Te Arawa Fisheries is engaging with prominent fisheries business Nissui, to explore how we can build a mutually-beneficial long-term partnership that will strengthen the fast-growing Waiariki aquaculture sector.

We hosted Nissui in our office this week and had a productive and enlightening meeting, sharing our activities, research and areas for growth.

The Japanese enterprise is one of the largest marine product companies in the world and we have identified a number of ways, both short and long-term, we can work together to grow our people and industry.

In the short-term, we would like to establish work exchanges for our rangatahi, who will travel to Japan and be hosted by Nissui.

During this exchange, rangatahi will immerse themselves in a different culture while learning about the global aquaculture landscape, including innovations and opportunities.

Long-term, we want to put a formal partnership in place, allowing Te Arawa Fisheries, as part of Ngā Iwi i Te Rohe o Te Waiariki, to capitalise on the research, technology and resources a global giant like Nissui can offer.

Finally, we have put a proposal to Rino Tirikatene to lead Māori trade missions around the world, hand-picking Māori businesses that would benefit from building international networks. We are particularly keen to see a Māori trade mission to Japan.

Te Arawa Fisheries was the first of four meetings during Nissui’s visit, with the team going on to speak with Sealord, Moana NZ and Te Ohu Kaimoana.