 years. All of that is at risk if goats, pigs and deer are allowed to spread.

by Hans Brink | 26th Jul 23, 9:39am 1690321153

The example you give Davo is common now. These pests are out of control, particularly deer of which are at their highest levels ever.

We have been shooting over 100 deer on our property per annum for 15+ years. Recently we have been shooting 250.

We have a full on pest control program but are surrounded by Doc, Maori and private land with basically no control.

We have established forests since 1994 up untill the most recent in 2019. Every time it is getting more difficult even with hard core shooting.

We are still farming and have more land to plant. Would consider native but it would be impossible. Even Redwoods or Eucalypts are hard.

We need tighter controls on feral animals not laws that protect pests that are hurting our environment, not to mention the rural economy.

by Jack Lumber | 26th Jul 23, 9:23am 1690320187

Idiot policy. We are spending...a lot.. shooting farms and forests we manage - search and destroy. Example 1 farm a month ago 200 deer in 4 hours plus 150 pigs in 1.5 hours it was like WW3 and its common now all over NZ. THIS IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM and we are only holding the line on places we manage through using helicopters and top professional hunters. God help those who fluff around with some weekend warriors.

by Hans Brink | 26th Jul 23, 9:53am 1690321984

Well said Jack. People don't realize the serious nature of this problem. Unfortunately the Nats have cowed down to the casual hunter lobby groups.

Recreational hunters will never deal with this problem as their mindset is not aligned with environmental conservation.

Just like those who advocate sending unemployed out to catch possums. What a joke,

by rastus1 | 26th Jul 23, 11:49am 1690328945

There are plenty of hunters around who would love some easily got animals. Unfortunately many of them turn out to be as much as a problem as the deer. Access to good hunting spots is still highly sort after, however the proliferation in the easier ares means a trip to the back of Wanganui is not so necessary these days. Great way to spend a few days even so.

by Hamish | 26th Jul 23, 3:39pm 1690342796

Yes. Easy access, then educate the deer a bit when in many areas a well planned and executed blitz operation is required.

by solardb | 26th Jul 23, 10:41am 1690324874

Yup, plenty of pigs been let loose on the Coromandel. And plenty of pig dogs going missing , not good in kiwi country , whats left of it .

how are the goats down in the Whanganui region?

by Hans Brink | 26th Jul 23, 8:00pm 1690358429

The goat problem around Whanganui is terrible as it has been for a long time. To help the goats out in eating their way through regenerating natives, red deer are increasing in number dramatically. One has to remember that the western side of the Whanganui river is the last bastion of deer free bush. Red deer is the beginning of the end. There is no stopping them.

Even just with goats and possums it is evident that the nature of regenerating bush is changing as there is little to no Kamahi which under natural circumstance is the mainstay. Now it goes from Manuka, Kanuka to Tree ferns with a few Rewarewa. Interestingly possums are hammering Mamakus.

by Jack Lumber | 27th Jul 23, 4:57am 1690390628

How do we mere mortals trying to actually make things work on the ground get these dreamers to realise planting 1000s of ha in natives is futile - may as well spread deer and pig nuts out!!!

Shooting, poison etc in a coordinated fashion is urgently needed and all native planting money should go to this. It's a brutal job and not many cut out for it but it needs doing.(anyone who thinks it's "fun" killing every day is a bit sick - it's a hard job)

Once we get a bit of control nature will regen itself and we need to then keep the boot on the pests throat with no mercy shown.

by solardb | 27th Jul 23, 8:13am 1690402438

Interesting. An article on where the pest control work is happening , and the challenges ahead would be good. I don't go up the Coromandel as much nowadays , but from the number of possums on the road , I would say they are at least keeping on track there.

I would say a big chunk this year will go to controlling rodents , after a warm winter and mast year seed production.

I think the authorisation and use of larger drones in remote areas is the only way to get on top of pests long term , along with virtual fences , intially to extend the current fences.