Kia ora koutou, ko Lisa Futschek ahau. I’m the chief executive at Seafood New Zealand and today I’m here to wish you Happy World Fisheries Day. Today we celebrate Aotearoa’s fantastic fishing community. So our wonderful fishes, our marine farmers, processors, factory workers, scientists, innovators – in fact all 16,000-plus individuals who work so hard to provide amazing, nutritious and sustainable seafood here in Aotearoa and, indeed, across the globe.
Today, it’s also really important to acknowledge the importance that we attach to ensuring that we are looking after our moana and everything that lives in it. Our people and our sector works tirelessly to make sure that we have as little as possible impact on our environment. And in fact, we just very recently shared some fantastic news. One of our Jack mackerel fisheries has achieved zero by catch throughout the fishing year. So there’s no fur seals, no dolphins, no birds – such an achievement to be proud of.
And it’s all because of our people. We really do strive to have as little impact on the environment. We innovate and we try new things to make sure that it works. And of course, there’s always more that we can do and we will continue to strive to do the best thing by our environment and by our people.
So how can you celebrate World Fisheries Day? Well, head off to your local fishmonger, head off to your local fish and chip shop and enjoy a protein-packed meal. And you can feel so good about it because you know that if it’s New Zealand seafood, it’s been fished sustainably and that’s something that we can all be proud of.
Happy World Fisheries Day.
