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Cover Feature
Live rock lobster
earns big export
dollars
A company which traces its origins to Te Anau and still has its
head office there is the world’s largest producer of southern
rock lobster for the Asian market. Paul Elenio reports
The quota management system
brought massive change to the New
Zealand seafood industry when it
was introduced in the late 1980s.
Previously fish could be caught
by anyone who had a licence and
complied with other regulations. Under
the quota system a sustainable total
catch or harvest of fish was set.
Individuals or companies were
allocated the right to catch certain
quantities of particular species.
Quotas became like other forms of
property – they could be leased,
bought, sold or transferred. While there
has been much tinkering with the
system, its basis remains the same.
The impact on the rock lobster
industry (of CRA coming into the
QMS in 1990) was as big as it was
in other fisheries and forced those
involved to rethink their approach.
Such was the case in the CRA8
region of Southland and Fiordland.
For some years individual companies
in the region had been landing
lobster through Jackson Bay, Milford,
Riverton and Bluff, tailing and freezing
them and exporting to the western
seaboard of the United States.
It was a lucrative business for
owner-operator boats and exporting
companies that capitalised on an
initiative largely pioneered via the
6 | SEAFOOD NEW ZEALAND | VOLUME 22 NO. 5
Chatham Islands fishery in the
late 1960s. The lobster had to be
a minimum size and egg-bearing
females were returned to the water
but otherwise there was no limit on
quantities. The lobster was usually
frozen on the boats and taken to
processing plants for packaging.
There were risks involved in the
change, not the least of which being
that the lobster could die before
being sent overseas or arrive at its
ultimate destination dead and of
no value. There were also logistics
problems in transporting the catch
quickly from remote areas.
But the introduction of the QMS
forced change. The reason the
government introduced the system
was to manage the increasingly
depleted stock of seafood.
Exporting to Japan brought other
challenges - the language, the
need to build new relationships
with importers, a change in the
way the product was marketed.
Those involved in the industry in
Southland foresaw the large cuts
in quantities that would be forced
on them and knew that they had to
prioritise greater value for the lobster
that they were allowed to land.
Massa Kanno, the major shareholder
in Mt Maunganui Seafoods, owned
a 40-metre Japanese tuna pole
vessel which was commissioned
as a floating live lobster depot in
Doubtful Sound. An old coastal
trader, Kotonui in Milford Sound, was
used to swim fish in a Para pool.
John Steffens, a director of the
Fiordland Lobster Company, says the
solution was provided from another
part of the country. His friend, Bay
of Plenty fisherman Alan Gard, a
director of Mt Maunganui Seafoods,
had already started exporting live
lobster to Japan with obvious benefits.
“They were sending off the whole
animal and getting as much per kilo
as we were getting for just the tails
- and in the process we were losing
60 percent of the (landed weight)
crayfish. Obviously we had to move
towards exporting live,” John said.
For two years the Southlanders
worked closely with the Mt Maunganui
company and in particular Kanno,
a Japanese businessman with
a chain of restaurants in Japan
and the buyer of the lobster.
The Fiordland Lobster Company was
formed in 1990. Some 15 fishermen
took 50 percent of the shareholding,
the rest being shared by the Mt
Maunganui firm, Gard and Kanno.
The lobster were processed in Te
Anau, the company turning an old
Newly-built Fiordland boat the FV Amazon receives Chinese visitors in the middle of George Sound, Fiordland.
Live lobster is carefully packaged for export.
builder’s shed into a plant, complete
with two concrete seawater tanks,
freezers, chillers and a packing
room. The export of frozen tails
continued for a while longer.
The new operation brought more jobs
and money to Te Anau which already
enjoyed the benefits of farming,
tourism and venison recovery.
In the first year the company handled
and exported 60 tonnes of lobster.
John says the first 10 years
were “a bit of a struggle”.
“We had our successes and our
failures but we grew a bit each year.”
Chinese customers observe lobster catching in Fiordland in July.
Profitability fluctuated depending
on the catch. This could range
between 60 and 300 tonnes a year.
One of the failures occurred when the
tanker that brought seawater from
Colic Bay to Te Anau had its pump
break down. The driver attached a
replacement but had forgotten it had
last been used for sheep dip. The
penny dropped when the bubbles
were noticed in the water tanks and
it was filled with dead lobster.
As the company grew so did the
need for stronger governance and
management. The company was
very much like a big family.
