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The worker shortage in the deep-sea fishing industry is near crisis point as it struggles to attract new workers, industry leaders say.
The problem has been highlighted this week by nearly 240 Russian and Ukrainian fishermen who are now in quarantine at Christchurch’s Siduma Hotel, after 11 of them tested positive for Covid-19.
The industry, worth $ 2 billion a year, was saved by Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi late last month after he raised concerns about the impacts of the staff shortage.
Faafoi gave the industry the dispensation of bringing in hundreds of experienced fishermen from abroad. The first batch of workers arrived last week and are scheduled to begin work on the Sealord, Independent Fisheries and Maruha trawlers.
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Sealord CEO Doug Paulin said that while his primary focus was on the health and well-being of his quarantined staff, the delay would have a financial impact on the company.
The company would give up a month or two of fishing at a cost of about $ 1 million in profit, Paulin said.
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Sealord received a new $ 70 million deepwater factory trawler, Tokatu, two years ago.
But this recent dilemma was only exacerbating a problem the industry had with hiring new workers.
Typically, there were between 30 and 40 vacancies on seven of Sealord’s kiwi-manned boats, Paulin said.
Many ship jobs required tertiary education and time at sea and could only be done with a certain level of experience.
About a third of new Kiwi recruits quit after their first or second voyage at sea, and long before reaching the high level of competence needed for higher-paying jobs, Paulin said.
“They just don’t really exist.
“The ships the Russians are targeting are 100 meters long. Therefore, being wrong is not something you would like to contemplate. “
Ross Giblin / Stuff
Sealord CEO Doug Paulin says it is difficult to attract and retain young workers in the industry, because they are not interested in labor intensive work.
Paulin said that young people had different expectations about what they wanted to do with their lives and the labor-intensive jobs typical of the primary sector did not appeal to them.
But if he were promoted from sailor to captain, he could earn hundreds of thousands of dollars, he said.
New Zealand Fisheries Guild Executive Secretary Ian Mathieson said the same problem was found across the primary sector.
It was not a direct financial problem, because the initial rates were reasonable, he said.
“It is an ongoing problem and quite difficult to solve.”
Deep sea fishing work was travel, trip, work six months out of the year. The crew worked 12-hour shifts while on board, which was equivalent to 40 hours a week over the course of a year. All expenses at sea were paid, he said.
BRADEN FASTIER / Things
Fisheries Guild executive secretary Ian Mathieson says the shift to maritime work is a massive shift.
“Someone straight off the street could be making $ 44,000. And if they made trips in duplicate, that could go up to $ 50,000. “
The industry was not promoted enough at the grassroots level. Much more needs to be done in terms of career guidance and recruiting, Mathieson said.
Paulin said there is now talk of an industry-wide campaign, similar to those run by defense forces, that would allow much more to be done and communicated than one company could do alone.
Mathieson said that for newbies, the switch to maritime work was a huge change.
Fishing boats were relatively disciplined environments, where workers had to do what they were asked to do when asked to do it, and conditions were difficult, he said.
“Wear and tear will always be high due to the nature of the job.”
But others, who were able to see the benefits of money and regular free time, could pursue a career and enjoy the lifestyle. The fishermen had families like everyone else, he said.
But the shortage was more acute now, in part because of border restrictions.
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New Zealand Fisheries Guild Executive Secretary Ian Mathieson says wear and tear in the industry will always be high, but more could be done to promote the industry to young people.
“It is reaching a crisis point where all these fishing companies are now struggling to find crews,” he said.
Mathieson said there was no stable crew with multiple disadvantages, including continuous retraining, stress on the senior crew, performance, and health and safety issues.
There were different ways to make a career at sea, including working from the deckhand or factory on trawlers. People with engineering degrees could also get jobs.
“The Labor government is providing free trade education that includes deep-sea fishing,” he said.
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Stephen Blumenfield, director of the Center for Labor, Employment and Labor at the University of Victoria, says the deep-sea fishing industry may have to pay more to attract young people.
But Stephen Blumenfield, director of the Center for Labor, Employment and Labor at the University of Victoria, said the same complaints had been raised that young people were not interested in forced labor over their generation.
What was called “dirty work”, a few generations ago, was in many cases all that was available and now there were many better jobs available. People felt they had options, he said.
To address chronic labor shortages, the industry might have to consider paying much higher rates, as the mining industry in Australia had done.
“At this time, we do not expect these jobs to be more desirable. The way the individual views work and the quality of work is becoming as important as pay for many workers, ”he said.
