Russians are employed in New Zealand to work for Sealord. Photo: RNZ / Tracy Neal
Despite New Zealand implementing sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine - the fishing industry continues to bring in Russian crew.
Figures from Immigration New Zealand show last year, 306 Critical Purpose visas were approved for Russian nationals who travelled here and identified as fishing crew.
That compares to 238 in 2021 and 511 in 2020.
One of the companies which employs them is Sealord.
Its chief executive Doug Paulin said Sealord needed to employ Russians because one of its vessels was Russian built.
"New Zealand has had a number of Russian built fishing vessels here for well over 20 years. And whilst the number of those vessels is slowly decreasing as Sealord looks to replace them, they are still fishing in New Zealand waters, and require Russian crew to man them given their mechanical expertise and how those boats run."
Sealord chief executive Doug Paulin. Photo: Supplied / Sealord
Paulin said it was not as simple as teaching others to run the boats.
"All of our other vessels are dominated by New Zealanders and some other foreign crew from countries like the Philippines and that's because the technology on those vessels is common the world over versus these particular vessels that were built in Russia and are made for Russian fishermen."
Paulin said Sealord and the wider industry was confident the right checks and balances were in place.
"When we think about the war, one of the significant considerations we looked at was whether or not to take action in regards to what we would look at as general Russian people who are trying to support their families.
"They're not associated with a war against Ukraine, we make sure that there are significant checks in regards to that and we thought, the sanctions are not there to punish all of the people in Russia, they're there to address those people that are supportive of the war.
"We're comfortable that we're doing the right thing employing those Russian crewmen that we've had coming back to New Zealand year after year for many years," Paulin said.
Seafood New Zealand chief executive Jeremy Helson echoed those comments, saying many of the crew were from the Crimea Peninsula so have dual Russian and Ukrainian citizenship.
Helson said since the pandemic and subsequent border closures left companies short staffed, the sector as a whole has been working to attract more New Zealanders.
"There is a shortage of labour, we have looked far and wide to try and find New Zealanders to fill some of these roles but there's just not that many people around unfortunately.
"We've been developing a workforce transition plan with government to try and transition away from the use of foreign crew and getting more Kiwis into fishing but as I said, it's a long term proposition."
Helson said the Russian crew, some of whom have been coming to New Zealand for decades, were a vital and very important component to the seafood industry.
Minster of Immigration Michael Wood said New Zealand's sanctions were focused on the Russian government and those connected with it, rather than everyday Russians.
Minster of Immigration Michael Wood. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
"The fact that a Russian citizen currently resides in Crimea or any other part of Ukraine would not prevent them from applying for a visa and being granted one if they meet the criteria of visas and are not subject to sanctions.
"I am confident in Immigration New Zealand's ability to complete these checks through their established means and I am actively monitoring the visas issued to Russian nationals to ensure the integrity of the system."
Wood said he has encouraged fishing companies to consider its reliance on Russian workers given the unstable situation created by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
