This week, our CEO Lisa Futschek has been in Nelson, arguably the kaimoana capital of New Zealand, where several big themes have emerged from her conversations, including the urgent need for change to enable our sector to thrive.
Nelson is a gorgeous place and in spring it is particularly lovely, with flowers on one side and the ocean on the other. I spent three days there this week (normally I am Wellington-based) in a series of meetings with a very wide range of people in our industry, from major company leaders to small-scale innovators and entrepreneurs. All are very much focused on the challenges facing our sector as costs mount, workers are hard to find and we continue to be under attack from groups of activists who simply won't acknowledge the fantastic work we are doing to become ever more sustainable.
It could be a grim picture, but in fact what shone through during my many conversations was determination, resilience and hope.
Some of that hope came in the form of a press release from the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries which was published on Wednesday. Minister Jones clearly understands the unsustainable cost pressures the industry faces, and he has undertaken to help reduce the burden of levies which are unique to seafood. This includes continuing the rollout of the current camera programme, but then hitting pause. He also plans to limit the cost recovery levies on industry for onboard cameras to a level comparable with the cost of observers on vessels.
As we have said publicly regarding cameras, we support transparency and cameras are one way to deliver that. We think there is merit to having a "horses for courses" solution. For some smaller vessels cameras are the best option, as space is so limited. For other vessels, particularly in the deepwater fishery, observers are better because as well as monitoring catch and operations, they can contribute to scientific data collection while at sea.
The Minister also indicated he is considering a change to how discards are managed. We see the roll out of cameras as an opportunity to provide more flexibility to the framework of what can be returned to sea. We believe that if all fish caught are counted against a fisher's catch entitlements and if returning unusable fish at sea is the best option, then fishers should be allowed to do that, as long as they are reporting and paying appropriately.
We are grateful to have a Minister with deep knowledge of fishing and aquaculture who also sees the opportunities to reduce bureaucratic red tape and accelerate growth in both sectors.
Clearly on our part, we need to deliver that growth and the sustainability that the country and our communities such as Nelson need. The people I met this week were very different as individuals but all of them share the goal of building their business while doing the right thing. There wasn't one conversation about going back to past practices. Everyone wants to embrace new technology and proper care for our oceans.
Several of the people I met are working in the science and research space, either looking at AI and data-driven solutions or working at the chemistry end of the equation, investigating what new, high value products we might be able to extract from our existing seafood catch.
Science and innovation are key, as is having faster access to the data that technology enables us to gather. And then at the human end, we need to collaborate more. I heard that theme from a number of people who see the opportunities we have to grow our individual businesses by understanding and benefitting from the opportunity to do things together. To get there, trust is needed. I would suggest that we can build that trust by talking to each other more. That can include telling our stories to each other as well as to the rest of the world. As CEO of Seafood New Zealand, I am very focused on telling our stories. What was reinforced to me in Nelson this week is just how good those stories are and I want to thank everyone who was so generous with their time and with sharing what is happening for them.
Happy New Year!
As the 1st of October approaches, it's a good time to say Happy New Fishing Year to everyone out there. As we write this Update, we are waiting to hear the results of the latest sustainability round. We will bring you detailed commentary about that in next week's Update. Meantime, with the many challenges we all face, we hope you, your business and your families are all doing ok. Please keep talking to us at Seafood New Zealand and sharing your stories and experiences. We wish you all the best for the fishing year ahead.
