The only specialised marine publication in Oceania that focuses on the maritime industry, from super yachts to small craft to large commercial ships, including coastal shipping, tugs, tow boats, barges, ferries, tourist, sport-fishing craft
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for semi-skilled Kiwis to get to sea and earn good dollars. This money would return to New Zealand and economically benefit our local communities. In addition, if the catch aboard our deepwater vessels was processed in our factories and exported it would add further value to local wage packets. We understand that among the deepwater fleet fishing within the EEZ, we got to a stage where New Zealand-manned boats were catching nearly 70 percent of the deepwater quota and the percentage was increasing. Today it's another story, with the FCVs clawing back to a level where they now account for some 62 percent of the total catch, and in some species as high as 99 percent of this often very lucrative catch. The upshot is lost job opportunities for New Zealanders. About 2000 international seafarers are currently employed at sea, working some 26 licensed FCVs to fish in our waters. It is a sad fact and on record that the government did not ensure a level playing field for the New Zealand fleet. This left the door open for FCV charter companies and vessel owners to find wriggle room to rort the system. It didn't take long for our New Zealand companies to figure out that the small, loss-adjusting companies with significant foreign ownership were making more money catching fish within our EEZ than they were. Clearly, the debate must focus on the safety of these ships and whether they are fit for purpose. Likewise, are the companies working to the letter of the law in ensuring they adhere to the various acts and rules as prescribed in New Zealand law. Current debates and evidence suggest this may not be the case. We understand it is normal in these charter arrangements to operate the New Zealand company as a loss-adjusting company, while the foreign partnership is run as the profit company, meaning they pay little or no tax on the value earned from New Zealand fish. Likewise, the crew wages paid through some very suspect systems incurs no New Zealand taxes, or levies from the Accident Compensation Corporation and Occupational Safety and Health. Unfortunately, because of the government-enhanced uneven playing field and with no solid commitment to allow the New Zealand deepwater fleet to grow, along with allowing international competitors to use aged ships and cheap international workers, most of whom may be on suspect employment contracts. These companies using FCVs are taking us to the cleaners. We just about had "New Zealandisation" of our deepwater fleet. The question remains, can we get it back? We live in a commercial world, where the government needs to maximise the return from every dollar extracted from our wild marine fisheries. To do this we need to control and manage our deepwater fleet. We are clearly not doing this at the moment. One could mount a feasible argument in defence of the use of FCVs to catch low-value species. The problem with this approach relates to the effort taken to catch them. The charter companies tell us New Zealand boats cannot make money out of catching the majority of deepwater species, especially the likes of jack mackerel. This statement is either a red herring or a blatant lie, especially when one New Zealand company fishing for jacks has included them as part of its deepwater quota portfolio. The vessel's managers were still able to break even or make a modest profit catching this single species alone. The bonus to the New Zealand economy is that the ship and its New Zealand crew are able to be utilised at sea longer and are still able to make a tangible contribution to the overall fishing operation. Likewise, companies have tied up or sold ships because they could not get quota, because the quota owners, of whom many are Maori, are being told it needed to be given to the FCV to make them viable. Rubbish! New Zealand - Volpower NZ Limited Ph. 0800 865 769 www.volvopenta.co.nz VIP.WB12