KEY POINTS:
Bryan Bassett-Smith knows he has an uphill battle selling possum meat to the masses.
There are the images of roadkill, hillbillies eating possum stew and meat poisoned by pesticides and disease to overcome.
But the former farmer and deer hunter also knows the benefits of the meat and
says that, processed properly, it is delicious.
He manufactures petfood made of possum, and has commissioned research that shows the furry pests possess high levels of omega acids, also making them good for humans.
Mr Bassett-Smith believes huge potential exists for New Zealand to export the meat for human consumption, particularly to China, where a similar creature, the civet cat, is eaten.
But first, he argues, New Zealand must get rid of 1080, used to control possums and other pests.
"We are talking about a revolution in pest control using people, not poisons," he said.
Mr Bassett-Smith wants to replace 1080 with an army of possum-trappers and turn their catch - beyond just the furs - into a lucrative commodity.
"The vision is that we create an industry out of this and create jobs."
The Environmental Risk Management Authority is conducting the first review of 1080 since it was registered as a pesticide in the 1960s.
The Department of Conservation says aerial drops of 1080 are necessary to ensure the survival of native birds, particularly the kiwi, but critics argue that it kills indiscriminately (including the creatures it aims to protect), infects waterways and threatens New Zealand's clean-green image.
Mr Bassett-Smith told the Herald his motivation was the same as DoC's - to save native bush and birdlife.
The 63-year-old already exports 10 containers a year of possum petfood from his Te Puke business, selling to Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, and recently making his first shipment to North America.
He touts his 6-year-old company, Wildenz, as proof that possum meat is a commercially viable product.
The company has processed 290 tonnes of the flesh so far, exporting canned and dried petfood under the name Addiction Foods, a company he runs with the help of Singaporean shareholders.
New Zealand has an estimated 70 million possums and Mr Bassett-Smith was inspired to make use of the meat after seeing tonnes of skinned carcasses going to waste during a hunting trip near Taupo in 2001.
He believes possum-trapping provides great employment opportunities, especially for rural communities, with his company paying more than $9 each for large possums and $90 a kg for fur.
Mr Bassett-Smith said a great way to eat possum was smoked, like ham, and an AgResearch study he commissioned found the meat was high in omegas 3 and 6.
The dehydrated petfood is marketed as "brushtail" because of connotations the word "possum" has internationally.
In the US, possum is considered a rodent and equated with roadkill and hillbillies. In Japan, it translates as a type of rat.
Japan also cancelled a petfood order when a documentary about 1080 being dropped in the Ruapehu district screened on local television, despite all Wildenz's possums being sourced from 1080-free areas.
As the global market for petfood grows, Mr Bassett-Smith hopes demand for possum meat will increase and, with it, an awareness of its benefits for humans.
Lethal tool
* Sodium fluoroacetate (1080) was first registered as a pesticide for vertebrate pest control in 1964.
* Its acute human toxicity has been recognised (making it a controlled pesticide available only to licensed operators), but its environmental toxicity and chronic human toxicity have not been formally assessed since that time.
* In 2002, the Environmental Risk Management Authority (Erma) decided there were grounds for a reassessment of 1080.
* Hearings were held in May and a decision on the pesticide's continued use is expected next month.
* About 80 per cent of the annual world production of 1080 is used in New Zealand.
Source: Erma
