Iceland a model for Maori fishing industry

The Maori fishing industry has been urged to learn from the transformation of another nation's fisheries on the other side of the planet.

The turnaround of Iceland's fishing fortunes since the 1990s was one of the topics at a two-day Maori industry conference at the Copthorne Hotel in Waitangi this week, hosted by Te Putea Whakatupu Trust.

Nearly 200 delegates from around New Zealand attended, mostly from the fishing and agribusiness industries, along with speakers from Alaska, Canada and Iceland.

Trust chair Richard Jefferies said Dr Ogmundur Knutsson, of the School of Business and Science at Iceland's University of Akureyri, was invited to the conference after Maori fisheries leaders visited Iceland in May.

Mr Jefferies said the key change in Iceland had been a switch from a production-led to a market-led industry.

By investing in technology and research, Icelanders were finding new markets and products, and by using every part of the fish they were making better use of their catch.

For example, high-grade fish leather was now a lucrative export item and fish heads once regarded as waste were dried for the fish soup market in Nigeria.

Mr Jefferies said the conference could also lead to future co-operation with Nana Corporation, one of the world's biggest indigenous companies.

It is owned by the 13,000 Inupiat people of northwest Alaska and turns over US$2 billion ( $2.54 billion) a year, mainly through oil, gas and mining.

It also provides security and logistics for the US military.

The company's mission is not just to look after its own people, but also to improve the lot of indigenous peoples worldwide.

Nana vice-president David Springgate offered the conference new perspectives on mining, Mr Jefferies said.

He hoped co-operation with Nana would lead to job and training opportunities for Maori in New Zealand and Alaska.

Also at the conference were 46 business, management, agriculture and fisheries science students.

All were in the final year of their studies and had been awarded $10,000 scholarships by the trust.

The scholarships provided a leg-up for promising young Maori and "a massive networking tool". Most years four of five students left the conference with job offers.

Other speakers at the conference included Sir Tipene O'Regan, one of the architects of the Sealord deal; former Maori TV boss Jim Mathers; and Rosa Walker, the president of Canada's Indigenous Leadership Development Institution.

Te Putea Whakatupu Trust was established in 2004 under the Maori Fisheries Act.

It is charged with advancing Maori development through research, education and training.