Fish and Game chief wants written assurance from Govt

Fish and Game's chief executive Bryce Johnson.

Following a face-to-face meeting with the Prime Minister, Fish and Game's chief executive Bryce Johnson says he wants a written assurance that the organisation's statutory role is set to stay.

Mr Johnson and representatives from other environmental groups met Prime Minister John Key during a scheduled meeting at the Beehive yesterday.

The meeting came after Conservation Minister Nick Smith backed down on a legal threat against an environmental advocate who accused him of political interference.

Association of Freshwater Anglers president David Haynes said Dr Smith had behaved like a bully at a Fish and Game Council meeting on July 18.

After speaking to his lawyer, Dr Smith decided that he would instead send a letter to Mr Haynes to tell him that his statements were defamatory and offensive.

Prime Minister John Key said yesterday that Dr Smith would have been "silly" to take legal action.

Mr Haynes told Radio New Zealand today they had received good assurances from Mr Key that Fish and Game's statutory role was set to stay. However, they had expected those assurances to be backed up in the house by Dr Smith, which didn't happen.

"Nick's used his time in Parliament to basically defend his own position.

"We were expecting him to acknowledge Fish and Game's role, that he wasn't going to be changing our statutory basis, that he wasn't going to be changing our money supply system from license fees.

"It leaves us up in the air really. Nick is our minister, you have to have a trusting relationship with the minister. I think our chairman has made it very clear that it's very difficult now to be in that trusting relationship with Nick given the missed opportunity yesterday."

Mr Haynes said the organisation was now planning on writing to the Government and asking to have its position formally clarified.