Hunters fined for using banned lead shot

Three hunters from the lower North Island have been fined $700 each for using banned lead shot during the 2005 game bird season, the Fish and Game Council says.

Lead shot was banned this year as a waterway pollutant which can cause the slow death of birds.

Another three shooters found without game bird licences were also found guilty in district courts and charged between $700 and $750.

Kate McArthur, resourcing compliance officer for Wellington/Taranaki Fish and Game, said all prosecutions brought by the council within their region were successful.

Fish and Game staff were checking hunters throughout the eight-week season.

"Honorary rangers who do the job out of a sense of public duty and do not get paid do a superb, well co-ordinated job and need to be thanked for all the work they do," Ms McArthur said.

A bird count suggested the opening weekend in May was average, but hunters did not have a very successful season with a slight decline in birds shot, although final tallies were yet to be done, she said.

Mallards, paradise duck, canada geese, black swans and shoveller ducks were the main game birds shot, Ms McArthur said.

Keen hunter Kerry Macdonald, a director of Hunting and Fishing, said the hunters he knew had enjoyed a top season in the Rangitikei hills and from Bulls to Wanganui.

"It's been one of the better seasons, with plenty of mallards around."

Even after a great shooting season, there were plenty of ducks left for breeding, Mr Macdonald said.

- nzpa