Friday’s announcement comes just three weeks after the commercial fishing company said it was planning to close its coated fish factory with the loss of 79 jobs.
Sealord is proposing to operate its wetfish and byproducts factories and its fresh fish trawler, the Thomas Harrison, during the hoki season from May to September instead of year-round.
Chief executive Doug Paulin said 81 permanent staff would keep their jobs in Nelson, as well as 400 seasonal roles under the proposal.
“We would prioritise roles for our hard-working wetfish and coated factory staff during hoki season should these proposals go ahead and they wish to come back,” he said.
“Instead of closing our Nelson site completely, which would impact significantly more permanent employees and be a major economic hit for the region, this seasonal proposal would mean that we’re able to retain the majority of our Nelson-based operations and the jobs associated with them. This also includes our cold store and dry store, and office-based support roles.
“In total we would retain 81 permanent jobs and 400 seasonal roles and save over 90% of the economic benefits to the region.”
Paulin blamed the current economic climate.
“It is driven by the need to adapt to the challenging economic environment with escalating operating costs, deflated global commodity pricing for frozen fish, decreasing volume and ever-increasing regulatory compliance costs over the last 10 years,” he said.
“The export commodity products produced in our wetfish factory in Nelson are loss making in every month except for in hoki season. This loss has been exacerbated in recent times with price drops at the same time as costs have risen sharply and the volume of fish available to be harvested and processed outside of hoki season has fallen.
“The reality is that for Sealord Group to be economically sustainable long term, we must reduce our costs and decrease complexity to focus on our core business of fishing. Customer demand for wild harvest, sustainably caught New Zealand fish remains strong but the environment we operate in is increasingly complex and uncertain. This proposal to transition to a seasonal operation reduces our operating costs, increases returns from these commodity export products to a viable level and allows us to invest in what we do best, which is catching and processing fish during hoki season.
“Our people have worked incredibly hard to lift the performances of our Nelson based operations. Unfortunately, the cost of doing business in New Zealand has increased substantially and without change would threaten the viability of the Group which currently employs around 1750 people.”
Consultation on the proposal to close the coated fish factory ended on Friday with the company expected to announce its decision on October 3.
A decision on the latest proposal will be made later next month.
The region has been rocked by job losses, with Carter Holt Harvey last month telling staff it would shut its Eves Valley Sawmill, resulting in the loss of 142 jobs.
Griffin’s Snacks told staff last week the Nelson factory that produces Proper Crisps would close with operations moving to Auckland from late 2027, affecting 82 staff.
