Honouring a Career of Dedication: Steve Terry Receives Rare Fish & Game Excellence Award

Photo Above: Fish & Game Field Officer Steve Terry holds Fish & Game Excellence Award at the McIntyre Wetland opening in the North Canterbury High Country on the 18th of March 2026.

After more than two decades of working hard for our licence holders and for our sports fish and game bird habitats, North Canterbury’s Steve Terry has been recognised with a Fish & Game Excellence Award.

The award was presented to Steve at the official opening of the McIntyre Wetland, a project Steve achieved after years of continual effort. Minister for Hunting and Fishing James Meager presented the certificate and acknowledged the importance of what Steve has done, watched on by colleagues, landowners, and project partners who understood the effort it had taken.

The award itself is something pretty special. A framed certificate with a gold medal featuring a trout and mallard, it’s reserved for those who go well above and beyond the job. Fewer than 15 have ever been handed out, so it takes someone special to be awarded one.

Steve started his Fish & Game career back in 1999 with Central South Island, before joining North Canterbury in 2000. Over more than 25 years, he’s built a reputation as someone who just gets on with the job quietly, consistently, and always with the long game in mind.

Fish & Game Field Officer Steve Terry is presented Fish & Game Excellence award by the Minister of Hunting and Fishing James Meager at the McIntyre Wetland opening in the North Canterbury High Country on the 18th of March 2026.

While his work has covered a bit of everything over the years, habitat protection especially in the high country has been where he’s really made his mark.

That’s been most evident in the High Country Wetland & Waterway Protection Project. It’s a piece of work that’s delivered real, lasting gains, including returning the East Branch of Glenariffe Stream to its original course. In doing so, 44 hectares of wetland habitat have been restored and key salmon spawning and rearing grounds protected, alongside this a number of other important waterways within the catchment have been protected through the project.

 Speaking at the event, James Meager highlighted just how important that work is:

 “Thank you to everyone involved in this significant project, in particular Steve Terry; who has dedicated decades to Fish & Game and worked tirelessly on this project.”

A lot of Steve’s work has happened under the radar. In recent years, especially, he’s spent much of his time up in the high country often, as he’d put it, “sitting around the round table” talking and planning with Mark Ensor and Belinda Bull, the landowners at Glenariffe Station. Steve has always said, “fixing things at the headwaters first is essential for what goes on further downstream. By working alongside landowners to get practical outcomes that stick, we are giving our rivers and fisheries the best chance of survival as things continue to change.”

Fish & Game Field Officer Steve Terry holds Fish & Game Excellence Award at the McIntyre Wetland opening in the North Canterbury High Country on the 18th of March 2026.

When the award was presented, Steve was genuinely stoked, and also he later admitted he didn’t see it coming at all and didn’t even know the award existed.

Away from work, Steve is currently facing a battle with cancer, while doing his best to spend as much time as possible with his two sons and daughter. Whether it's fishing, boating, motorbiking or spending time at his holiday home, Steve works hard and plays hard, and puts his all into whatever he is doing.

 Across the team, there’s a strong feeling this recognition couldn’t have gone to a more deserving person. A hugely well-deserved acknowledgement for someone who’s made a lifetime of work result in a legacy that will serve our community now and into the future.