5 Dec 2007

Niue's Reef Fishing vows that shut down is temporary

4:32 pm on 5 December 2007

Reef Fishing in Niue says it will open its doors again in about 3 months.

Around 20 staff of the company will be out of work for several months, with the company standing down its processing plant.

The company's Niue General Manager, Kim Gordon, says the fleet is being reorganised for the duration of the cyclone season.

She says weather conditions have made fishing difficult, and it has been hit hard by whales, which have decimated catches.

"All those conditions together make it quite a tough operating environment and that's why we've chosen to bring the seasonal shutdown in, until conditions improve at which stage NFP will be up and running again and the fishing fleet will be back in the zone."

Kim Gordon.

The company says some of the boats in the fleet will be moved to another zone, and some will be returned to New Zealand for routine maintainence.