Possum fur sellers and the Government are trying to hammer out a deal to cash in on skin, Maria Slade reports.
Possum fur industry figures lobbying the Government for help are likely to be frustrated by the realities of controlling the marsupial pests.
Two initiatives are under way to create better co-ordination between those who make a living exporting the silky fur and skin and the agencies responsible for getting the estimated 50 million possum population down as low as possible.
Greg Howard, a Kapiti Coast possum-skin golf glove manufacturer, and Enterprise New Zealand Trust chairman Tony Caughey, have joined forces to implement the "harness the possum" plan to come out of last year's Entrepreneurial Summit.
They have met Government MP Nathan Guy, who is reportedly supportive, plus the Greens and the Maori Party.
Meanwhile, industry body Textiles New Zealand has formed a working group with DoC and the Animal Health Board to try to ensure an adequate supply of the fibre for the $100 million possum/merino garment industry.
Demand for possum/merino is growing and the industry will need to double its annual harvest of the animals from 1.7 million to more than three million, Textiles NZ says.
Howard's group wants a small percentage of funding for 1080 poisoning diverted into setting up a kind of "mini Fonterra" of the possum industry, delivering marketing benefits, employment, and a reduction in the use of 1080.
But senior communications adviser for DoC, Herb Christophers, says it's far from a simple formula.
"Some people are expecting the money that goes into possum control for conservation and animal health should be redirected to fur recovery, because they haven't looked at the reality that the two are not equivalent.
"The economic viability of fur recovery runs out before ecological benefits kick in."
He says out of 100 possums, DoC has to get the population down to five before the trees start growing back faster than the animals eat them. For trappers, if the population gets too low it isn't worth their while to be in the area.
There are also economies of scale, he says. In a remote block of 2000ha it may be possible to cover 500ha on the ground, but the helicopter is already in the air so why drop poison over 1500ha then have trappers spend the next six months controlling the rest?
"Our mandate for conservation is to protect indigenous biodiversity. To do that we put our money where the best bang for the buck comes. It doesn't mean giving it to a fur trapper to make a dollar, then walking away before the job's done."
However co-ordination could be better and the department is keen to keep talking to the industry, he says.
In the Ureweras DoC intensively manages a core area and commercial trappers go into surrounding buffer zones. The money the department saves on not having to control possums in these buffer zones can then be put into other high-priority areas. This model could be replicated elsewhere.
Howard has just sent over sample possum-skin golf gloves to a major overseas sporting brand, and is looking to make 20,000-50,000 gloves a month.
While skin supply is not an issue at present, it could be if the business grows to where he wants it, he says.
At present, trappers mainly only take the fur off the skin, and earn $8-$9 a pelt. If the industry is restructured so the skin is used each time, trappers could get $12-13 a pelt, he says.
The Government should not be using 1080, he believes. "It's costing about $9 a possum to leave it dead on the forest floor."
Textiles NZ is developing new markets for possum/merino fibre, and is about to conduct a trade delegation to Moscow to tap into the potentially lucrative Russian market.
It believes it can save DoC and regional councils money if fur harvesters take the first slice.
Hawke's Bay Regional Council is conducting a trial on farmland where commercial trappers get numbers down first, then the council's pest control contractors go in.
Biosecurity manager Campbell Leckie says the harvesters gain co-ordinated access, and the council saves on costs.
"There's definitely some potential but we just need to prove it."
