A petition signed by 12,000 fishing industry members has been presented to Parliament, demanding a Parliamentary inquiry into the fishing industry. Eight hundred and fifty jobs were lost when Sealord closed processing plants in Dunedin and Nelson.

The Service and Food Workers Union says more jobs will go if Sealord continues to employ foreign crews and boats to fish in New Zealand waters, and then send 90 percent of their catch to China for processing.

“We want a resource of New Zealand to be used to benefit New Zealanders. Not to be used to benefit everybody but. And that is currently the case in our view,” says the union’s Neville Donaldson. But Sealord says it's being economical, and employing foreign workers is good business practise.