Live seafood sector, farmers feel Covid-19 impact

Southland’s live seafood industry is doing it tough and the region’s farming and tourism industries face uncertainty due to the coronavirus outbreak in China.

However, businesses can learn from the outbreak and become more resilient, a leading accountant says.

Invercargill-based James Harvey, the Southland chairman of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, says the live seafood industry in Southland has been particularly hard hit.

China closed ports and restaurants, meaning demand for live seafood, including paua and rock lobster from Southland, had dried up.

Harvey, who markets rock lobster into China, said it was ‘‘peak time’’ for the industry as they had to gather their annual catch entitlement by March 31 or lose it.

But the boats had not been getting out to sea because of the lack of demand. ‘‘There’s a lot of fishing companies and also fishermen that are getting hit the hardest,’’ he said.

Southland’s rock lobster sales were reliant on China because China paid the highest price.

Though banks in New Zealand had been supportive, players in the live seafood industry needed to get financial advisers and institutions to look at their cashflows, he said.

‘‘It’s probably going to make us look at the whole [live seafood] business model which is a good thing. How do we make our businesses more resilient in a changing global event? I think we can do that.’’

The biggest challenge was getting product in and out of China.

Red meat farmers were facing cashflow issues as they were unable to sell stock to the meatworks, so had to hold them on the farm.

Those animals were eating feed the farmers needed for next year so farmers also needed to look at their options, Harvey said.

The coronavirus had struck at the ‘‘worst time’’ when a lot of New Zealand exporters put their product to market during the Chinese new year celebrations. ‘‘People need to talk to each other during times like this – talk to their advisers just to relieve some of that anxiety.’’

Great South chief executive Graham Budd said the direct economic impact of coronavirus on the Southland region was not yet known.

However, the organisation had anecdotally heard that it was affecting primary exports. With Southland responsible for 15 per cent of New Zealand’s tradeable exports, any global concerns that affected supply and demand flow could flow through to Southland region.

March should a busy time of the year for tourism operators. But the travel restrictions and people’s growing reluctance to travel had led to a decline in international visitor numbers across New Zealand.

Great South was keeping a close eye on the situation, Budd said.