Fishing officers look for political support on safety issue

Safety for fishery officers looks set to become a political issue.

The officers' union, the National Union of Public Employees, is to ask political parties for their policies on whether fishery officers should be allowed to carry pepper spray and batons in their war against poaching.

Union organiser Martin Cooney said a Cabinet committee had promised to respond on the issue by last Christmas, and fishery officers were tired of waiting.

Attacks were increasing in what were previously routine operations, and ministry advice on handling the risk was impractical.

"Fishery officers ask how being able to ring someone in a Wellington call centre to say they are being attacked on an isolated beach will help them remove themselves from the situation safely," he said.

"And the police are far too busy with their other work to continually travel with fishery officers."

- NZPA