Tag Archives: New Zealand
SAFETY: A gradual culture change has been taking place across much of the fishing industry
As one of the world’s leading insurers of fishing vessels, Sunderland Marine keeps a close eye on the fishing industry’s evolution and has encouraged increasing safety awareness. Sunderland Marine has taken the initiative where it has seen that improvements can be made,,, This is not just in the UK, but also through initiatives in Australia and New Zealand, both of which have also seen a safety culture developing in the right direction In the US, Sunderland Marine has also been instrumental in making available independent safety drills for crews working on East Coast draggers and scallopers. In addition, the offshore crab fishery that’s familiar to anyone who has seen the Deadliest Catch on TV has seen positive changes. photos, >click to read< 17:32
Caught: New Zealand Company faces losing $20m trawler fishing in a protected zone
Sanford Ltd, and two employees, skipper/master Grant Walker and first mate William Lash, used trawl nets on several occasions in a Benthic Protection Area (BPA) in New Zealand seas in 2017 and 2018. The company, along with Walker and Lash, have pleaded guilty to breaches of the Fisheries Regulations and are being sentenced at Christchurch District Court. Sanford is the registered owner of the 64m deep-water stern trawler San Waitaki,, On both trips, 50-year-old self-employed fishermen Walker and Lash, 45, trawled along the Puysegur BPA seabeds on several occasions. Sanford said they relied on the professionalism of the master and crew of their vessels to follow company instructions and be familiar with all the relevant laws. >click to read< 21:35
Coronavirus: Covid-19 discovered in second group of Russian mariners
The 11 cases of Covid-19 were discovered in a group of 190 mariners who flew into the city from Russia on Wednesday to work on fishing boats in New Zealand waters. The group was originally scheduled to arrive in November, but was delayed after more than 30 Covid infections emerged in the first group of 137 Russian and Ukrainian mariners who arrived in October. The approximately $1.2 million isolation cost for the second group of mariners will be met by the fishing companies where they will work, which include Sealord and Independent Fisheries. >click to read< 11:16
Russia and NZ in ‘knock out brawl’ over fishing vessel in protected Antarctic waters
Russia has accused New Zealand of falsifying evidence in a diplomatic clash over illegal fishing in protected waters around Antarctica. New Zealand and many allies rejected the accusation,,, On January 19 last year, a routine New Zealand surveillance flight over the Southern Ocean spotted a Russian-flagged ship called FV Palmer fishing in a marine protected area where fishing is banned by international agreement. The Palmer’s satellite tracker, officially called a “vessel monitoring system” ,or VMS, indicated the vessel was about 800 nautical miles (1500 kilometres) from that spot. >click to read< 15:44
New Zealand crayfish in hot demand in China, selling for $100, as China-Australia relations sour
Though this time of year is usually quiet a shift in global politics has made for a busier November and December than expected. A diplomatic stoush saw China refuse various Australian exports, including live crayfish, also known as kōura or rock lobster. Suddenly Chinese buyers are paying a lot more to get hold of New Zealand crays. The extra cash has been a welcome boost, after the industry’s $38m loss during lockdown. >click to read< 16:43
New Zealand: A boost for training fishing recruits on the West Coast
The fishing industry is making a push to recruit more Kiwis into jobs by funding more scholarships. The industry was thrown a lifeline by the Government last year when it granted exemption for Russian and Ukrainian fishing crews to enter New Zealand to fill the shortage on deep sea fishing vessels because of Covid-19. A total of 440 Russian and Ukrainian fishermen were due to be flown to New Zealand on two flights chartered by fishing companies in an effort to save the local deep-sea fishing industry,,, To help boost the number of domestic fishermen, Westport Deep Sea Fishing School director Peter Maich said the fishing industry had increased the number of its industry-funded scholarships four-fold. >click to read< 16:22
Electronic Monitoring in New Zealand: “not excusable” some skippers are fishing in protected areas
It comes as data obtained under the Official Information Act shows the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is investigating a set netting vessel in the South Island. It alleges it fished in both a dolphin-protected area and a marine reserve. “It’s not excusable at all,” chief executive Dr Jeremy Helson says. “We will work with MPI and the companies to make sure skippers and crew understand their responsibilities.” In December last year, new electronic monitoring rules came into place for 860 commercial fishing vessels, meaning the movements of vessels were tracked by the Ministry for Primary Industries. >click to read< 09:16 – Commercial fishing vessel offences 10-times higher after Ministry for Primary Industries starts tracking location information – >click to read<
Fools and Other People’s Money: Offshore Wind Industry Bamboozles Boris With ‘Wind Power’s Cheap’ Myth
If 2020 demonstrates anything, it’s the herd-like behavior of governments. Italy responds to the Covid-19 pandemic with a lockdown, so the rest of Europe follows its lead, but for Sweden. Britain decides to go for net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050 without a clue as to how much it will cost, and much of the West, including Joe Biden, follows suit. Only New Zealand had the gumption to ask how much it might cost. Earlier this month, British prime minister Boris Johnson pledged that offshore wind, cheaper than goal and gas, he claimed, would power every home in Britain by 2030. Cheaper than gas? Boris got suckered. >click to read< 14:44
Bryan Bruce – Deal or no deal?
