Scumbags of the South Seas

Written By: - Date published: 12:20 pm, October 18th, 2011 - 26 comments
Categories: food, sustainability, workers' rights - Tags:

“We need more cheap foreign fishermen” says the slave fishing lobby group. They say that it’s just like Fisher & Paykel moving their production offshore for cheaper labour. Well, tell you want, slave-fishers, how about you fuck off to China and we’ll stay here and fish our fish ourselves without breaking labour and environment laws? NoRightTurn takes up the story.
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Our fishing industry is morally bankrupt -No Right Turn

Now there’s a surprise: the Seafood Industry Council, which represents operators of slave fishing-boats, thinks we need more of them, not less. Apparently, they can’t get kiwis to work on their dangerous boats for weeks at a time for the pittance they’re offering. Of course, there is a very simple solution to that problem: pay higher wages. It speaks volumes about the SIC and their members that they are unwilling to pursue that solution, and instead contract out their quota to foreign-crewed vessels not subject to New Zealand labour standards (or, apparently, basic human rights).

Meanwhile, its worth noting that these foreign-crewed vessels the SIC are so keen on are regularly breaching New Zealand fisheries law. They’re not just screwing us on wages, but on the environment as well.

Its time Parliament put its foot down. If you want to fish in New Zealand waters, then it should be by New Zealanders, on New Zealand registered boats, and fully subject to New Zealand labour laws, safety standards and environmental regulations. Anything less, and we’re allowing our country to be pillaged for the private profit of a few.

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I can’t believe that iwi quotaholders are defending the exploitation of poor people from the third world, especially while tens of thousands of their people languish in unemployment. I guess iwi elites are as corrupt as any elite. – Eddie

26 comments on “Scumbags of the South Seas ”

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  1. RedLogix 1
    18 October 2011 at 1:01 pm

    Well as I said last night about this:

    I’m quite certain there would be wholly different political response if this was a demand to import ‘cheap Asian lawyers’, or ‘cheap Asian bankers’.

    • aerobubble 1.1
      18 October 2011 at 1:18 pm

      Exporting our wealth soverignty is essential if we are to make more child go without.

    • Ianupnorth 1.2
      18 October 2011 at 2:57 pm

      Look at the fuss that is made over Indian nurses and other ‘foreign’ health professionals, especially if they are not caucasian.

  2. Cloaca 2
    18 October 2011 at 1:42 pm

    The responsibilit rests with Quota Owners. They are the Employers.

  3. fmacskasy 3
    18 October 2011 at 3:27 pm

    SeaFIC’s claims that there is a lack of interest in NZers crewing fishing boats seems to be in conflict with what Seek and Careers NZ is saying;

    http://www.seek.co.nz/JobSearch?SearchType=browse+search&Keywords=&industry=6205&occupation=6210&nation=3001

    http://www.careers.govt.nz/default.aspx?id0=61103&id1=j80267

  4. davidc 4
    18 October 2011 at 3:39 pm

    I can’t believe that iwi quotaholders are defending the exploitation of poor people from the third world, especially while tens of thousands of their people languish in unemployment. I guess iwi elites are as corrupt as any elite. – Eddie

    My god, I actually agree with something written by Eddie !

  5. Draco T Bastard 5
    18 October 2011 at 5:51 pm

    I can’t believe that iwi quotaholders are defending the exploitation of poor people from the third world, especially while tens of thousands of their people languish in unemployment. I guess iwi elites are as corrupt as any elite.

    I can and yes they are. It’s the normal modus operandi of the people at the top of a hierarchical system.

  6. Scott Hamilton 6
    18 October 2011 at 8:08 pm

    There’s an extraordinary but relatively little-known history behind phrases like ‘slavery in the South Seas’. Back in the second half of the nineteenth century New Zealand was deeply involved, along with Queensland and groups of immigrants from Confederate America, in what was to all intents and purposes a slave trade:
    http://readingthemaps.blogspot.com/2011/06/new-zealands-slaving-history.html
    The Pacific slave trade eventually prompted a string of murders of (anti-slavery) missionaries and mass protest meetings up and down this country, but it has faded from our national consciousness, though foreign academics like the African-American Gerald Horne are digging it out of the archives of their nations. I think the slave trade of the nineteenth century ought to be remembered here now, as a sort of precursor to the depravities which are taking place in the waters around New Zealand.

  7. Afewknowthetruth 7
    18 October 2011 at 9:25 pm

    ‘I guess iwi elites are as corrupt as any elite. – Eddie’

    Yep. That’s why they are called elites. You can’t become one without being corrupt.

  8. Jum 8
    18 October 2011 at 10:34 pm

    Adele, Marty Mars, where are you? Come and talk to us. Why are you allowing this cheap labour issue to occur?

    My daughter refuses to eat the fish that your people are responsible for harvesting and processing because she believes you have put profit ahead of environment and sea life – yet you are Maori, the people that have set yourselves up as the caretakers of New Zealand and I cannot believe that I have defended you people in the past.

