27th February 2012
Janine Philbey – Fleet Operations Southern Deep-sea Fisheries
Janine joined Newfishing Australia (now Austral Fisheries) in January 1989 when the company had 32 prawn vessels. She was responsible for crew advances & share of catch payments. Part of the job was to talk to the vessel while they were at sea – this was the good old days of radio contact, using special codes for catches and positions. Moving forward, it was then the large stern trawler, the Austral Leader, and its Telex communication. Over the last 24 years Janine has seen a huge change in how we communicate with our vessels and our crew, which has sped up our logistical and personal response times and interaction with our crews.
Janine has taken on many other tasks over the years, which has mainly focused on crewing issues, plus the logistics of fishing gear, maintenance spares, food, fuels/lubes, airfares and we cannot forget the unloading of fish caught with our Southern Fleet. It has certainly been a great experience being involved in the running of one of Australia’s largest fishing companies, with vessels such as the late Austral Leader and previous small ventures, the Congasa and South Princess. Janine is currently kept busy with vessels, the Southern Champion and the Austral Leader II.
The fishing industry is full of very colourful people who are quite a different breed, which makes for an interesting life that she will probably write a book about one day.
24 Februaury 2012
Austral Leader II Lengthening
The Lengthening of the Austral Leader II is going extremely well and looks like a brand new vessel with the new paint job. The AL II should go off the slip on Monday 27/02/2012, pending the Cyclone that we have heading our way due Sunday evening, Monday morning, that could delay things slightly.
Currently we are mainly completing all systems-electrical, hydraulic, water, refrigeration and finishing off all the accommodation.
All electrical systems will be completed and tested by Monday. The hydraulics are estimated to be completed by mid next week. The refrigeration system will be pressure tested at the end of next week and the install of the new blast evaporator etc and a run up of all plant will be completed around the 12th of March.
By the end of next week all the accommodation should be finished apart from the Chief/Eng & Mates cabin. Therefore by the end of next week we will start bringing some of the crew back to load the vessel up ready for inclining tests and normal operation.
The inclining test is scheduled for the 12th March which will take one day and then we finalise all loading and fueling of the vessel ready for sea trials on or around the 19th March.
13th February 2012
Austral CEO makes Power 100
Austral Fisheries’ CEO David Carter has been voted by Intrafish as #89 in their 2012 Power 100: Seafood’s Most Powerful Executives.
In 2011, David was also given the prestigious honour of receiving the 2011 Michael Kailis Seafood Industry Icon Award for his lifetime commitment to the seafood industry. David has been employed by Austral Fisheries since graduating from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Science in 1978. He started as a deckhand on a prawn trawler in 1978 in the Gulf of Carpentaria and has worked his way through the Kailis and France Empire to become CEO of Austral Fisheries.
David was mentored by the late Theodosios Kailis and Murray France and has carried remarkable qualities through his career. Loyalty, vision and persistence have been key characteristics. David works for the best outcomes for his company, however, he puts thought, time and effort into industry policies that work towards the betterment of all in industry, including his competitors. In that regard he is a true and outstanding leader.
On behalf of the team at Austral Fisheries, well done David.
10th February 2012
International Sustainability Unit reports
His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales, established the International Sustainability Unit to facilitate consensus on how to resolve some of the key environmental challenges facing the world - such as food security, ecosystem resilience and the depletion of Natural Capital.
The ISU’s Marine Programme was initiated to help strengthen consensus around the best solutions for the sustainable management of wild marine fish stocks, and to catalyse action in pursuit of these through partnerships between the public sector, the fishing industry, the wider private sector and NGOs.
The PCISU has released 3 reports that highlight some of the positive aspects to come out of the fishing industry in recent years and COLTO members and their toothfish fisheries (aka Chilean Sea Bass) are evident in all reports – namely for the significant reductions in IUU activity and sea bird mortality. The reports also include interviews with Austral Fisheries’ Martin Exel, who is also the Chairman of the Coalition of Legal Toothfish Operators.
Click below for links to the reports:
Towards Global Sustainable Fisheries: The Opportunity for Transition
Fisheries in Transition: Fifty interviews with the fishing sector
Towards Sustainable Fisheries Management: International Examples of Innovation
8th February 2012
Staff Profile – Peter Stevens,
General Manager Southern Deep-sea Fisheries
Peter joined Austral Fisheries in August 1997 after meeting the Austral team in Whangarei, New Zealand. At that time, the Austral Leader was undergoing refit and Peter was one of the Project Managers for the Northland Port Corporation. He had also spent time as the Chief Engineer on the now Southern Champion and other various vessels.
Peter is a fitter & turner by trade, but has tried his hand in numerous maritime industries – this has included service in the Royal New Zealand Navy, an engineer at the Shipping Corporation of New Zealand, the Engineering Manager for Sinclair & Melbourne ship repair facility where he was in charge of ship repair work & dry docking of vessels, and also in the Naval Dockyard in Auckland, NZ. In short, Peter has been on both sides of the fence in all things marine – both fishing and mechanical.
Peter joined Austral as the Engineering Manager for the deep-sea fleet with the added responsibility of the engineering requirements for the 9 Northern Prawn vessels a few years later. Since 2008, he has been the General Manager of the Deep-sea Fisheries.
After experiencing many marine industries, Peter finds the fishing industry the most rewarding, due mainly to the people you meet and experiences you are exposed to along the way.
