Aussie Tuna Farmers Employ Indonesian Fishermeff

Amid claims that mining companies are poaching workers by offering them $10,000 a year more than they earn in the aquaculture industry, Hagen Stehr, who runs Clean Seas, said he had no choice but to employ foreign staff.

He has taken on four Indonesian fishermen and wants to employ 28 more.

”We’re in dire need of workers. (Canberra) said we can get labor from Eyre Peninsula but we can’t, because nobody wants to go fishing,” Mr. Stehr said.

The Australian Fisheries Academy has taken on just two Eyre Peninsula residents in its latest intake of 20 apprenticeships for this year.

Port Lincoln campus manager Mark Stewart said Eyre Peninsula aquaculture was suffering because of the mining industry.

”The workforce is dwindling and the mining industry is opening up in the north,” Mr. Stewart said. “All of those industries will come here and take people.”

With workers sharing similar skills to those in the mining industry, Mr. Stewart said aquaculture employees in the region were easy targets. “It’s a lot cheaper for them to fly them out of our region,” he said. “They know what they're earning, and they’ll offer $10,000 more and food and accommodation.”

Mr. Stewart said the academy feared the aquaculture industry could suffer in future years, when it should be prospering because of falling catches in Europe and the growing popularity of farmed fish with consumers.

International regulators are cracking down on illegal tuna fishing, easing the way for sustainable tuna farming, but the opportunity could be missed if the labor crisis is not addressed.