Friday, March 29, 2024

PULPIT: Fish and Game needs to get real

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It’s amazing how easily information can be misinterpreted.  Take Fish and Game’s latest Colmar Brunton poll, for example.
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Fish and Game’s poll, out of options given, claims New Zealand’s top concern is the pollution of lakes and rivers.

What I find incredibly interesting is the Ministry for the Environment ran a similar poll, where it was ranked 13th.

I wonder how it is possible that two surveys, both run by Colmar Brunton with about 1000 people taking part, have such different results.

It’s a recurring pattern with Fish and Game, though – attacks lacking evidence trying to get the average kiwi to think or say our country’s waterways are unswimmable and unfishable and if we don’t act now we’ve got no hope of improving anything.

And it’s all the farmers’ fault, didn’t you know?

Because even though farmers have fenced off waterways, created sediment traps, done riparian planting, not cultivated close to waterways, strategically winter-grazed and everything else they do to protect the environment, it’s all their fault.

I wrote to Fish and Game chief executive Martin Taylor at the end of last year to express my disappointment with these targeted attacks on farmers.

It’s a return to type for Taylor, who, I hoped, would work with farmers, not against them.

I also asked him where his criticisms of the decline of waterways in urban centres were?

His answer was urban centres are not in Fish and Game’s mandate.

Instead, all we hear and see is Fish and Game advocating for Taylor’s predecessor Bryce Johnson and his dirty dairy campaign, not once mentioning poor water quality in towns and cities.

Down here in Southland it just gets worse.

Last year, in record rainfalls, Fish and Game took photos of sediment runoff, saying Southland and south Otago need to be prepared for an environmental disaster, and sent them to media.

If that’s not an opportunist organisation I don’t know what is.

That was then followed by the television appearance from Fish and Game about the degrading of the New River Estuary, near Invercargill, which was again – yes, you guessed it – all down to farmers.

Despite having the facts in front of them and seeing for themselves what Environment Southland had said, Fish and Game yet again blamed farmers.

Environment Southland science and information director Graham Sevicke-Jones has been quoted in the local media saying the New River Estuary is more unusual as both urban and rural have contributed to its degradation.

There’s the wastewater treatment facility that discharges into the estuary at certain times and an old landfill that sits beside it.

Coupled with that, a lot of storm water goes in from Invercargill city – there is a significant urban influence.

I really struggle as to what part of this lays the blame solely with farming for the degradation of the New River Estuary as Fish and Game state.

I am in disbelief that time and time again this organisation can finger-point and throw allegations around as fact but not acknowledge the truth.

We’re all quite aware most farmers give open access to hunters and fishermen to their private properties.

These hunters and fishermen are often licence holders with Fish and Game, helping fund the organisation.

What has already proved evident is farmers are removing access and not buying licences themselves to try to get through to Fish and Game they will not be bullied.

It’s upsetting for everyone as it’s that everyday kiwi who will no longer have access to go swimming or fishing on private properties.

I do hold some hope, though, with some farmers standing for their local Fish and Game councils and successfully being elected.

I congratulate these individuals for taking a stand and leading the way on future collaboration.

These farmers, along with some Fish and Game staff down on the coal face, are trying to work with other farming groups but it appears there is a real disconnect with the organisation’s head office when they do so.

It’s time to get around the table and farmers are holding the door open but where is the Fish and Game hierarchy? 

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