Fishing company wants foreign workers after laying off crew

Associate Immigration Minister Damien O'Connor is today reviewing a decision to allow a Christchurch fishing company that recently laid off about 40 fishermen to recruit 24 foreigners to crew its New Zealand ship.

It is the second time in eight months Mr O'Connor has ordered immigration officials to revisit an approval for foreign fishermen to work aboard domestically-owned vessels, the other being an application by Nelson-based company, Amaltal, in May last year.

The latest approval, issued last week, allowed Independent Fisheries to recruit 24 foreigners at minimum wage to fill factory hand positions on its sole New Zealand deep sea factory trawler, Independent 1.

The company lodged its application in December, citing a shortage of New Zealand fishermen willing to go to sea.

But just six weeks earlier, Independent Fisheries handed redundancy notices to the ship's 50 crew members, saying poor fishing catches and sky-rocketing fuel prices meant it was unable to continue fishing profitability year-round.

Mr O'Connor today said he was not aware the foreign crew application that immigration officials signed off was for the same vessel that recently laid off New Zealand workers.

He said he only learned this yesterday through media inquiries and he immediately contacted the company and put the approval on hold.

A final decision on the application was to be made later today.

"It was a minor glitch in the information that was reported to me for consideration," he said.

"When I was made aware that it was the same boat, I thought it important to check we were not replacing New Zealand workers with foreign workers.

"The Government's objective is still to uphold and improve wages and conditions for New Zealanders working in the fishing industry."

Mr O'Connor had asked Immigration Service officials to check all its approvals "given our focus on ensuring that wages and conditions in the fishing industry are not dumbed down". He still had confidence in his officials.

Independent Fisheries fleet manager Stephen Bishop said the vessel would only be at sea during the hoki and squid seasons for six months a year.

The redundant crew was given the opportunity to apply for the seasonal positions and 15 chose to do so. Of those applicants, 12 were reappointed.

While the at-sea hourly rate for the redundant crew was similar to the rate being offered to the seasonal workers, crew no longer had the ability to earn bonuses which could reach $2000 for a single fishing trip and accounted for a large percentage of their earnings.

One of the redundant crew said that the new terms of employment meant crew would earn less than half what they previously had.

Mr Bishop acknowledged an adverse effect on crew pay packets, but said it was financially not feasible to pay bonuses when hoki prices were so low. "The reality is that it is not our fault."

Immigration Minister Paul Swain is considering a report into the conditions of foreign crew on New Zealand fishing vessels, having received it just before Christmas.

- NZPA