188 jobs go as fish firms confirm cuts

Nelson is losing 188 jobs at two of its key employers, after Sealord and Nelson Pine Industries yesterday confirmed planned redundancies announced in the past two months.

Sealord said 130 jobs would be lost at its Nelson fish plant with the transfer of fish processing to a freezer-trawler and the move to a single shift.

Efforts to make shore-based processing a viable option against processing at sea, and making it worthwhile to invest in the factory, were unsuccessful, said Sealord chief executive Graham Stuart.

Plant staff numbers had reduced through natural attrition during the period of consultation, with 180 redundancies planned initially.

The decision followed consultations with staff, the Service and Food Workers Union and the Maritime Guild, which began with a briefing to unions on February 18.

More than 400 staff would continue at the Vickerman St site which has a fish plant, a crumbed product plant, a coolstore and wharf facilities.

However, the fish plant was at risk because it cost $9.9 million more a year to process fish on land than it did at sea, Mr Stuart said.

"The plant needs substantial improvement before it has a secure future. A $9.9 million profit differential between processing at sea and processing on land was much too big for us to ignore."

The plant at Nelson's port had employed 650 at the peak of the hoki season.

The company was created out of the Sealord fishing deal, and is owned jointly by Nippon Suisan Kaisha of Japan and Maori tribes through Aotearoa Fisheries.

Nelson Pine confirmed it is making 58 workers redundant from its 265-strong workforce as a result of reduced international demand.

The planned redundancies were announced on March 5, and will take effect on April 9.

Twenty-two of the redundancies were voluntary, managing director Murray Sturgeon said. At least 10 of those made redundant had found other employment. No more redundancies were expected.

Nelson Pine is wholly owned by Japan's Sumitomo Forestry, and is a world leader in the manufacture of medium-density fibreboard (MDF) and laminated veneer lumber (LVL).

"I think we need to maintain a balanced workforce to operate the plant and equipment that we have on site to satisfy the demands as we confidently predict will happen through this year," Mr Sturgeon said.

A lot of the company's MDF is sold to China where it is made into furniture, which is sold to North America where house building has plunged.

Nelson Pine has been producing MDF since 1986 and in 2002 commissioned a LVL plant at its Richmond site.

- NZPA