Sealord sells trawler, buys key share

NELSON - One of Sealord Group's main factory trawlers has been sold to an overseas buyer, but the company has bought a key share in another of its charter vessels.

The moves are the latest by the Nelson-based fishing giant to restructure operations as it wrestles with a drastic cut to the national hoki quota and difficult economic conditions.

Sealord chief executive Doug McKay said today the company had bought a 50 percent share in the two-year-old freezer trawler Paerangi, chartered two years ago from a Norwegian fishing firm.

"She's performed well for us in the years she's been fishing for us and we are very pleased to have her as part of our freezer fleet on a permanent basis, along with our wholly owned freezer trawler Rehua."

Mr McKay said Sealord's other Norwegian charter vessel, the 66m Aorere, had been sold and would leave New Zealand later this month.

He declined to say what either deal was worth, but he expected the Aorere's 70-odd crew to be redeployed aboard other Sealord vessels or with other fishing companies.

It's just over six months since Sealord announced it was tying up the 67m Aoraki in response to hoki quota reductions.

Sealord, which owns 30 percent of the allowable hoki catch, has undergone a major restructuring of its salaried workforce, shore-based processing operations and fleet configuration within the past two years.

The company announced last week that 100 Dunedin fish processing workers will be laid off but 20 Nelson jobs will be created.

Mr McKay announced in December that Aorere was on the market, but said then he did not expect the ship to attract much interest.

The freezer ship, flagged in New Zealand and primarily crewed domestically, has mainly targeted hoki for Sealord since arriving here in 1998.

While Aoraki had attracted some interest, Sealord was yet to receive a firm offer. It's sale would complete the company's current restructuring plans, Mr McKay said.

Fishing Industry Guild South Island administration officer Louis Hart said at least seven New Zealand ships had been tied up or sold in the past 14 months as companies looked to cut costs and restructure their operations.

He warned that New Zealand operators could increase their use of cheaper foreign catching capacity, further devaluing the wages and conditions available to local fishermen.

"I think we can safely say that the New Zealand domestic fishing fleet is in freefall.

"The so called restructuring of our industry seems to be simply code for laying off New Zealand workers in order to increase margins."

Mr Hart called on Fisheries Minister David Benson-Pope to ban foreign-owned and foreign-crewed boats from operating in New Zealand's exclusive economic zone and start providing job security for local fishermen.

Mr Benson-Pope said today he would not interfere in the commercial decision making of fishing companies.

But he was working with the Ministry of Economic Development, Immigration and Labour Department officials to develop a strategic economic plan to address the issues raised by Mr Hart.

- NZPA