Boatbuilding first casualty of new fishing era

Press, 16 June 1982, Page 28

Boatbuilding first casualty of new fishing era

By

NEILL BIRSS

Boatbuilders are the first to feel the pain as NewZealand's fishery industry moves bacK under controls. The temporary moratorium on new fishing licences has choked off orders for new vessels. The boatbuilding industry is in a depression, says Mr J. J. Crofts, of Wellington, national secretary of the Boatbuilders' Association. "Not a great amount of work is being done, and that level of work will cease completely unless the moratorium is lifted." Under the moratorium, no new licences will be issued until after the Fisheries Bill, planned for introduction into the House of Representatives as soon as possible after the present recess, is implemented on April 1, 1983. (The end of the recess is related to the date of the Budget, which may be as late' as August.) Applied in March, the moratorium allows for dispensation, for those in special circumstances, such as for a crewman who depends on fishing for a livelihood and has been saving for a boat under one of the various incentives schemes. The moratorium will apply until fisheries management plans are drawn up after legislation is passed. The management plans will set boat limits, quotes for species and limits on catches. The sticking points in the Fisheries Bill which forced it back for more discussions by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Department of Internal Affairs — compensation, the definition of a commercial fisherman, Maori fishing rights, confidentiality of returns, forfeiture of property on conviction — have been worked through by caucus committee, and agreement reached by the two Directors-Gen-eral. Mr Crofts of the Boatbuilders' Association says that, in general, the yards have perhaps two to three months work, with little chance of further orders.. Apart from the larger yards such as Simms in

Dunedin. Sinclair and Melbourne at Lyttelton, and Whangarei Engineering and Construction, the association’s members are mostly totally dependent on boatbuilding. "We have approached the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Minister of Trade and Industry stressing the implications for the industry." Mr Crofts says. What of the future? "We may have to reduce to being repair yards," he says. The bigger yards that combine heavy engineering with- the building of steel hulls have been able to diversify to other work, and there is still maintenance of engines, though fishermen are tending to skimp on this. In the early 1960 s engines might be overhauled once or even twice a year. Now some fishermen are overhauling engines as little as once every five years. This leads to shorter life and to breakdowns. and spending more on spare parts. "In the 30 years I have been involved in fishing I have never seen such an illconceived, short-term measure," Mr Frank Stark, a Lyttelton boatbuilder, says of the moratorium. “It can do nothing but harm to fishing, and make it selective." About 12 months ago, the Government brought in a subsidy scheme, a bounty, to encourage inshore fishermen to build boats and keep boatbuilding afloat, he said. "Within 12 months there is this about face by the Government.” If the Government were to get rid of some of the foreign investment in joint ventures fishing would be better off, he says. The typical boat- order arises from an established fisherman selling his boat to a younger man and getting a new vessel. “This is now out, and inshore boatbuilding is in a state of collapse,” Mr Stark says. He subscribes to a paddock theory of fishing resources: “To my mind the sea is a paddock with no fences. The fish move to where the food is. Deep-sea boats clean out

the fish, this leaves fish food aplenty, and the inshore fish migrate towards it." Thus he sees control of foreign-share deep-sea fishing as the main way to help inshore fishermen. Mr Stark is manager of Stark Brothers. Godley Quay. C. W. F. Hamilton. Marine. Ltd. of Christchurch, is another firm affected. "We produce a lot of commercial craft, and I am sure we will suffer a loss of sales." said the assistant manager (Mr Harvey Taylor). Apart from the moratorium there have been other setbacks An example: a new survey charge from the Manne Division of the Ministry of Transport adding about $l7OO to the price of a new 20ft fishing boat. The firm’s sales of pleasure craft were hit by the sales tax, and the demand is naw for used rather than new jetboats. But it has shown resilience, and the workshops that were once lined with hulls under construction now also contain boats being overhauled, engines being "marinised" (adapted for boats), and other engineering work. Many "part-boats" hre also being produced, for individuals to complete themselves. Mr T. M. Starkey, manager of Star-Key Pleasure Craft, of Christchurch, says his firm was hit first by the pleasure-boat tax in Mav of 1979. "For example, we had orders for several craft cancelled after the imposition of the tax. One of them was a 34ft Roberts yacht." The firm had been riding through rough times in 1980. Things had picked up a little in the last few months, but now the effects of the moratorium are being felt. He sees the restriction as a continuation of a series of setbacks to boatbuilders. New building specifications have been introduced, finance has become more difficult, and licences are now almost impossible to get. “We’re waiting for the next lot," he says. "A young guy is reluctant to go into any venture now;”

Fishing work with StarKey now tends to be modification -of existing boats rather than the building of new hulls, he adds. New Zealand boatbuilders have had a bad time, agrees the chairman of the Lyttelton Fishermen's Association (Mr R. M. Brown). But he says the last time craft of the traditional 40ft to 50ft range were built in any number was during the Chathams crayfish boom.

He sees no alternative to the moratorium until it has been decided how the coastal fisheries may be managed. “The moratorium is not the answer in itself. It is just to slow the mad rush until the management plan is in action." “Boatbuilders should be planning how to put an acceptable boat at an accept-, able price on the market ’

after the moratorium." Mr Brown says. Fishing-industry interest ranges from 7‘•a per cent (for the first three years of its. special-loans scheme) to 14 per cent (for processing plants). The special-loans scheme is to help experienced and qualified fishermen of modest means to gain their first vessel: up to 80 per cent of the cost of vessel and gear can be pro-

vided. Other interest rates depend on whether the borrower is a sole owner, a syndicate, or a company.'. About four inquiries a month for fishing-boat loans are being made to the Rural Bank in Christchurch. The bank has been lending' for fishing for about 10 years; first it was an agent for the Fishing Industry Board, and its lending expanded from this.