Five weeks into her new role as Chief Executive of Aquaculture NZ (AQNZ), Tee (Teena) Hale-Pennington sits down with Seafood New Zealand to share what brought her to the role, her vision for the industry, why it’s okay to make mistakes and the regional opportunities on the horizon.
Tell me about your early connection to aquaculture.
My grandmother lived near the water – she loved oysters, and she bought me an oyster shucking knife when I was five, gave me gloves, and we would sit down on the rocks and talk about various things, picking these amazing treasures of the rocks, and we’d eat them. Her grandmother passed it on to her, so she was just handing on something that was pretty much part of her relationship all the way down. So she’d talk about the weather and what things she observed and other bits and pieces. She passed away the end of last year and, you know, I go back and sit on rocks and try and find the elusive oyster on the rocks, and it makes me sort of feel like she’s still sitting there with me.
And since then, you’ve had a pretty fascinating career trajectory.
I’ve spent time in local government, professional services, not for profit. I have been part of the Royal Commission for the amalgamation of Auckland Council and creating the supercity, and part of project leading moving a 500 kV transmission line, which is the national grid in New South Wales and Victoria. So I’ve watched people out the side of a helicopter with reflective suits on moving live electricity lines to facilitate and enable urban growth and development.
Most recently, I spent 11 years with Te Kāhui Whaihanga, New Zealand Institute of Architects, and that has been amazing. There’s lots of parallels with what I’m finding in Aquaculture New Zealand, in that the public understanding of the importance of an industry and a sector to New Zealand’s economy, well-being and prosperity is not always well understood.
What drew you to this executive role?
It was the story of aquaculture and its importance to the New Zealand economy. When you start doing some of your due diligence and thinking about the sector, you see that there’s enormous ambition and passionate people involved. So how do we get that momentum to unlock its potential?
The other part of it is it puts my education into practice. I did an undergraduate degree in environmental science. One of my subjects was advanced environmental systems modelling, and the practicality of that was working out how many fish could live in a water space of X dimension at a breathing rate of Y, eating food at a regularity. Who knew that I was already doing well in aquaculture when I was studying many, many moons ago?
How do you define leadership?
All sectors need to be fundamentally centered around people. You cannot do or achieve anything without passionate, dedicated, courageous, inspired people who are doing great work each and every day. Your challenge as a leader is to create an environment where people are valued, people are supported, people have the opportunity to grow and learn and, importantly, make mistakes. Mistakes are learning opportunities.
One of the best pieces of advice I had was never accept “no” as the answer. No just means no in that moment. And there is a reason why the no might exist, but don’t forget about the opportunity, because it might come along in a different set of circumstances.
What are the current challenges aquaculture is facing?
I haven’t bumped into anyone yet who has not had the regulatory setting environment as number one or number two on their list. It’s complicated, complex, uncertain, costly, unable to cope with innovation and change, and there’s a high risk borne by a marine farmer in the environment. We have fast track legislation and other reforms going through, but we haven’t really found that optimum balance in terms of de-risking the regulatory setting so we actually can grow sustainably.
The other is probably the quality of the wai, so the importance of the quality of water as the growing medium for aquaculture. I have not yet met a marine farmer who isn’t interested in their contribution to the environment and their care for it, in terms of how they operate, because their survival as a producer depends on the quality of the environment.
And opportunities?
How science plays a big role in aquaculture and that need for coordinated investment. It’s that ability to actually link science to the needs of the sector in the timeframes that we need it. Things like AI give farmers a huge advantage now compared to when aquaculture first started, because they can have access to real-time information in their pocket.
Another part of the ambition and strategy is to have iwi and hapū-led partnership aquaculture activity. I think aquaculture is an opportunity for iwi and hapū to create sustainable, resilient communities. There’s clearly an economic benefit, but it also provides employment, well-being, and other attributes to communities across New Zealand.
Anything you are particularly excited about?
The Murihiku Southland Aquaculture Pathway, which has been developed from Great South and just launched. It represents Southland’s aspirations to develop aquaculture into a multibillion-dollar industry over the next 20 years. It’s a collective body of stakeholders and interests coming together to galvanize around aquaculture and seafood. It’s the first of its kind in New Zealand, and I think it’s a fantastic model that we should be encouraging in other parts; I’d love to see a similar model adopted for Top of the South so we could have that strategic vision and mindset that weaves people together. The total industry ambition is $3 billion by 2035 – double our export earnings in 10 years – and that Southland strategy area is potentially $1 billion of the $3 billion. A role for AQNZ is to support that great work, and to play our part ensuring that aquaculture is delivered in a way that’s collaborative rather than single-interest.
Our footprint is predominantly in regional and rural communities, so it’s really important to New Zealand’s future to have supported, growing businesses and have those places thriving.
Off the job, what brings you joy?
I love jumping on my bike and going for a ride. It’s a big part of how I like to relax and also how I travel. So many of my holidays with my family are based on a bike, and we find it’s a great pace to see, enjoy and discover things.
