Owners mothball their trawlers as catches dwindle

Poor catches and the strong New Zealand dollar have forced some Nelson fishing companies to decommission their vessels and left others considering the future of their fleets.

The Amaltal Voyager and the Ocean Ranger, both part-owned by Talley's Fisheries, are now tied up in the port.

A Port Nelson spokesman said the Amaltal Voyager had been tied up for several weeks.

A third vessel, the Ocean Reward, had been in port for the past nine days.

Nelson inshore fisherman Dennis Wells said more vessels could be decommissioned as hoki fishermen struggled to make quota and New Zealand exporters grappled with the dollar that last week hit 70USc before easing.

Seafood Industry Council chairman Dave Sharp said he knew several large fishing vessels had been taken out of action by New Zealand seafood companies and expected more to follow.

"These things do tend to go in cycles," he said. "This cycle is as bad as it has ever been for the fishing industry."

Sealord Group chief executive Doug McKay said his company was considering what to do with its boats if the expected hoki quota reduction was announced by the Fisheries Ministry later this year.

"We're working through what our redeployment options might be in case we don't need as many boats in the water."

All of the company's vessels were operating as normal in the meantime, he said, and there had been no major crew redundancies.

Hoki Fishery Management Company chief executive Richard Cade said the dollar was "screwing" the industry and hoki catches were down on expectations.

"If the fishing continues as it has, there will be some boats tied up."

Service and Food Workers Union assistant national secretary Neville Donaldson said that, despite the economic climate, he held no immediate concerns for processing jobs at Sealord's Nelson factory.

- NZPA