Working at Akaroa Salmon
We are a vertically integrated company producing our highly sought after salmon from sea pen salmon production units operating within Akaroa Harbour, a salmon processing, packing and distribution factory in Christchurch, and a hatchery in Waiau. With the broad range of activities undertaken we are always looking for people with a range of skills to operate in our different areas.
We are always looking for passionate people to join our team for a range of job positions. If you would like to register your interest for employment please send us a completed form below, along with a copy of your CV and explanation of your field of interest to: hr@akaroasalmon.co.nz; or post 89 Treffers Road, PO Box 8265, Riccarton, Christchurch
Job vacancies
Quote from one of our long-time fishermen, Innes Weir, about working here ;
" Cold winds, 45 degree rain and big seas. Early mornings, sunrise over the mountains and the sea mirror like. Marine fish farming at its best!
I’ve been working in this environment for almost half my life and still love it. I started out working for pocket money on a small shellfish farm on the west coast of Scotland then slowly moved into salmon farming on a casual basis – generally because the rest of the rugby team worked there!
Scallop and prawn trawling played its part during holidays for a chance to see the other side. With the decline of the fishing grounds and the need to have a bit more security it was back to the farms again, this time for good. Fond memories and good times, hard work and long hours.
Four years of thrift, hard work [both in the classroom and out] and I was back on the farms again as a qualified aquaculturist. A different picture awaited, large scale, multi-national with no time to spare and little attention to the fish. Travel opportunities and new countries opened new doors and new experiences. However, things had changed and for little good.
Opportunities arose across the water and with a beautiful new wife and son in tow; we immigrated to the other side of the world for me to ply my trade in Australia.
Unfortunately, lessons learnt at home lent little weight to a newly emerging industry hungry for kudos. Expansion robbed the craic, and an office loomed ominously at the beginning of the long working day, but the career sound just got louder.
Time moved on, a second son added his voice to the dawn, and I couldn’t remember what had happened to my eldest son. One minute he was a toddler, the next off to school and I’d missed the bit in between.
Then, whilst working in the bush helping a local couple realize their dreams of entering the local salmon hatchery market, I was asked if I’d noticed the job advert in the local paper. “No” said I, at which point the paper was produced [some days out of date] and the advert finally found for my perusal.
Akaroa Salmon, that sounds like the job for me! A Small farm, dealing directly with the customers, producing a premium product to grace the tables of high-end restaurants and hotels. Family owned, in New Zealand and been going for almost 20 years. In an age of industrial salmon farming where some times the closest you came to looking at the fish was in pictures through the e-mail, this was a refreshing change.
So, it’s back to the start, hands on in all weathers. Farming fish firsthand with the aim on quality not quantity. A small team of like minded ‘fish men’ and the rain still comes down at 45 degrees !"