Women speakers share their industry perspectives
Rural Women groups in this country began as the Women’s Division of the Farmer Union in 1925 as a response to hardships facing many farm women, particularly those in isolated areas coping with loneliness or even illness with little support.
Things morph of course, but I think the founders of this national organisation would be proud of the dozens of RW groups, which still offer support and fellowship around the country.
Golden Bay has three separate groups – Bainham, Pakawau and Uruwhenua - and last week it was their turn to collectively host the top of the south annual conference at the Rec Centre in Tākaka, bringing together RW groups spread from the upper West Coast to the Marlborough Sounds.
Motivational, informative speakers at these events are often the highlight, and I was interested to see that the two keynote speakers at the two-day event were both prominent local women from the fishing industry, the bounty of primary produce being the theme well appreciated by all those who attended.
Both their speeches gave a telling snapshot of their industry that undoubtedly is facing big changes and challenges.
Talking to a 71-strong crowd at the dinner on the Monday evening was Jenny Cooper of Westhaven Shellfish, Pakawau, who identified herself strongly as an export marketer.
“Change has been a theme of my career, my focus essentially facilitating research and promoting exports,” she said.
Cooper cut her teeth working for the Ministry for Trade and Industry, advising trade commissioners and giving exporters advice and research service, much of it in the Middle East and Pacific.
Relocating from Christchurch to Nelson in 1988, Cooper focused on the challenge of marketing primary horticultural processed products.
“Mainly it was frozen, sliced, crushed, or concentrated juices of berry fruit, kiwifruit, we even did some exotic rhubarb and some vegetables.
“It was an interesting time globally, markets opening up everywhere, anything seemed possible,” Cooper said.
“One opportunity that came up was sourcing Russian cranberries, processing them in Finland, and here we were in Nelson the export agent, consigning the product into the US.
“The lesson from this was sometimes you can just grab the opportunity ... but you have to be in the right place at the right time.”
Tasman Milk Products was next for her, stationed at their Brightwater plant doing industrial ingredient marketing to local markets.
On the side she volunteered and gave her time promoting Nelson Bays Art Marketing Trust, the Adam Chamber Music Festival board and the Boathouse Society, helping develop it as a waterfront venue.
Becoming regional account manager (Nelson/Marlborough) for Trade NZ occupied her until 2001, but she soon relocated to Golden Bay to market the area’s wild caught ‘Westhaven’ cockles.
The company had been operating since 1982, making it today 42 years in the business, exporting to the United States. In the early days, they also processed scallops, mussels and some eels, the latter mainly to Japan, but these pared off to mainly cockles.
Today, Westhaven holds a fishing licence and is a quota holder in Area
“This is a whole new world of crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s ... and learning the acronyms! Not to mention MPI audits every six months and randomly as well.”
Jenny Cooper
COC7A in the Tasman area as well as COC3A down in Otago.
“Unlike most fishing businesses we wait until the tide goes out to go fishing,” said Cooper.
Harvests are well planned with track map technology including MPI locator satellite tracking. Harvested once or twice a week, they are delivered direct to their shoreside factory at Pakawau where they are graded before storing in a 42,000-litre recirculating salt pool to ensure they are grit-free.
After that, its weighing, processing, heat treated, snap frozen and packed for export as ready to eat NZ Littleneck Clams.
“Initially, we were exporting live cockles to the US, but now we freight all our products frozen. The company contracts between 12 to 16 locals,” Cooper explained.
“Growing the development of a factory was sometimes frustratingly hard work; eCompliance is still one of our biggest costs, to operate legally under the NZFSA arm of MPI. Which operates with legal reference to the Food standards Australia New Zealand.
“Some years ago, I downloaded the acronym list which the Ministry for Primary Industries uses, it came out at 52 pages. Who knows how long it is today.”
Westhaven Shellfish owner is its veteran of the business, Alister McDonald, known locally as ‘Cockle’. He is now Cooper’s partner as well. Together they’re a team, with a great crew at the factory.
Cooper finished her talk by saying she came in working and involved in marketing. But the focus pivoted to compliance. “This is a whole new world of crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s
... and learning the acronyms! Not to mention MPI audits every six months and randomly as well.”
Cooper remains optimistic. “Change is OK in this business, you either evolve or die.”
The conference’s speaker the following day was Donna Wells, who talked about her experience self-employed managing an export fish and quota brokerage company, Finestkind, for the last 33 years.
Summing it up she described it as; “... a series of up and downs with rewards and awards, and now feeling like a dinosaur in the age of the technology.”
She went on to talk about setting up as a woman in the seafood industry.
“After identifying a role, I had to then find the confidence to work towards that role. One thing I identified early as a woman was knowing I had a role promoting and supporting others.
“Part of this mentor role came from being a graduate of the National Seafood Industry Leadership programme, and member of Women in Seafood Australasia,” Wells said.
“The seafood industry is different; it’s challenging, unique and character building. It’s rewarding. But it’s also tough, physically and mentally tough, hard on families too. More than anything, it’s a way of life.”
It is an industry of variables - supply, demand, weather, financial uncertainty. It’s an industry constantly dodging bullets and struggling to hold its head high to an aggrieved public, environmentalists and the recreational fishing sector.
Buying from around five commercial fishermen, Finestkind has been exporting mainly to the Sydney Fish Market, between 30-100 tonnes of fresh chilled seafood annually.
It’s a complicated business. In addition to the export side last year, she also brokered 530 ACE (Annual Catch Entitlement) transfers, four quota share sales and seven quota valuations.
Wells is well aware she’s always been a small player in the seafood pond.
“I’m in that 1% of the seafood industry that does not identify with being a corporate. That’s the reality of the fishing industry now.”
If anyone has put in the hard yards, Wells has. Her involvement with fishing started when she met and married Nelson fisherman Ken Wells from Wakatahuri.
They travelled, had son Max, and broke up after 20 years together, fishing partnership too. “I was so gutted when my marriage broke up,” she said. In many ways Finestkind was Wells rising from the ashes, and she’s been dedicated to the cause ever since.
At one point in her speech, Wells said, “I don’t consider myself a success, but I do feel I made a difference.” That brought a full applause from the house.
Well done you two women for stepping up and stepping out, and thanks for telling your true fishing stories.