After 10 years Gard sold his share
to pursue other interests and Kanno
also sold, the shares being picked
up by existing shareholders and
investors. Ironically, FLC also bought
the Mt Maunganui company that had
started the live lobster exports.
The company was very
much like a big family.
SEAFOOD NEW ZEALAND | October 2014 | 7
With such a high priced product quality is
the top priority. If there is a mortality rate in
excess of 5 percent in a shipment then that
has to be credited off the next order.
Southland is the country’s biggest
lobster region with 30 percent-plus of
the lobster take. FLC was very much
focussed on the CRA8 region but didn’t
want the growth to exceed much above
50 percent of the total production.
“Our focus was on providing a good
return to everyone in the supply
chain. The company was founded
by fishermen and we didn’t ever
want to rip off our mates. The
first priority was to protect the
resource, then the fishermen.”
Expansion of the business came with
quota in the neighbouring CRA7 Otago
region and the establishment of a
processing plant in Dunedin. This was
followed by CRA4 in the North Island,
having already acquired a plant in Mt
Maunganui with the purchase of the
live lobster pioneers. The company
also processes CRA4 in Wellington.
The value of lobster soared with the
emergence of the Chinese market
some years ago. Where FLC was
getting an average price of $13 a
kilo for its live product in Japan in
1990 last year the demand from
China drove the price for the best
quality lobster to over $80 a kilo.
As a result more than 90 percent
of FLC’s live lobster is now sent
to China because Japan could not
match the price. Putting all your
lobsters in one basket could be
seen as a risk that should be spread
but such is the difference in price
that the risk is one worth taking.
FLC is now sending 800 tonnes
of lobster to China - and now
this is being bolstered by 500
tonnes from Australia.
The company’s foothold across the
Tasman followed a similar process to
its establishment in New Zealand.
It saw an opportunity when it identified
that the fishermen were not achieving
fair value and FLC started to buy
from them, offering better prices
and service. It formed the South
Australian Lobster Company and
then brought Tasmania and then
Victoria into the fold, the company
buying existing plants or built new
ones to handle the booming trade.
FLC continues to grow. It has an office
in China and a marketing team in New
Zealand which visits China frequently.
FUNDING�
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RESEARCH�PROJECTS
FOR�INFORMATION�PLEASE�CONTACT�
Mike Mandeno
General Manager, Seafood Innovations Ltd
Mobile +64 21 548 330 • DDI +64 4 801 4695
enquiries@seafoodinnovations.co.nz
www.seafoodinnovations.co.nz
The relationships with its Chinese
partners are important to FLC which
ensures that when the lobster arrives
by air freight it is handled in the
most sophisticated facilities. China
buys live lobster and fish from all
over the world and, by comparison
to Japan, there are fewer “middle
men” and markups are not as high
in China, John Steffens said.
With such a high priced product
quality is the top priority. If there
is a mortality rate in excess of five
percent in a shipment then that has
to be credited off the next order.
“Shabby” exports would result in
the door closing on further sales.
“We put a lot of resources into
research, we want our lobster
not to be stressed, to be happy
little chappies,” John said.
FLC offers a limited number of “baby
crays” to China. There is a smaller
legal size limit on lobster landed from
Fiordland lobster is the centrepiece of this sashimi dish in China.
Fiordland lobster packed for a long journey.
the Otago fishery than that which
exists in the rest of the country, the
reason being that the region is small
geographically and the lobster migrate
to the neighbouring Cray 8 region.
In a clever marketing ploy these
smaller lobster are promoted as “baby”
ones that are only available from the
Otago region and from South Africa.
The size allows greater flexibility for
restaurant chefs who might serve
the smaller lobster as an entree.
The company’s marketing
focuses on the delicate handling
of the bright purple/red spiny
(southern rock lobster).
It highlights the company’s holding
depots and export factories being
audited and fully licensed by the
Fiordland chief executive Alan Buckner, chairman Bryan Henderson and
chief representative, China office, Joe Zhong, inspect product in Shanghai.
Ministry for Primary Industries, its
in-depth training programmes and the
numbers of staff who have the New
Zealand Certificate in Aquaculture.
in tanks to rejuvenate them for 2448 hours before being packed for
export from the Christchurch and
Auckland international airports.
The company says rock lobster stocks
are managed well above sustainability
levels and fully supports NZRLIC and
CRAMAC representation in the industry.