“Jobs, investment and new technology will flow from Nissui’s investment in seafood enterprise Sealord and Sealord’s quota will be 100% owned by Te Ohu Kai Moana “ Shane Jones press release 4/12 /2000 Twenty years later “Sealord is using Russian crew for their deep water vessels over New Zealanders because of a lack of “trained and qualified fishers in New Zealand”. CEO Sealord Doug Paulin 1 News 22 Oct 2020 So.. why haven’t young New Zealanders been trained to do this work over the last 20 years? >click to read< 08:38
Salaries can be high, with lots of time off – so why can’t fishing boats hire Kiwis?
The worker shortage in the deep-sea fishing industry is almost at crisis point as it struggles to attract new workers, industry leaders say. The issue has been highlighted this week by nearly 240 Russian and Ukrainian fishermen now quarantining in Christchurch’s Siduma Hotel after 11 of them tested positive for Covid-19. But this recent dilemma was only exacerbating a problem the industry had with recruiting new workers. >click to read, or listen to audio report< 19:05
A day in the life of a hoki fishing trawler crew
Johnny Thompson was an accountant in Auckland until a snowboarding accident changed his life. “I had it real bad for a start – those first few days were the worst – eventually I came right but everyone takes different amounts of time to get over it.” Thompson is now part of the crew aboard Sealord’s wetfish trawler Otakou , which Stuff joined for a 15-hour expedition for hoki in the Cook Canyon. The day begins at Picton’s Waitohi Wharf at 9am with a five-hour steam to the fishing grounds at the south eastern end of Cook Strait. However, once the vessel hits the open sea it is literally all hands on deck for all 14 crew members. video, >click to read< 17:50
Russians jet in to save New Zealand’s beleaguered deep-sea fishing industry
Hundreds of Russian and Ukrainian seamen will fly into Christchurch in the coming weeks to save the country’s beleaguered deep-sea fishing industry, which has been haemorrhaging cash and is on the brink of mass layoffs. About 440 fishermen will arrive on two flights chartered by fishing companies – the first of which touches down from Moscow via Singapore on Friday. New Zealand’s deep-sea fishing industry, largely reliant on overseas workers, has been crippled by Covid travel restrictions that have left operators unable to crew their boats, costing tens of millions of dollars.>click to read< 09:21
Tied-up fishing boats signal overseas worker crisis for industry
One fishing company is effectively out of business while others are bracing for large financial hits as the deepwater New Zealand industry, unable to get skilled foreign workers into the country, have begun tying up vessels. At least three New Zealand-flagged big autonomous trawler reefer (BATM) deepwater vessels associated with Canterbury based Independent fisheries have been tied up at Lyttleton as it repatriated its Russian and Ukranian crew following the end of their visa periods. Sealord now urgently needed 160 skilled fishers to crew the two vessels >click to read< 18:49
Second attempt to get Kiwi fishing crew home from Mauritius ready for take off
The crew of Sealord fishing vessel Will Watch have been unable to return to New Zealand due to Coronavirus, so the Nelson-based company has chartered private jets to finally enable a crew changeover after seven months’ fishing. After being scuppered by red tape and mechanical delays, fishing company Sealord’s second attempt to bring its crew home from Mauritius is set for take-off. >click to read< 18:53
NZ First could put the brakes on the extension of cameras on more boats, depending on outcome of election
New Zealand First has long resisted cameras, but has now agreed with Labour to extend their use. But the party’s fishing spokesperson, Shane Jones, said he would be watching the process closely to make sure it did not handicap the economy. It was important to keep earnings by the primary sector strong, for the benefit of New Zealand as a whole, he said. “The installation of cameras on fishing boats needs to driven by a robust appraisal … and careful analysis of what is the business case (for them),” he said. “In this post Covid environment it is incredibly important that revenue is delivered with gusto. >click to read< 13:50
New Zealand Government to pay up to $60 million to install cameras on commercial fishing boats
Minister of Fisheries Stuart Nash has announced a large cash investment from the Government to roll out cameras on commercial fishing vessels. The cameras will be used to monitor any breach of fishing quotas by operators. Nash said the funding would make a real difference, but defended the delay in making it happen. “This isn’t simply a matter of just about getting a go-pro and a selfie stick and away you go, we’re talking about cameras that are operating in the harshest of environment, we’re talking about up to 700G of data that has to be transferred from the boat per month, from the boat to some sort of storage site, it has to be viewed. >click to read< 20:35
