Fish & Game announces all duck hunters will have to use non-toxic shot from 2021

All duck hunters will soon have to use non-toxic shot when hunting following a decision by Fish & Game’s New Zealand Council.

The vast majority of New Zealand hunters use larger 10 and 12 gauge shotguns and have been required to use non-toxic shot since 2004 when they are hunting waterfowl within 200 metres of open water.

However hunters using smaller shotguns such as 20 gauge have been exempt, primarily due to the previous limited availability and high price of non-toxic ammunition for these guns.

Fish & Game’s New Zealand Council has voted to end that exemption and phase in the use of non-toxic shot over the next four hunting seasons.

Fish & Game New Zealand’s chief executive Bryce Johnson says the transition process will begin with the 2018 game bird season.

“Lead shot will be progressively phased out from 2018 for waterfowl hunting over and around large bodies of water, so by the time the 2021 season begins, all hunters will be using non-toxic shot for this type of hunting,” Bryce Johnson says.

Left: 20 Gauge lead ammunition will be phased out over the coming four hunting seasons.

Mr Johnson says the move completes a process which began nearly two decades ago.

“The original decision to phase out lead shot for waterfowl hunting was made in 2000 after the government decided to adopt Australian and New Zealand guidelines for fresh and marine water quality which identified issues with lead. 

“The problem is waterfowl get poisoned when they pick up fired lead shot and eat it as a grit substitute to help them digest their food. 

New Zealand scientific studies showed the problem was the same here as in overseas countries,” Mr Johnson says.

Bryce Johnson says extending the non-toxic shot requirement to most shotguns was inevitable.

Right: 20 Gauge ammunition is coloured yellow to differentiate it from other gauges.

“At the moment, nine out of ten of our hunting licence holders already use non-toxic shot because they own 10 or 12 gauge shotguns. 

Advances in ammunition manufacture means good quality non-toxic shot is now available for smaller shotguns, so we are asking the small minority left to follow their example,” Mr Johnson says. 

“The only exemption will be for the small bore .410 shotguns which are sometimes used by beginner hunters and for which humane non-toxic shot loads are not available.”

The use of non-toxic shot for waterfowl hunting is already mandatory in many overseas countries, including the United States, Canada, Europe and some Australian states.

Non-toxic shot does not contain lead and the most commonly available type uses steel pellets. 

Steel shot is already widely used in New Zealand.

Check out some frequently asked questions about Non-Toxic shot here.

See the Minister of Conservation's media release here.