Nonetheless, Mr Prendergast laments
the industry has not yet been able
to establish a Certificate of Non
Manipulation (CNM) out of Australia
for transhipment through to China.
Moving live lobster requires a well
established transport infrastructure.
FLC group general manager sales
and marketing David Prendergast
says helicopters are used in the
Fiordland area to fly live lobster from
the depots to Te Anau. Elsewhere
the catch is transported by insulated
truck to one of five export packing
factories in New Zealand. Here fish
are weighed and graded then swum
“Under the New Zealand free trade
agreement with China we have to
produce a CNM for anything hubbed
over a third country port. If we could
achieve this document over Sydney
to Shanghai, 80 percent of our South
Island business would be exported
from Christchurch. This would take
a lot of pressure out of the logistics
chain and assist the industry greatly.”
SEAFOOD NEW ZEALAND | October 2014 | 9
Recipes
Crayfish newburg
Recipe: Fiordland Lobster Company, Te Anau
Crayfish newburg is a popular recipe used by locals in Te Anau, home of the Fiordland Lobster Company.
Preparation
Ingredients
Cut crayfish in half and
discard the stomach.
a basin standing over a saucepan
of gently simmering water).
Remove the meat from the shell
and cut into neat cubes.
Stir until the mixture is sufficiently
thick to coat the back of a wooden
spoon. DO NOT allow to boil.
Adjust seasoning to taste.
Season with salt and pepper,
then fry gently in butter for
approximately two minutes.
Pour in sherry and simmer slowly
until the liquid has reduced
by approximately half.
Put the cream and the (broken) egg
yolks into a double saucepan, (or into
Arrange the hot rice on warm serving
plates. Place equal amounts of
crayfish meat and liquid from the
pan on to the centre of each.
• 2 cooked crayfish (each
approx 450g or 1 x 1kg)
• Salt and (freshly milled) black pepper
• 75g butter
• 5 tablespoons of good dry sherry
(Tio Pepe or Pykes Fino, preferably)
• 150ml of fresh cream
• Yolks of 3 standard eggs
• 225g of freshly boiled rice
• Paprika
Pour the cream and egg yolk sauce over
each. Sprinkle lightly with paprika.
SEAFOOD NEW ZEALAND | October 2014 | 15
Convenience and
promotion the key,
says Norwegian guest
Growing the Blue Economy was the theme of the Seafood Industry
Conference in Wellington. The conference was split into four main sessions
reflective of the current industry strategy and also covering off politics in
the leadup to the general election. The following summarises the day.
The Political Landscape
Keynote Presentation
Both the opening of the conference
by the Prime Minister, John Key,
and the political debate with
the seafood spokespeople for
the major parties, were focused
on their political promotion.
The keynote speaker was the managing
director of the Norwegian Seafood
Council, Terje Martinussen.
John Key began by stating that as far
as he was concerned New Zealand
has the best seafood in the world
– “without a doubt”. He told the
conference that he has entertained
guests in New Zealand, ranging from
Hillary Clinton, to “Will and Kate” and
they all loved the New Zealand seafood.
John Key said he believed that the
environmental credibility of the seafood
industry “went hand in hand with
quality”, and the Quota Management
System “was world class and the right
way to approach your industry”.
Jane Clifton of the Listener gave the
audience an insightful overview of
the political landscape, while Hilary
Barry’s introduction about her days
fishing with her dad and providing
the “burley,” gained a lot of laughs.
Hilary’s light touch was a great foil for
the more serious panel of politicians
including Primary Industries Minister
Nathan Guy, Damien O’Connor
(Labour), Steffan Browning (Green)
and Richard Prosser (NZ First).
20 | SEAFOOD NEW ZEALAND | VOLUME 22 NO. 5
Seafood exports are Norway’s third
most valuable export category,
dominated by farmed salmon and
worth $NZ11b a year. Norway is the
world’s biggest salmon exporter with
sales to more than 130 countries.
Terje told the conference that Norway
was so reliant on the seafood industry
that it took the depletion of its fish
stocks in the 1960s and 70s very
seriously and has rebuilt “all of them”.
He made a number of observations.
First, the selling point of convenience.
“You don’t want to spend too
much time making the dinner,
but you want to enjoy it. Seafood
has a huge opportunity with
convenience. Think of sushi – how
simple and convenient it is.”
