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Fishing boat: Getty
Stock photo: Getty
The fishing industry in the top of the South Island is crying out for workers as hundreds of roles are needing to be filled.

The Nelson Regional Development Agency has joined up with three of the largest fishery companies to launch a campaign to fill those roles.

Development Agency regional development and attraction manager Hannah Norton said Nelson had the biggest fishing port in Australasia and the sector was critical for the area.

Each of the three companies had hundreds of roles available, both seasonal and permanent, she said.

"For the upcoming hoki season there is definitely an urgency to get the workers in, but since the Covid lockdown began there have been roles not being filled due to the lack of overseas workers that are ongoing too. But right now the timing is around that critical seasonal influx that is coming up."

The companies were recruiting for the hoki season now, which runs from May to September.

Some of those roles could progress into permanent work, Norton said.

In previous years the roles were often filled by visiting travellers.

The roles are based in Nelson, Motueka, Blenheim, and Havelock, and jobs were on boats and on land.

People can register for work on the Catch a Job website.

The website was aimed at making the process as easy as possible, with people registering some basic information, which would be passed on to the seafood companies who could then come back to applicants about roles they may be suitable for, Norton said.

There were roles both for people new to the sector and experienced people, she said.

"There is learning on the job, so it's definitely open to anyone looking for something new, and if you are experienced there are a range of roles they could fit into too."

The website launched on Thursday, April 29, and Norton said she knew some people had already been offered interviews.

Comments

Get a job destroying NZ's native wildlife!
In 2010, Greenpeace International added the blue grenadier (hoki) to its seafood red list.[9] The Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand (Forest & Bird) assigns hoki an E grade (red - avoid).[10] Both organisations state damage to the sea floor due to bottom trawling and bycatch of species such as New Zealand fur seals, albatrosses, petrels and basking sharks as the primary reasons for the ratings.

Another bunch of resource exploiters bleating because they don't have the sense to risk manage their industry.
These guys are anti union, anti conservation, anti health and safety and anti sharing their massive profits with their workers. They've used Philippine and Vietnamese workers for years, paying abysmal wages, by NZ standards, and now they're weeping because they haven't got a contingency plan.
Guess you should've invested in training kiwi workers and paying a living wage.
No sympathy.

When is the follow-up story due?

Because it would be interesting to see if these people have learned anything from the disaster that was horticulture recruitment.