Hitchhiking honeymooners hitch a 9,200km trawler ride – Fishermen, honeymooners back in NZ after voyage from Falkland Islands
A New Zealand honeymoon couple stranded on the remote Falkland Islands in March because of the coronavirus have managed to return home by hitching a ride of more than 9,200 kilometers on an Antarctic fishing boat. Skipper Shane Cottle said he was a bit nervous at first about taking the couple on his 38-meter vessel San Aotea II, along with the crew of 14. >click to read< Fishermen, honeymooners back in NZ after voyage from Falkland Islands – Fifty-nine days after it departed Timaru on a mission to retrieve stranded fishermen from the Falkland Islands, the San Aotea II returned to the port on Tuesday morning – its passengers and crew ecstatic to finally be home. >click to read, and timeline of events< 14:52
FV Jubilee: Disaster averted just days before tragedy that cost three lives
The likely cause of a trawler capsizing and sinking off the Canterbury coast with the loss of all three fishermen aboard had happened on a previous fishing trip just days earlier, it’s been revealed. The 90-tonne, 16m Jubilee sank 22km off the Rakaia River mouth after sending a distress signal early 
on October 18, 2015. All three experienced fishermen on board – Jared Reese Husband, 47, of Timaru, skipper Paul Russell Bennett, 35, of Motueka, and 55-year-old Terry Donald Booth also from the Nelson region – died. A Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) probe concluded the sinking was likely caused by a hose left running,,, >click to read< 15:54
F/V San Aspiring crew back from Falklands ahead of schedule aboard F/V San Aotea II
The mission to retrieve 15 Kiwi fishermen from the South Atlantic Ocean is almost at an end, with the F/V San Aotea II anchoring off the coast of Timaru, in New Zealand’s southern island, a day ahead of schedule. According to reports in the NZ media, the long liner was expected to arrive in Timaru on August 1 after a 55-day round trip, but arrived on Friday morning, ahead of schedule thanks to unusually good weather in the South Pacific in the past week, Sanford spokesperson Fiona MacMillan said. >click to read< 13:10
Death of young woman onboard Sanford fishing boat prompts police investigation
Anna Mannering was dancing and having fun with crewmates onboard the F/V San Granit as it made its way deep into the Southern Ocean on the evening of January 27.It was the 21-year-old’s first expedition on a commercial fishing vessel, and she had recently become engaged to a crew member. But that same night, Anna was found unresponsive in her cabin and later pronounced dead. Tragically, the 21-year-old was the second crew member to have died on the 67-metre San Granit, in just over a year.,, A Sanford spokeswoman said: ‘’Sanford can confirm this was not a workplace accident but a sudden death. It was a shock and very sad for the crew to lose one of their team.” >click to read< 19:34
Sealord ordered to forfeit $24 million vessel
The company was also ordered to pay a $24,000 fine in Nelson District Court for trawling in a Benthic Protected Area. Sealord vessel master Bolen Terric Goomes was fined $7500 and first mate Thomas Adrian Pope was fined $5000, MPI reports. They were convicted on one representative charge each, relating to five trawls for the company, three trawls for the skipper and two trawls for the first mate. In addition to the vessel Ocean Dawn being forfeit, the proceeds from the sale of the entire catch taken in the five offending trawls is also forfeit which amounts to $1,12294.13. >click to read< 08:05
Fishing brothers hook a whopper
Operating as the Medea Fishing Company Ltd, brothers Adam and Nat Davey have been working in the Northland fishing industry since they left school. From the outset they had expansion plans, and purchased an 8-metre boat, ‘Messina,’ and a commercial quota. In 1998 they upgraded to a 10-metre boat, ‘Moana,’ which enabled them to fish further afield and could hold a 3-tonne catch.,, The brothers considered fishing outside the 200-mile zone, but soon realised their commitment was to the Far North and creating opportunities locally. A new and bigger boat was needed, however, and with an increased fish quota, and fish receiver’s licence, they could expand their operation and sell locally, with future generations of Northlanders in mind. >click to read< 08:38
Kiwi longliners meet at Falklands; San Aotea on Thursday leaves for New Zealand
