For the first time in Moana New Zealand’s history, we stopped work across the business for an hour to mark our 20 years as a whānau at Moana New Zealand. This is us living our values by making time for our whakapapa.
We acknowledge all those who fought and continue to fight for recognition of the rights of Māori to fisheries through the Treaty of Waitangi.
We also acknowledge all our kaimahi, from those who have moved on to all of us here today and our future generations to come. We have a huge responsibility in caring for the taonga we’ve been entrusted with through the Fisheries Settlement on behalf of all Iwi. We’re incredibly proud, particularly of the things we have achieved over recent years.
Within our Ika business, we have grown considerably after taking over Sanford’s annual catch entitlements, making us the largest inshore fishing company by harvest volume in Aotearoa. We will officially open the Wellington Kaimoana Hub, our second largest production facility, in early December. The Hub brings together Ika and Pāua Tūwā alongside our partners Port Nicholson Fisheries, who process our kōura, into a purpose-built, state-of-the-art facility that has been built for growth and future generations in mind.
Tio has seen transformational change with the introduction of semi-automated farming (flip farming), the growth and development of our breeding programme, and the opening of our hatchery Kirikiritātangi in Nelson.
We continue to improve our understanding and touch on the environment on both land and sea, and we’ve made steady progress. Lightening our harvest footprint continues to be a key priority for our business so that we have the information we need to develop sound practices to reduce our benthic touch in our farming and harvesting practices. We now measure our carbon emissions monthly and have a clear understanding of what’s possible to lower our emissions, which supports our goal to be carbon net zero by 2040. Working with our suppliers to eliminate hard plastics and packaging is also another priority for the business so that we extend this manaaki across Papatuanuku and Tangaroa.
We’re only as good as our people. It’s through their knowledge, expertise, passion and determination that make this business thrive. Thank you everyone who have been part making this business what it is today, and happy 20th anniversary to everyone at Moana.