Sealord is one of Nelson’s largest companies, dishing up delicious fish for families all over the world. Its CEO Doug Paulin sits down with Nelson Magazine to talk about the company and what’s next for it.
What makes Sealord a unique company to have based in the Nelson Tasman region?
Sealord is one of the largest companies in the Southern Hemisphere and New Zealand’s biggest deep sea fishing enterprise. Ninety percent of our catch is exported to forty different countries so it’s a significant company to be based in Nelson, especially considering that many of our twelve hundred and forty staff work here. The ownership structure is also pretty special - an equal partnership by Māori owned fishing company Moana and global Japanese seafood company Nissui Corporation (Nissui). Both have an inter-generational approach to business; ensuring consideration of the present and the future, particularly in relation to the environment and people.
What are the big challenges facing your company?
Like all other primary industries, we are grappling with major challenges thanks to Covid. Balancing the prices we are able to get for our products against rising costs, notably fuel, and dealing with a huge labour shortage. Normally we would be employing four hundred seasonal workers but those people aren’t available now and our onshore factories will be making a considerable loss as a result.
Another challenge is meeting our responsibilities as far as carbon management and the environment go. Our customers the world over are becoming just as conscious as we are about how important it is to create a sustainable future and we are continuing to evolve our business to contribute to the positive and forward-thinking changes that are needed.
One example is bottom trawling, with much misinformation from some quarters about the practice. Many people are unaware that only 1.1 percent of the EEZ is trawled each year to produce 700 million servings of healthy seafood. Regardless, at Sealord we’re focussed on the environment and looking at better ways of doing things. I have proposed an ambitious plan for Sealord and the deep water fishing industry to increase formal protection of seamounts (underwater mountains) by closing 89% of them to fishing (up from 50%), balancing the need for conservation and ongoing sustainable food production.
Can you describe the culture at Sealord?
Sealord has a very special culture. Although we are a commercial organisation, we are also a close-knit community imbued with whānau (family) values. Many staff have been here a long time – 140 have worked for us for more than ten years and 95 have been here more than 20 years. We work hard to make sure that there is a positive culture, so people feel valued and able to contribute and share their ideas. That has paid off during Covid where people have really pulled together to help the company continue to operate productively.
What does the next ten years for the company bring?
We need to continue to develop innovative ways of operating the business while supporting our people and making sure that the company is sustainable long into the future. The next few years will be tough, but Sealord is a company in very good heart.