A 25-day slog across the frigid Southern Ocean is finally over for a New Zealand Sanford fishing vessel on a mercy mission to help the crew of a fellow fishing boat who spent months at sea in rough waters near Cape Horn due to the Covid-19 lockdown. The San Aotea arrived in the Falkland Islands on Monday and teamed up with the crew of the San Aspiring, and the two ships are now are berthed together at Port Stanley. The crew on the San Aspiring had been fishing for toothfish and doing scientific research off South Georgia since February. They carried on fishing throughout the lockdown. >click to read< 08:31
New Zealand: Safety training needed after man killed on trawler
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission has recommended fishing company Sanford Limited introduce more safety training and has warned against the use of performance-impairing substances after an investigation into the death of a trawler freezerman. Steffan Antony Stewart, 26, of New Plymouth, who died after becoming trapped in a piece of machinery aboard the New Zealand-registered deep-sea factory trawler San Granit, had a level of methamphetamine in his system which meant it was likely consumed at sea, the review found. “Due to the varying effects this substance has on an individual, it was not possible to determine whether it contributed to the accident,” it says. >click to read< 14:15
New Zealand: There’s something fishy about the government’s relationship with seafood
The government’s decision to delay the installation of monitoring cameras on fishing boats is being condemned by critics (of course) A pattern of delay and scuttling has emerged over the three years of the current government when it has faced a decision that could impose strict The National Party and Greenpeace have suggested that the government’s moves reflect NZ First undermining Labour and the Greens at the cabinet table, however NZ First MP Shane Jones dismissed the allegation in an interview with The Spinoff. His ardent vocal support for fisheries in parliament and reports that he’s received financial backing from the industry isn’t reflected in the government’s decisions, he said. >click to read< 14:41
‘Not doomsday’: Commercial fishers say crayfish season looks promising
“A glimmer of light” is how Otago-based commercial fisherman Chris Cooper describes the state of the rock lobster industry — one of the first sectors to be crippled by the Covid-19 outbreak. The Chinese market closed to all rock lobster — or crayfish — exports in late January. China took 95% to 98% of all commercial crayfish landed in New Zealand. “We basically got a Dear John letter on January 24 and told there was no market. Now the market was starting to slowly open up again and Mr Cooper was pleased to be back in business, saying prices were “looking solid”. “My gut feeling is its going to be OK,maybe like last season — not a boomer, not a doomsday either. I’ve got a feeling its going to be a solid one,” >click to read< 17:49
Nelson-based fishing crews adrift from Coronavirus during lockdown
The crew of Nelson-based fishing vessel Ocean Pioneer has spent the last nine weeks in a boat bubble, catching scampi on the Chatham Rise as the world was changed by Covid-19. Skipper Blair Alderson and his crew of five deckhands and a chief engineer departed Nelson two weeks’ prior to the March 26 level 4 lockdown.,, Damage to the boat’s television dome on the second day of the first trip restricted their news updates to emails from home and chatter with other boats in the vicinity. The crew were able to truly grasp the lockdown situation when they unloaded their first catch at Port Nelson in the midst of level 4 lockdown. >click to read< 07:52
New Zealand rock lobster industry back in action with exports to China
The New Zealand lobster industry was among the first and hardest hit by Covid-19, with the export of live lobsters from New Zealand stopping in late January when China closed its restaurants and freight to the country was restricted. However, Te Anau-based Fiordland Lobster Company, which exports about 40 percent of New Zealand lobster to China, has started up again this week and its product will begin arriving in Shanghai this weekend. Lobster Exporters of New Zealand chairman Andrew Harvey confirmed lobster exports into China had resumed after “stopping dead” in late January. >click to read< 10:21
Coronavirus: Global lockdown to hit China’s supplies of steak, lobster, wines
Just over a month ago, supply chains in China were thrown into chaos as trucks and planes delivering goods to the world came to a standstill. Now, China’s economy is moving back towards capacity, while the supply shock from the coronavirus pandemic is beginning to affect many Western countries, as they look to contain the virus’ spread. But this second round of supply shock enveloping countries around the world may mean China’s growing middle classes find themselves strapped for premium overseas food such as meat and dairy products,,, Video, >click to read< 11:26
