Seven protesters boarded a DOC vessel this morning in a bid to stop a controversial poison drop on Rakitu Island.

A group of seven Great Barrier Island residents boarded a Department of Conversation vessel to try and stop a controversial poison drop.

Protesters boarded the boat at Port Fitzroy Harbour on Great Barrier Island on Friday morning in a last-ditch attempt to stop the aerial drop of brodifacoum rat poison on nearby Rakitu Island.

The protesters were escorted off the boat by a group of 13 police officers from the Auckland Maritime unit, a police spokesperson said.

supplied Protesters boarded a DOC vessel which was heading out to Rakitu Island.

"We were at Great Barrier Island this morning to make sure everyone was kept safe and that there was no breach of the peace."

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Police described the protest as "peaceful" and there were "no major issues at the protest."

The poison drop was organised by DOC to remove rats from the island off the east coast of Great Barrier Island.

DOC Aotea/Great Barrier Island Operations Manager George Taylor said Rakitu had a thriving population of native birds before rats were introduced to the island.

"Removing the rats will allow us to bring these birds back to the island," Taylor said.

Brodifacoum is available as an over-the-counter rat poison and works by causing internal bleeding when an animal eats it.

The poison drop has been opposed by many Great Barrier Island residents since late 2017. In January, more than half the adult population of the outer Hauraki Gulf Island signed a petition opposing the spread of poison.

Aotea Poison Free spokeswoman Elise Bishop, who attended Friday's protest, said residents had deep worries about the release of poison on an island only two kilometres away.

"Brodifacoum is a highly toxic poison and we don't know that much about what it can do to various animals including our native birds, it builds up in the liver of wild pigs and can make it dangerous to eat them.

"We're quite isolated from the rest of New Zealand and we're very connected to the land here, we get a lot of our food from the ocean and this poison is being dropped really close to us."

Bishop believed DOC should have looked into trapping the rats instead of using poison.

Kelly Klink, who is a spokeswoman for local Mana Whenua, said DOC had not consulted with most of the local iwi.

"Instead of seeking us out they've just gone ahead and dropped it - we don't have supermarkets here so we rely on the moana to provide for us"

​However, Taylor said the removal of rats from Rakitu could lead to more fish and marine life existing in the area.

"Removing rats could also enable Rakitu to be part of a native seabird highway spanning a chain of pest-free islands. Seabird islands create nutrients in the seas around them, making them more productive," Taylor said.

Taylor said DOC had successfully and safely used brodifacoum on 53 other islands.