The huge investment his council
puts into market research of
consumers gives the industry a
facts-based insight into how it
should promote its products.
“Number one and two are taste
and health and we can see that
environment and food safety are not
that important when you ask the
consumers … we will try and put more
effort on making taste relevant to the
consumer. We believe that we should
inspire consumers to eat seafood
out of joy rather than out of duty.”
Norway’s second most important export
species is cod which Terje says is too
much identified as just another cheap
white fish. So the council rebranded
cod as Norwegian Screi, set a standard
for it and then set about promotion.
“We’re inviting the chefs to Norway.
They will learn how to prepare it when
it is really fresh … it takes some
years to get the benefits on what
you are initiating in marketing.”
Second, promotion is hard work.
“We have to guide the consumer. It
is not enough to put “ecological” or
“sustainable” on the package. You
have to work much harder on the
issue in order to get the consumer
realising that you are actually the
one that is providing something that
appeals to them, and for their family.”
Terje says in this case the promotion
has been going for 10 years and
it is really only in the past two or
three years that the industry has
seen the preferred buying results
coming through for Screi.
Terje’s presentation provided
clear pointers for how we could
progress a country of origin
or provenance approach.
Setting the benchmark
A key plank of the seafood industry’s
five year strategy is setting the
benchmark for science and innovation
and being “internationally respected
for our innovative and leading
approach to science-based fisheries
and aquaculture management” .
could be change to “fully-harvested”
or “fished at optimal levels”.
The Ministry for Primary Industries
principal adviser of the Fisheries
Science team, Pamela Mace,
talked about the “Perceptions
and Misperceptions of New
Zealand’s Marine Fisheries”.
Ross Keeley, chief executive of
SeaDragon, updated the conference
on its growing fish oil business,
including those from hoki and salmon.
One of its biggest challenges is
supply, with the company expecting
to import in excess of $10 million
of unrefined fish oil over the next 12
months. SeaDragon is keen to get
more local suppliers on board but the
source needs to be EU certified.
She dispelled the myth that the state
of our fisheries is grim. Rather they
are performing well, overall. She also
suggested that maybe it’s time we
looked at changing the traditional
language used internationally, to
describe the state of our fisheries. For
example, the term “fully-exploited”
Another great example of finding
innovative uses for non-traditional
products was presented by Dr Jim
Gibbs of Lincoln University. This
“genuine Kiwi innovation” is the
brainchild of Kypros Kotzikas of United
Fisheries where fish guts are turned
into silage for agricultural use.
The project, co-funded by Seafood
Innovations Ltd, has shown that fish
silage used in cattle and sheep diets
reduces methane gas emissions,
increases the level of healthy
unsaturated fats in milk and meat
and reduces gut worms in cattle
and sheep. The next exciting and
challenging step is getting the product
commercially ready for market.
Gary Taylor, chairman of the
Environmental Defence Society (EDS)
had a simple proposal for industry:
a collaborative approach has got to
be better than litigation and that
getting key stakeholders in a room
working towards consensus was the
way to go. He said EDS was keen to
work constructively with the seafood
industry and would like to “be able
to stand alongside the industry and
endorse its environmental integrity”.
Telling the New Zealand Story
Our Premium Seafood
Dr Keith Woodford from Lincoln
University took provenance a step
further in relation to our largest
export market, China. He said that
all primary producers in New Zealand
should band together under New
Zealand Inc. This would see all
products available online and all
would be of guaranteed provenance.
Alison Sykora, Sealord’s public affairs
and communication manager, gave
a snapshot of some of Sealord’s
activity aimed at getting positive
“cut-through” with the public. Not
surprisingly, one example, was
promoting great tasting, great quality,
sustainable seafood with international
chefs. Another is capturing people’s
imagination and attention with clever
visuals and use of technology.
He recognised that this approach
would require a strong partnership
between government and industry
but said the structure and focus
would need to remain commercial.
Keith’s presentation led on nicely
to Rebecca Smith of New Zealand
Story who outlined a government
initiative to help build a more
consistent and compelling story
about our country for exporters.
Lou Sanson, the new head of the
Department of Conservation, outlined
his plans for the department, including
his desire to work in partnership with
industry to find solutions to shared
issues. Lou’s refreshing message was
welcomed by the conference audiece.
Norwegian Terje Martinussen was the keynote speaker at the
seafood conference.
