Fishing industry needs to work together to deal with dollar, says Sealord head

3.00pm

The head of Nelson-based fishing heavyweight Sealord is calling for more cooperation among major industry players to help weather the foreign exchange "crisis".

Chief executive Doug McKay said it was time for fishermen to stop competing and work collaboratively for the good of the industry.

His comments came as the New Zealand dollar hit a seven-year high of US70 cents yesterday and again this morning a situation Mr McKay said was crippling exporters and sending the fishing industry into "crisis mode".

Sealord has an annual turnover of about $600 million, and 93 per cent of its product is exported to foreign markets.

Mr McKay said the high New Zealand dollar meant the company was getting about 50 per cent less for a kilogram of fish sold to the United States than it did two years ago when the dollar was trading at US42 cents.

Fishing companies were "generally reluctant" to consider cooperative approaches, but the currency exchange situation meant a mindset shift was necessary if the industry was to remain viable, he said.

Mr McKay said the fishing industry was "relatively unsophisticated" compared with other primary industries like lamb and wine when it came to coordinating marketing polices and overseas business development.

Fishing companies needed to collectively market the New Zealand seafood brand internationally and develop overseas business opportunities together, he said.

This would require collaborative investment and new ideas.

While little could be done to ease the New Zealand dollar, he called on the Government to reduce charges, levies and compliance costs to help ease the pressure.

Meanwhile, Sealord would continue to try to reduce costs while maintaining quality and service levels, he said.

There were "no imminent plans" for redundancies.

Other fishing companies contacted by the Nelson Mail declined to comment.

New Zealand Mussel Industry Council executive officer Paul Lupi said the dollar was also hurting mussel exporters and he would welcome any initiative that delivered a "generic benefit" for the industry.

Seafood Industry Council chief executive officer Owen Symmans said Mr McKay was "certainly advocating some interesting change".

"It's a very competitive industry. It's up to commercial operators to work out how they're going to maximise their business opportunities."

The ripple-effect of the rising dollar was also being felt onshore as the Nelson property market waits for the tide of investment to turn.

Nelson real estate agents warned last month that the feeding frenzy at the top end of the market may have slowed. Nelson property prices have risen nearly 50 per cent in the past year.

Properties with $1 million-plus pricetags were selling slower than over the same quarter last year, with Haven Realty's Jayne Paynter blaming the weak US dollar slowing US interest.

Wrightson Ltd's rural real estate manager Jock Burridge said there was every danger the rising dollar would significantly affect property investment, but the effects were not yet apparent.

- NZPA