ROD AND GUN Export Possibilities Of N.Z. Game Meats

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31597, 7 February 1968, Page 10

ROD AND GUN Export Possibilities Of N.Z. Game Meats

(Specially written fur "Th« Press’' by JAMES SIERS)

New Zealand should be able to do well in the export of specialty foods. Now that moire labour is available and devaluation favours exports, there could be a boom in the export of various game meats. A clue to the popularity of th> venison industry, which at present relies on wild deer, is the number of genuine inquiries from prospective deer farmers. At least 20 are prepared to try it, once regulations have been framed.

Pheasant may be scarce in the field, but not on Air New Zealand menus. A Christchurch poultry-farmer and a Whangarei producer supply the airline with 8000 birds a year. They are also sending high-quality packaged birds to Australia and proving a market in Hong Kong, Fiji and the Pacific Islands tourist route.

Eels, long despised as food by everyone except the Maori

(who appreciated the fine food value of the fish), are also earning overseas income. Eels do not have to be raised and looked after like pheasants, but successful production demands a high degree of skill, both in processing and in the field, where the fish have to be caught. Operators must also know their markets. Some want the eels no more than two feet long and frozen “live.” Others want them smoked and frozen. Catching the eels is only the start of the process. They must then be held in tanks with clean spring water until they have shed any “mud” which may have been absorbed from a previous environment. Then, they must also be “de-slimed.” The “slime” found on all fresh-water fish is an essential protective agent against disease. Once the fish enter salt water, it is shed. By putting eels in a brine solution, the slime is also removed and they are ready for processing for export. Trout Farming

Regulations are now being drafted to allow trout farming to create a new multimillion dollar industry. Fears from acclimatisation societies that this may lead to wholesale poaching in rivers and lakes should be regarded as groundless.

The requirements of a sport fishery and a commercial trout farm are entirely different. Trout bred for the table must be of a uniform size and quality and this is something which cannot be guaranteed from any lake or river.

Should poachers consider netting, they would probably find themselves being reported by commercial operators who would have to run a “clean ship” to make sure they did not lose their licence. Japan takes our mutton, lamb is being diversified and will soon be launched on the American market; there is no problem with beef.

But these are staple products supplied by a number of countries and generally available. It is in the luxury and novelty areas that rich rewards must still be reaped; hence the success of New Zealand venison. Thar and Chamois

In time, the meat from thar and chamois must also find a greater market along with such popular New Zealand items as the crayfish.

Jumbo jets will, in their turn, also favour luxury foodstuffs if for no other reason than the fact that exporters who are paid a higher price to start with will be better able to afford air transport. All this, the sportsman will hope, will lead to a greater rationalisation of the industry. Exporters who rely on a continuity of supply and a guaranteed quality must turn more towards farm production, particularly of animals such as deer, which can be kept successfully in captivity.

It is only in deciding the question of domestic supply that there must be some hesitation. Whereas a pheasant breeder would not consider using birds shot in the field, less scrupulous restaurants may easily do so in New Zealand. Where a commercial farm would not consider trout taken from lakes and rivers, local hotels, restaurants and shops may do so. For this reason, sportsmen are probably justified in their opposition to the sale of these items locally.