After a long refit in Te Waipounamu on New Zealand’s South Island, Hikurangi is the latest in the fishing fleet of the Rawlinson whānau business RMD Marine
Hikurangi represents more than just an expansion of the RMD Marine fleet. This boat was specifically chosen and refurbished to be a training vessel to create employment opportunities for young people in the far north of New Zealand. With three cabins and nine bunks, Hikurangi can take up to two extra people on every trip, giving young people in the regions an opportunity to experience a career in the fishing industry.
Roger Rawlinson, co-owner of RMD Marine, has been fishing in the north for 25 years, and it’s where a lot of their harvesting is undertaken.
Over the first Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, Roger Rawlinson along with Bay Packers (part-owned by Moana New Zealand) and Ngāti Ranginui Fisheries were kept busy doing customary fishing for local communities and hapū.
‘The need was there, people couldn’t go out and collect for themselves, so we helped out where we could during that difficult time,’ Roger Rawlinson said.
‘I even bought a chiller truck so that they could safely cart the fish in a temperature-controlled environment.’
Over his many years working in the region, Roger has seen the need for better employment opportunities for young people. Poor job availability in the regions often presents young people there with a choice of moving to cities or staying and facing unfulfilling careers. And for some, it means no jobs at all.
RMD Marine is working alongside local hapū to get young people aboard Hikurangi, to let them have a chance at fishing and see if it’s for them.
‘I’ve got the capability and the capacity to do it, and I wanna do it,’ Roger said.
‘If they don’t like it, that’s fine; if they do like it, there may be a job for them.’
As a nod to their own whakapapa as a Māori fishing whānau, the Rawlinson whānau have added a kowhaiwhai design to Hikurangi, a combination of mangopare (hammerhead sharks) and ngaru (waves). This design represents the harmony between their ocean environment, relationships with iwi and hapū and commercial relationships like Moana New Zealand.
For the team at RMD Marine, the addition of Hikurangi isn’t about catching any more fish, it’s about safety and futureproofing. Hikurangi has also been kitted out with the latest in marine technology to give the people working and training onboard the best experience and working conditions possible. It also creates a new opportunity for Roger’s son, Andre, who will be the engineer and skipper on board.
‘I’ve got the capability now to make dreams come true for some people who might want to be in the marine industry because there’s not just fishing, there are engineering and electrical and all sorts of stuff that make ships move through the water,’ Roger said.
‘As Moana New Zealand doesn’t own any of our own vessels, it’s imperative to us that we partner with businesses that align with our values,’ said Moana New Zealand GM Inshore Mark Ngata.
‘RMD Marine is an outstanding example of this. They are a business that we can stand proudly and humbly beside as they continue to excel at navigating the ever-changing waters of the fishing industry. RMD Marine has come a long way since they started from scratch in 1988, and we know they have a long, prosperous future ahead of them. We are proud of what they have achieved, how they have gone about achieving it and importantly, we’re proud to have them as part of our Moana whānau,’ Mark Ngata said.