    If this is true you people disgust me. You are after control over our flora and fauna because you say you care about environment and people. Yet, you would probably exploit that too if you got extra profit – you do not deserve the first peoples badge if you destroy the future for all New Zealanders’ children.

    You’re just like all the rest – exactly what I said several threads ago. Humanity first, culture second and temptation can tempt all people.

    Adele, you scorned my ‘power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely’ comment because you said it was coined by a white man; colour, age and gender mean little when it comes to profit, obviously.

    • Adele 8.1
      22 October 2011 at 12:05 am

      Jum,

      What an ugly little rant. Tell your daughter to also not buy anything made in Asia, East Asia, South America, China, Africa (unless trade aid) or from any company that exploits the wage differential between the first and third worlds – which most likely will disqualify 90% of manufactured goods. Read up on the working conditions that produce the Ipod or Apple products in general or for that matter the working conditions that produce most computer components.

      The Code of Practice on Foreign Fishing Crew, in place since 2006, was developed to regulate employment conditions on FCVs. Operators must be signatories to the Code of Practice and the terms and conditions offered to foreign crew must conform to the code’s requirements.

      Immigration Policy and the Code of Practice details minimum remuneration requirements for foreign charter crews. Crews must always be paid at least the minimum New Zealand wage and deductions cannot take their hourly rate below this. (The code actually sets the minimum remuneration rate for the FCV crew at least $2 above the NZ minimum wage).

      The New Zealand party charting the vessel must also provide a “Deed of Guarantee for Financial Obligations in Respect of Foreign Crew” guaranteeing payment of minimum levels of crew remuneration in the event of default by the employer. A serious breach of the Code is likely to have both Department of Labour and Immigration consequences i.e. no further permits issued etc.

      Compliance with New Zealand minimum labour conditions is also a vessel registration condition under Section 103 of the Fisheries Act for foreign controlled vessels registered as New Zealand fishing vessels. Failure to comply would be an offense under the Fisheries Act.

      An example of Iwi / Māori perspectives can be found at the following links:

      http//teohu.maori.nz/publications/press_statements/ps-Foreign-chartered-fishing-vessels-make-valuable-contribution-to-Maori-economy.htm

      http//teohu.maori.nz/documents/submissions/7-October-2011-Vol16-FCV-MFish-submissions.pdf

      There is sufficient legislative teeth surrounding FCVs fishing Aotearoa New Zealand quota so the matter is lack of enforcement by at least three government agencies (Labour, Immigration and Mfish) rather than attributing all fault to them Maoris. Your hypocrisy is truly breathtaking.

      • Draco T Bastard 8.1.1
        22 October 2011 at 12:14 am

        Yeah, the laws are in place – doesn’t mean that the top echelon are following them. In fact, the study that the article mentions says that they’re not.

        • Colonial Viper 8.1.1.1
          22 October 2011 at 12:20 am

          Starve and deprioritise enforcement and prosecution efforts.

          Distract the populace by saying “oh, if only we had some new laws we could deal with these problems”.

          The real problem is a lack of will to apply the laws and regulations we already have.

      • Colonial Viper 8.1.2
        22 October 2011 at 12:31 am

        There is sufficient legislative teeth surrounding FCVs fishing Aotearoa New Zealand quota so the matter is lack of enforcement by at least three government agencies (Labour, Immigration and Mfish) rather than attributing all fault to them Maoris. Your hypocrisy is truly breathtaking.

        Bullshit.

        Why don’t iwi carry out their own audits and simply stop paying contractors who don’t meet the minimum legal standards.

        Because its more convenient and more profitable not to I suppose.

        • Adele 8.1.2.1
          22 October 2011 at 1:26 am

          Well, okay, let Iwi Māori totally control the fisheries including its legislative framework. Give the foreshore and seabed back and lets throw in the EEZ for good measure. I think in those circumstances Iwi Maori will be more than happy to exercise tino rangatiratanga over the fisheries and enforce legislation. And the taxpayer need only pay for the fish it eats – at market rates, of course.

      • millsy 8.1.3
        22 October 2011 at 12:42 am

        Too bad you lot cant employ your own people to crew your own fishing boats. You would rather just let them rot on the dole. Typical defender of the iwi elite.

        • Adele 8.1.3.1
          22 October 2011 at 3:29 am

          For your information, Money is not considered an aspirational goal for Māori aspiring towards elitism. The elite that Māori revere are not those that wank themselves at board tables or measure their mana by net worth.

          The infrastructure for training is well established and Maori are being trained in all aspects of the fishing industry, including deep-sea, inshore, aquaculture, farming, freshwater, as well as management and retail. The NZ fishing industry generally operates at full capacity – that is, there are very few placements for new entrants, at any one time.

          Not every unemployed Māori wants to fish. Some Māori don’t even like eating kaimoana. Also many unemployed Maori are not in a position to undertake the training required for a variety of legitimate reasons.

          In the space of two posts I have seen a reference to ‘you lot’ and ‘your lot.’ Usually, I find myself having to argue against gag reflex inducing sentiments like “we’re all the same” or “we’re all New Zealanders” or “we’re all just human.” It gladdens my heart that ‘you lot’ can now differentiate yourselves from ‘my lot.’

