Coated fish factory closure confirmed by Sealord
Sealord has confirmed the closure of its coated fish factory with the loss of 79 jobs.
A meeting was held with affected staff in Nelson on Friday, who were told the factory would shut its doors on November 14, though it may close earlier if workers move on to other jobs in the meantime.
The company will shed 57 roles in the factory itself, and 22 office-based or management positions. The decision followed consultations with staff after the proposal was announced a month ago.
A coated factory employee, who asked not to be named, said the news initially came as a shock and some were “distressed” about the closure.
With other businesses closing at the same time, he doubted the city had enough other opportunities for the number of people affected.
Some of those working at the plant were husband and wife. A number also had family members who worked at the Eves Valley sawmill that had was closed last month or Proper Crisps that had announced a proposal to move north.
“Those kinds of permutations and combinations just took away the jobs of multiple family members,” he said.
Sealord chief executive Doug Paulin said he was feeling sad for those affected.
“It’s very tough for them and it’s not easy delivering such news,” he said.
“At the same time, it’s the right thing to do for our remaining people, our shareholders, and the company itself.”
Staff were being offered seasonal hoki roles and Sealord was providing support where it could, he said.
They had also received several calls from local employers with available roles and some staff had already been approached directly for permanent work.
Paulin said despite robust feedback during the consultation process, there were no suggestions that would close the profitability gap needed to keep the factory operating.
Manufacturing in New Zealand was “incredibly difficult”, and Sealord would look to process and package its coated products overseas, likely in Vietnam, using Sealord-caught fish.
Paulin said Sealord would ask the Government to progress with amendments to the Fisheries Act and to continue to find ways to drive down compliance costs.
“We also need Government’s vocal support for what we do. New Zealand runs one of the most sustainable fishing programmes in the world and the Government should be proud to stand beside us.”
Sealord’s frozen crumbed and battered fish products are sold in both New Zealand and Australia and make up about 6% of its business based on revenue.
Last week Sealord also announced it had begun consultation with staff on the plan to shift its wetfish and by-products factories and a fresh fish trawler to seasonal, putting a further 59 jobs at risk.
The string of job losses in the region began with the closure of the Eves Valley sawmill in Tasman, affecting 142 jobs, last month, while Proper Crisps’ went public with a plan to shift production to South Auckland in late 2027, affecting 47 staff at its Nelson factory.
E tū union national secretary Rachel Mackintosh said Sealord staff were processing the same feelings of shock and grief as when the closure proposal was first put forward. “The knife has fallen, now there’s no hope,” she said.
The series of closures would cause flow-on effects to whānau and schools, and people would potentially have to leave the district, she said.
“This is an illustration of why we would call on employers, large companies that have a long future, to roll with some punches and keep operations going and take some responsibility for the fact that they’re not just there to make money for shareholders.
“They’re actually there to provide decent work and dignified lives for a whole community, and that they do have that power, actually, to roll with some punches.”
In addition, the Government needed to invest in industry planning and in vocational education to keep both communities and employment going, Mackintosh said.
Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce chief executive Ali Boswijk said the situation was unfortunate.
“It’s the conclusion that we kind of knew was coming, but we didn’t really want.”
“Obviously it’s been made for sound commercial reasons, but that doesn’t make it any easier for anybody, particularly the people directly impacted, and also the suppliers to that business.”
The chamber was looking at what could be put in place realistically to make manufacturing businesses more viable in the region, and to make sure there was a pipeline for new businesses emerging as others moved away, she said.
By Warren Gamble, Nelson Mail
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