Late last year the Wild Animal Control Act was amended to replace the $500 fine for breaching section 8 - relating to hunting without a landowner's authority - with up to two years' imprisonment and/or a fine of up to $100,000.

Taradale Senior Constable Pete Gimblett and local landowners approached Napier MP Chris Tremain several years ago to press for tougher penalties. An amendment went into the ballot and came into force on 28 November.

Pete says it remains to be seen how courts handle the new penalties - but the potential of imprisonment makes a significant difference for police.

"Because there's now a term of imprisonment we can arrest poachers," he says. "That should be a deterrent because before we could only summons them and they never saw the inside of a cell."

Pete says poaching by "armed trespassers" is a serious safety issue in rural areas, with legitimate hunters sometimes reporting shots from unauthorised parties coming dangerously close.

Local feedback has been positive. Dave Coe, who works in the forestry industry in Hawke's Bay and has faced poachers, says he's delighted the Act now "has teeth" whereas people treated the former penalties "as little more than a traffic infringement".