What better way to finish up the
conference with a cocktail function
showcasing New Zealand’s finest
seafood. The seafood was fresh,
continuous and delicious.
Prime Minister John Key told the conference
that New Zealand’s seafood was the best in
the world.
SEAFOOD NEW ZEALAND | October 2014 | 21
Seafood Conference Social Pics
Graham Patchell, George Clement and Jeremy Helson talk to Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy.
Enjoying a drink after a long day of discussion (from left): Dianne Brown,
Graeme Hastilow, Terje Martinussen, Peter Douglas, Ben Potaka and
Charlie Mackey.
Taking a break from the speeches are industry leaders (from left), Tim
Pankhurst, Doug Paulin, George Clement and Andrew Talley.
Geoff (left) and Peter Creighton were the successful bidders for cartoonist Tom Scott’s depiction of party leaders contesting the election.
Keith and Karena Mawson, Kim and Dion Muollo and Godfrey Wilson enjoy
the networking at the end of a busy day.
22 | SEAFOOD NEW ZEALAND | VOLUME 22 NO. 5
Telling the New
Zealand story
A recurring theme at this year’s seafood industry conference was the
value of country of origin as an important tool in helping industry
gain competitive advantage in a crowded marketplace.
Terje Martinussen of the Norwegian
Seafood Council set the scene by
showing how Norway had built its
seafood brand, Norje Brand, around
the positive aspects of its country
and how it had paid dividends for its
members, including stronger market
demand and premium prices. In the
afternoon session Keith Woodford of
Lincoln University encouraged our
industry to look at ‘NZ Inc’ as a means
of marketing our seafood with the
guarantee of ‘down under provenance’,
to give us a competitive edge. That was
followed by a presentation by Rebecca
Smith who showed us some tools
that could help us do exactly that.
Rebecca is the director of the New
Zealand Story, a government initiative
that aims to broaden global perceptions
of New Zealand’s value and provide
businesses with greater competitive
advantage in offshore markets. As
part of the initiative, a toolkit has
been developed to help businesses
talk about New Zealand in a more
consistent and meaningful way.
So what is in the toolkit and how can
it help the seafood sector? The New
Zealand Story business toolkit is a free
resource that includes professional
quality images, videos, templates and
infographics created to ‘help show
our global markets the unique value
of New Zealand, our people, culture
and character.’ It allows companies
and individuals to pick and mix a
series of videos and images and put
26 | SEAFOOD NEW ZEALAND | VOLUME 22 NO. 5
New Zealand Story image capturing “Open Hearts”.
them together in a way that helps
promote their products and services
to international customers. It also
provides infographics and presentations
that provide evidence of our strengths
as a country. The website provides
full details about the tools, and
conditions around their use, and is
well worth a look www.nzstory.govt.nz.
framework of Open Spaces, Open
Hearts and Open Minds, to bring to
life the unique attributes of the New
Zealand seafood sector showcasing
the industry’s key strengths. The
project is expected to be completed
in the next few months and Seafood
New Zealand will ensure it is widely
circulated to industry for their use.
As Rebecca outlined in her
presentation, Seafood New Zealand is
working with the New Zealand Story
to develop a seafood sector version of
the New Zealand Story video that can
be used by individual companies as
part of their marketing collateral. The
video will utilise the Story’s chapter
“All the evidence points to country of
origin as a powerful marketing tool for
our sector, and this is a great start in
telling our story in a compelling and
visual way,” says Tim Pankhurst, chief
executive of Seafood New Zealand.
From the distant past
Paul Elenio looks back to the origins of the Seafood New Zealand title.
Turning 21 has traditionally been seen
as an important milestone in life.
Until fairly recently achieving two
decades plus one meant you qualified
to drink in a bar, to vote and take a
punt. It was time for a celebration
capped off by the presentation of a
symbolic key, as if to say that this
meant you were free to come and
go from home for the first time.
Of course times have moved on.
The voting, betting and drinking
ages have been reduced to 18
and a 21st is just a sound reason
for a blowout with your mates.
So how do we mark the fact
that Seafood New Zealand
magazine has turned 21?
These days the print media is
under siege from digital forms of
communication and social media.
These are not only fast and instant,
they are also free – so for magazines,
especially specialist industry ones,
to survive is worth celebrating.
