Media Release

Thursday 29th July 2010

Recreational Hunters and Hunting Guides call for a Boycott of Silver Fern Farms

“Silver Fern Farms uncaring and uncompromising attitude to other users of the chamois resource leaves us no option but to call for all hunters, hunting guides and game managers not to send any stock to Silver Fern Farms plants and to refrain from purchasing any of their products” said Tom Williams chairman of the Game and Forest Foundation

Silver Fern Farms has issued an order for 1000 chamois to be shot by helicopter in order to keep their Hokitika Deer Slaughter plant open for a few more weeks until new season farmed and feral venison supplies come on stream.

“Chamois have been proving difficult to obtain in recent years especially on the east coast” said Tom Williams. “The meat returns from those shot chamois cannot be more than $100 each. The value to a recreational hunter or a tourist hunter is many times this amount. An overseas hunter will return upwards of $3000 each, 30 times more per chamois to the New Zealand economy than this wasteful practice of shooting them for meat. We suspect that Silver Fern Farms may actually be carrying out the operation at a loss and suppliers of other stock will be subsidising this venture”.

The Game and Forest Foundation has contacted Silver Fern Farms to inform them of its concerns and how this order could affect recreational and guided hunting. Other processors have refused previous enquiries for chamois meat in recognition of the value of those animals to hunters and tourists. Game and Forest is not opposed to the commercial harvest of game animals for meat but it must take place within the management of the resource as a whole and take account of all the users.

“We invited them to meet with us and see if we could work through the issues but they have refused to engage. They have also tried to shift responsibility on to the Department of Conservation but this is not a DoC issue. Chamois are not a priority animal needing control for conservation purposes The order has come from Silver Fern Farms and the responsibility rests squarely with them.” said Tom Williams

Ends

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