Fiona MacMillan has been our GM of Communications for two years. Now she's leaving to take up a significant role in the poultry sector. But before she goes, she has a heartfelt plea.
I changed my mind several times about what to write this week. That's because so many things happened that needed some help from Communications. In every case, as I was dealing with media, I thought about why the public has doubts about the seafood industry. Why are we in a position where people believe the bad news about us and don't know, believe or understand the good?
And there is plenty of good, because there are plenty of good people. I've never met such a concentration of bloody decent humans in any other industry. I worked in newsrooms for 25 years as a reporter and producer. I met a lot of humans from a lot of industries. Trust me, seafood people are, by and large, fantastic.
But the public don't know that. And here's why. Firstly, we kept our heads down for many years and tried to avoid the spotlight. That was a mistake. If people don't know you, they can't get to like you. If they don't know you, why would they trust you?
Does that mean every fisher should speak up all the time? No. Some people just can't. They might be really allergic to any kind of publicity. They might have legitimate fears about their safety. And yes, it's horrific to me that that is a thing. Why on earth do our fishers have to fear being attacked or threatened for doing their jobs?
But if you can speak, if you have a story to tell and if a Seafood New Zealand person asks you to speak, give it some serious thought. And ask us to help you. That's the only way the public will get to know what is really going on in our industry.
We also need to think about our own behaviour. We need to be able to demonstrate that when things go wrong, it is accidental. We all know the cliché - one dickhead can ruin it for everyone. Don't be that dickhead.
Finally, my advice to you is take advice. Seafood New Zealand is stuffed full of experts. They know an incredible amount about protected species, fisheries science, ecosystem management and how to communicate. They all love the industry so much. They all want to help.
I feel the same. I'm sad to go. But I have to admit, I'm really excited about the new challenge ahead.
Let me end with some concrete examples of why I have faith in the people of this industry. Last night in Wellington, a number of outstanding people were recognised at the Seafood Sustainability and Innovations Awards 2025. You can read the details on MPI's website here (and in our Spring 2025 magazine, out later this month).
The Operational Innovator Award went to the group of people who brought together seafood processing, fishing and science, to invent a crayfish sausage that helps catch rig on a line, something once thought too hard. This makes their method dolphin-safe. Those guys are Rob Ansley, Keith Mawson, Jerome Chua and Mark Peychers. I had the pleasure of working with them to help them get their fantastic story out there. They are an awesome example of teamwork across sectors and disciplines. Keep it up guys.
And then from within Seafood New Zealand's own ranks, the Future Leader Award went to Tamar Wells. She richly deserves it. If you don't know why, ask her about some obscure detail of fisheries policy and then look at her online in our recipes series, Zak and Tamar's Fishy Bits. Talk about being multi-talented.
Tamar's dad Richard is a previous winner of a similar award. Tamar talked about family in her acceptance speech, and she extended that definition to encompass the whole of the seafood whānau. It is indeed a fabulous whānau. I love it, I will continue to love it, albeit from somewhere with more feathered friends.
