Maori plea on fishing pay ignored

The Government has announced it will improve the conditions and wages of foreign fishing crew, despite warnings it will threaten the viability of the Maori fishing industry.

Immigration Minister David Cunliffe said yesterday he believed the move would put an end to the practice of "ship-jumping" in New Zealand ports in recent years by overseas crew members alleging bad treatment.

The changes will include a mandatory code of practice with improved minimum working and living conditions and a new requirement that a New Zealand party acts as guarantor to ensure crews are paid what they are owed.

There were 3600 members of foreign crews working on fishing vessels in New Zealand waters last year and in recent years some were underpaid or taken advantage of, Mr Cunliffe said.

The crews are supposed to be paid the minimum wage of $10.25 an hour for a minimum of 42 hours a week.

The move would ensure the domestic fishing capacity was not being eroded by unfair competition and would help ensure jobs for New Zealand crews, he said.

The changes have been flagged for some time, sparking a backlash among key fishing industry players, particularly some iwi who have received fishing quota through the Maori fisheries settlement.

Ngapuhi, the country's largest iwi, has chartered foreign fishing vehicles for 10 years as it lacks the capital to invest in its own vessels and infrastructure.

Te Runanga a Iwi o Ngapuhi chief executive Teresa Tepania-Ashton has said the plans could relegate iwi to the role of bit players in an industry that would become dominated by a few large companies.

Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia has also opposed the plan, saying the viability of iwi fishing ventures would be threatened as a result.

Maori ventures which had entered the deepwater fishing quota system later than many other fishing companies had 80 per cent of their quota caught by the foreign charter crews.

They were trying to build up infrastructure and the wage costs threatened that and may force some to lease their quota to other companies, she said.

Asked about claims the viability of some companies was threatened by the change, Mr Cunliffe said: "well that would imply they've been paying significantly less than the minimum wage in the past."

But Aotearoa Fisheries chief executive Robin Hapi said aside from making the business of chartering foreign vessels marginal, the move would reduce quota leasing options and depress prices overall.

Prime Minister Helen Clark was unsympathetic to Mrs Turia's views.

"I think it's a sad day when a party which purports to represent people who are themselves relatively low paid is campaigning for foreign workers to be even lower paid to the extent they are paid below minimum wage levels - that is not tenable in our country."