Seafood New Zealand’s Jen Vallance caught up with Tauranga local and Seine Fish Ltd. owner-operator Chris Harvey to talk about fishing, family and life on the water.
It didn’t take long to see that for Chris and the extended Harvey family fishing isn’t just a job, it’s a family legacy, and they love it.
“I love every day when I’m out there,” Chris says. “I’d probably do what I do for free…but, you know, you kind of need money for life.”
And it’s certainly a family affair – grandparents, uncles, cousins – you name it! His grandad was a fisher and his dad, George Harvey, was out fishing when Chris was born. George and one of his brothers had bought a small boat together, “which they pretty much made a failure of,” Chris says with a cheeky laugh. But it didn’t take long for them to find their stride. Soon George had his own longliner and Chris’ uncles – Floss, Arch and Doc – were all longlining, too. Another uncle, David, was gillnetting in Coromandel Harbour for flounder.
Chris’ earliest memories aren’t so much of playgrounds or classrooms, they’re of boats and fish. Dad had a hand-driven longline reel that the line wrapped around to set and haul the line, which Chris describes as “very hard work.”
“I remember being on the boat and sleeping on the engine box,” he recalls. “Those little boats with the engine in the middle of the floor and a box over the top – that’s where I’d sleep. It was warm and noisy and rocking…perfect for a little kid.”
Breakfast was cornflakes in a Tupperware container with milk tipped in on the spot – no frills, just whatever worked at sea. By his own count, Chris has been around boats and fishing for about 45 years.
His Uncle Arch only recently stopped, but the rest of the family is still involved in one way or another. Cousins are fishing further north, Chris and his brother work together.
Chris’ son, Cam (25), also grew up on the boats in school holidays. After leaving school, Cam tried a couple of other things but ultimately was drawn to a career in fishing. He now skippers one of the family boats.
Chris and his wife, Jess, who own and operate Seine Fish, currently run three boats – though the long-term plan is to settle with two, one for Chris and one for son Cam. Their vessels range in size from 40 to 60 feetand include Boy Roel, St Pierre and Aotea.
The Bay of Plenty and Coromandel regions are also dotted with other Harvey family-owned boats, too, each carrying decades of experience – including Wakanui, Ikateri, and Eight Bells.
Jess plays a big part in the business. She works on the boat when she can and handles all the behind-the-scenes work, Chris says affectionately.
“We’re a proper family operation,” he adds. “Always have been.”
Through the years, the Harveys have worked across longlining, seining and trawling. Today they’ve returned to seining as their preferred method.
“For us, it’s the efficiency and the lifestyle,” Chris explains. “We enjoy the process. You get a mix ofspecies and really decent quality.”
Their main target is snapper, which goes primarily to Leigh Fish, who in turn supply supermarkets through Foodstuffs. That means many New Zealanders all over are eating fresh Harvey-caught fish every week.
“It’s cool knowing people can buy fresh fish even if they can’t go catch it themselves,” says Chris.
Seining also brings in lesser-known species such as pōrae and sea perch – which Chris believes should be embraced more.
“People go straight for snapper, but there are beautiful fish out there most people haven’t even heard of,” he says.
Currently, Chris and Jess employ about six crew members, many of whom stay for a decade or more.
“We get pretty lucky,” Chris says. “We see young people come in, grow, get confident and build a life. That’s one of the things I love most.”
Family remains central, and son Cam has been taking on more responsibility each year, now skippering a boat Chris has owned for over a decade.
“It’s amazing watching him grow into it,” Chris says. “Just like I did.”
Ask Chris for a good story and he’ll tell you he loves every day – but there are a few standout moments.
Chris recalls one unforgettable day when Cam was about eight or nine. Cam was steering the boat up the Tāmaki Strait on their way to the wharf to unload with a decent amount of fish onboard; Chris and the crew were on the deck packing fish.
“Cam called out, ‘There’s a whale in front of us!’ I thought, ‘Yeah, right!’ but up it came, about the size of our boat. Pretty cool thing for a kid to spot.”
There are less-calm stories too, like the night a storm shifted over the Hauraki Gulf and turned a sheltered anchorage into chaos.
“Next thing we know we’re in 100-knot winds and two- to three-metre waves,” Chris remembers. The anchor rope wrapped around the prop, leaving them momentarily helpless.
“It was pretty terrifying for a bit, but it dropped back to 80 knots within 15 minutes, then eased right off. By morning it was flat calm.”
Ask Chris why he keeps going after nights like that and he smiles.
“I love the environment. I love the freedom. Even with cameras now – they do their thing and I do mine. It’s where I belong.”
One thing Chris has seen change over the years is the size of the industry.
“There used to be heaps of little boats,” he says. “You’d pull into a harbour and catch up with other fishermen. Now it’s a smaller, tighter industry – same catch, fewer boats.”
He worries that some of the proposed blanket bans and restricted zones may unintentionally push out small operators who are more limited to where they can fish.
"You can inadvertently end up removing the smaller operators, like us, whose sole purpose is to fish for Kiwis,” he says. “People probably don’t realise that it’s their fish supply that will be impacted.”
What frustrates him most is the misconception that commercial fishers don’t care about the ocean or the future of fish stocks.
“Most fishermen these days are investing for the long term,” he says. “We’re not out there trying to ruin anything – it doesn’t make sense for us to do that. It’s that simple.”
For all the change and all the challenges, Chris wouldn’t trade this life for anything.
“I love working with my son, my family, my crew,” he says. “I love what we do. It’s a good life.”
And after decades on the water and generations behind him, the Harvey family remains exactly what it’s always been: a family that’s stood the test of time, working together to provide delicious kaimoana to Kiwis one catch at a time.
About Danish Seining
Danish seining is a fishing method where a boat lays out a long rope in a triangular pattern on the seabed around a school of fish. The boat deploys one rope while moving in a wide arc, then comes back and lays out a second rope on the other side. A net is attached between the ropes at the apex of the triangle.
As the boat hauls in both ropes simultaneously, they sweep along the seafloor, herding the fish toward the centre net.