    • marty mars 8.2
      22 October 2011 at 9:06 am

      whew – be disgusted at yourself jum.

      I disagree with and oppose any slave labour including that used in the production of all of the consumer goods sitting in our houses staring without eyes at us all.

      It is easy to blame and yes living within an alien system has caused some tangata whenua to adopt the ways of their oppressors and some of them are pretty good at it – just about as good as their role models. So these people strive to be elite from within their subset (based upon the dominant measures and definitions of eliteness) and maybe, using the measure of the wider society they achieve that – get money, more possessions etc, but within the total system they are not really and never will be real elites because they don’t fit within the construct of ‘white’ and the inherent exploitation and violent domination of that false construct, and within the indigenous worldview they are not elite also because eliteness is measured differently, with dfferent values within that worldview. So whilst I oppose these misguided people I cannot see them as elite in the true sense. Striving for eliteness within an imposed social structure, attempting eliteness, but elite? I don’t think so.

      To fix this requires tino rangatiratanga where the tangata whenua worldview is elevated to true partnership and this would allow the the values of rangatiratanga, kaitiakitanga and manaakitanga to be actualised – people power because the mana comes from the people, and elites within that system are elite because the represent and reflect the mana of the people.

      Anyway as I say i am not defending or sliding around any issue of exploitation – it is wrong and cannot continue but simplistic ideas that don’t see the bigger picture, and use indigenity as a weapon to hit tangata whenua are not part of any attempted solution seeking.

  9. Jum 9
    23 October 2011 at 8:28 pm

    Hi Adele and Marty Mars – nothing like a blow it out your ear rant to go with the fish and chips.

    Adele; I have to fight the gag reflex when you trot out your Maaori, Maori, Maori with a thingy on the a, and topped with lashings of superior cultural crap.

    I agree you and I are definitely not the same, you can call yourself whatever you like in your country but you are definitely human – aren’t you?

    If you cannot admit you are a human, then you must be part of the ‘alien system’ Marty Mars talks about.

    All in all it is a pleasure to wind you two up. And don’t try to blame that on any particular party; I am my own person and I decide what I want to say and then take any consequences from the moderators. I also know that if you two think you are as perfect as you imply in both your rants, then you deserve the wind ups you both get.

    Marty – everything you type is distraction 101.

    Now, back to the coming election: what is your end goal? Maori upper parliament? Maori President?
    Maori Prime Minister?

    I favour a youth upper parliament.

    Every child out of poverty including the white ones? Maybe we can both work on that goal in our own ways.

    I don’t tell my daughter what to do; she is an adult.

    • Adele 9.1
      25 October 2011 at 1:01 am

      Jum,

      Your juices surely flow an oily slick when thinking you’ve bested them uppity Māoris. And ridiculing Te Reo Māori obviously makes your well lubricated hull shudder and groan with delight

      I’m Tūhourangi, Ngāti Rangitihi, Ngā Maihi and Tūwharetoa ki Kawerau, and you’re a Charlatan – a neo-colonial rust-bucket stuck on a dead end colour-less reef – leaking redneck toxicity. Your feelings of inferior construction are well justified.

      I give you the last thousand words – as ‘wind on’ also appears to be a favoured past-time of yours.

      • Colonial Viper 9.1.1
        25 October 2011 at 8:20 am

        a neo-colonial rust-bucket stuck on a dead end colour-less reef – leaking redneck toxicity.

        The Rena is a foreign vessel running a flag of convenience with a foreign crew which has been reported to be under paid, under qualified and over worked, a symptom of corporate shareholder greed.

        Exactly like the fishing vessels hired to fish Maori quota.

        Your juices surely flow an oily slick when thinking you’ve bested them uppity Māoris.

        No need to best them when they have learnt the ways of the white man: exploiting coloured people to make a bigger profit.

    • marty mars 9.2
      25 October 2011 at 9:38 am

      you make it personal jum.

      your assertion that I think I’m perfect is silly but par for your course and btw that wasn’t a rant from me I really tried to address the root of the issue – but sadly you’d prefer to insult and ‘wind up’ and then bestow some favour by saying we could work together on your goal of a youth upper parliament. How about this – fuck off.

  10. Jum 10
    26 October 2011 at 12:28 am

    Adele and Marty Mars,

    People are people are people are people… and no matter how much you try to infer otherwise through big words (Adele) and ‘fuck off’ (Marty Mars) you are no more special than I am and are open to temptation as is every other person in this world.

    Actually, I was serious about the Youth Upper Parliament Marty Mars. I had once considered a Maori Upper Parliament as Maori had done so much to wake other New Zealanders up to the theft of our assets and our resources and all our sovereignty.

    Trouble is Maori get so caught up in Maori title ownership (which I still remember used to be called guardianship until the value of the land, assets and resources etc was recognised) that I cannot trust them to consider the rights of all New Zealanders.

  11. marty mars 11
    26 October 2011 at 12:51 am

    oh jum I cannot be bothered anymore – I don’t debate with people with your views.