Greenpeace Aotearoa says its activists “altered” the salmon statue, turning it into a cartoon dead fish in protest of the dairy industry’s environmental destruction, but the council says it was vandalised.
Photo: LDR / supplied
A fishing representative says Greenpeace’s “vandalism” of Rakaia’s prominent salmon statue has hurt a rural community just to make a political point.
Greenpeace protesters defaced the large statue on Sunday night, just weeks after a $300,000 ratepayer-funded refurbishment.
The activists replaced the salmon’s eyes with cartoon-style crosses and added a speech bubble reading ‘Fonterra killed my family’.
Greenpeace Aotearoa freshwater campaigner Will Appelbe said the protest aimed to highlight the damage to the Rakaia River.
It was inspired by the fact the upcoming Rakaia salmon fishing competition “won’t involve any fishing this year and it’s all because of the dirty dairy industry”, he said.
Rakaia River Fishing Promotions, which runs the annual competition, issued a statement condemning Greenpeace’s actions.
“Greenpeace were responsible for vandalising our local Rakaia Salmon Statue – a [rate]payer-funded community icon that has just received a $300,000 refurbishment,” the social media post said.
“We support protecting the salmon. We support holding corporations accountable. We support fighting for a healthier river.
“But we do not support vandalism. We do not support damaging public property. And we do not support hurting a small rural community to make a political point.”
The group said Greenpeace’s move to vandalise the town’s icon instead of having a conversation showed a “complete lack of understanding of what this competition actually represents”.
“Come and understand how much money, time, and effort we have poured into protecting this fishery.
“Come and work with us instead of against our community.”
Greenpeace claims the activists didn’t climb or use a ladder on the statue, and it’s understood they used extendable poles to stick the items to the statue.
“We took care not to damage the fish,” Applebe said.
“We chose this action to draw attention to the issue, and we are confident with what we have done.
“Nothing was used to alter the fish, and we haven’t left any damage.”
Applebe said Greenpeace had used the prominent statue to take aim at the dairy industry.
Federated Farmers Mid Canterbury president David Acland said Greenpeace have every right to peacefully protest, but they don’t have the right to break the law or unfairly target local farming families.
“If you were to believe Greenpeace’s rhetoric, you’d think Canterbury farmers are total environmental vandals, but Environment Canterbury’s data actually paints a different picture.”
Farmers had made huge improvements when it came to things like nutrient management, identifying erosion risks, handling effluent, and efficient water use, he said.
“Unfortunately, that kind of positive story doesn’t fit Greenpeace’s narrative where they feel the need to beat up farmers to help them fundraise in election year.”
Ashburton District Council wasn’t impressed that its freshly repainted statue had been targeted less than two weeks after it returned from an intensive restoration.
Ashburton mayor Liz McMillan accepted “everyone has the right to protest”.
“I am disappointed to see our Rakaia salmon has been vandalised. So much effort and care went into the restoration of this community asset.”
Council was yet to inspect the statue for any damage, which will come at ratepayer expense, and had referred the incident to the police.
Senior Sergeant Janine Bowden said police were investigating the matter and were following lines of enquiry to locate those responsible.
-LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.