Fish & Game will modernise and implement the 35 recommendations of a scathing independent review prompted by scandal and criticism of governance, according to its chairperson.
Fish & Game national chair Ray Grubb says the body will continue to act as an advocate for freshwater protection. Photo: 123RF
The investigation was ordered last year by former Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage, following a series of scandals and suggestions the organisation was no longer fit for purpose.
The reviewers found Fish & Game, which manages fishing and bird shooting around the country, lacks good governance at all levels, in particular with the management of conflicts of interest.
Fish and Game national chair Ray Grubb told Morning Report the review offered an opportunity for much-needed modernisation and relationship building.
"The biggest problem is that we've got a system that has not been updated for 30 years and needs to be changed," he said.
"In 1990 we had 24 acclimatisation societies, which reduced to 12 and we had local administration and the world has moved on since them. We need to shift our focus, but we are still the most effective advocacy for fresh water in New Zealand."
He said criticism of being too parochial and inefficient was based on the fact the organisation had not been able to communicate well and had struggled responding to centralised policy.
"We haven't kept up as an administration with the changes in the environment around us," he said.
Former chief executive Martin Taylor called it "dysfunctional" following his resignation in December last year. Grubb agreed that this had been the case, but said it had changed over the last six months after adopting a different approach to the way the body was managed.
He said the organisation itself would now be implementing the recommendations of the review, with the approval of Environment Minister David Parker.
"The minister has endorsed that approach by recognising that I will continue as chair of Fish & Game, that Fish & Game will actually put in place the report itself rather than have it directed by the Department of Conservation, under whose Act we are set up. That will give us the confidence to be able to implement the review as well."
The regional councillor said Fish & Game had been aware of the need to change for some time, but the review had made it easier to see what shape that change would take. Members throughout the regions saw the review as an opportunity to change the status quo, he added.
He maintained that he was the right person to lead the changes.
"There's no doubt that the minister had the very clear opportunity to make whatever changes she wished as a result of that report. The minister has selected myself as a result of the support I get from our acting chief executive Paul Shortis, as the right people to put this in place. And there's no doubt that we have an endorsement from the wider organisation to do that."
He said anglers and hunters could expect the body to continue to act as custodians of fresh water for the public good and to further build relationships.
He said he would pursue two personal priorities: "One is to improve our relationship between our regions and our national office, which has been very poor. The second one has been to introduce our obligations to iwi under section 4 and to form effective relations with them."