In fact the magazine is older than
the title’s appearance in August
1993. That edition was the first
to carry the name, the magazine
having previously been known as
NZ Professional Fisherman.
A note at the front of the magazine
said some might approve of the new
28 | SEAFOOD NEW ZEALAND | VOLUME 22 NO. 5
title and some not “but like most
change nowadays acceptance comes
in time, albeit with resignation in
some quarters. However the deed
is done – the Directors have spoke
– the press has pressed – and with
the complete absence of fanfare
and ceremony we have turned
into Seafood New Zealand”.
The note finished by hoping that
subscribers would recognise that the
magazine had changed its name,
not disappeared, but the bad news
was that the subscription rates,
“held at an artificially low level for
a long time” were increasing.
The front cover feature was focused on
New Zealand’s seafood exports to Asia,
with particular interest in South Korea,
Hong Kong and Japan. The feature
included New Zealand’s entry in Hofex
1993, a massive exhibition of food.
The largest part of the exhibition stand
for New Zealand was in the hands
of the seafood industry with active
participation from Sealord Products
Ltd, Moana Pacific, Regal Salmon,
Independent Fisheries and others.
“The fresh chilled fish and shellfish
displays which have come to be a
hallmark of New Zealand’s trade fair
participation were extremely popular
as evidenced by the numbers of
visitors jostling to be photographed
in front of the display…
“The shellfish display featured
greenshell mussels, oysters, queen
scallops and cockles. The fresh fish
display varied daily but included
gurnard, snapper, hapuka, bass,
trevally, salmon and john dory.”
In the same month the industry
participated in a Tradenz-run
food fair held in a major hotel in
Seoul. Centrepiece was a Taste
the New Zealand Way menu in the
Hyatt’s Terrace restaurant which
featured not only Kiwi seafood
entrees and main courses but
also New Zealand meat dishes.
Prime Minister Jim Bolger
called in to open the fair, which
attracted media attention.
A month later Tradenz also organised
New Zealand’s participation in
Tokyo’s first international seafood
show, the magazine noting that Japan
was moving away from catching to
importing and processing what seafood
it needed. Japan was New Zealand’s
biggest seafood export market.
Volume 1, issue 1 of Seafood
magazine carried a long editorial
that asked many questions of the
government’s move towards user
pays in fisheries management.
“How does industry decide how much
is spent in respect of the activities in
each sector? Is it by value of quota,
number involved, perceived need
or simply weight of argument? If
one takes research for instance it’s
obvious that each sector will want
more or at least a large slice of the
pie. How are those assessments
to be made and probably more
importantly how are the costs and/
or expenditures to be apportioned?”
The editorial suggested that one model
that could be adopted was that used
by ORH3B Limited to administer the
3B orange roughy harvesting scheme.
The letters to the editor in that first
issue were notable for one from a
hydrobiologist in Vladivostock, Russia,
“sociable, even-tempered man of
36”, seeking a job in New Zealand.
The magazine published lengthy
material from the MAF Fisheries team
including updated rules and regulations
for bycatch and reports from three
regions on recreational catches. And
the Maritime Safety Division of the
Ministry of Transport provided details
of the distress and safety radio service.
The magazine’s regular Legal Fishhooks
column covered a broad spectrum
of advice and in this magazine it
provided guidance around the new
motor vehicle demerit points system.
Among all the technical material
and advertising a small piece at the
rear of the magazine is appealing.
Titled “Young Man With A Mission”,
it says that at 13 years Zach Aitken
probably has more fishing experience
than fishermen twice his age.
“In fact he has been fishing with his
father, Peter Aitken, part-time for
most of his 13 years and full time on
the F V Atu for the past two years.
“On board the Atu Zach does his
school work by correspondence
and ‘after school’ and on weekends
he carries out his fishing work.
“According to Peter, Zach is an
excellent deck hand and is proficient
in all aspects of deckwork and
watchkeeping. For instance, Zach
attended the June ’93 Tuna Handling
…but like most change nowadays acceptance comes
in time, albeit with resignation in some quarters.
Course run at Tauranga by Andy Smith
and later Andy stated that Zach already
knew more than he could teach him.
“There’s little doubt that Zach at
age 13 is the youngest to ever hold
a tuna handling certificate. One
for the record books, for sure.”
Zach would be 34 now,
presumably with many years
of fishing under his belt.
SEAFOOD NEW ZEALAND | October 2014 | 29