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JOSEPHINE TIPOKI

Export Factory Manager, Wellington
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Kia Ora I’m Josephine (Jo) Tipoki I’m the Export Factory Manager for Wellington.

 

That means I am overall responsible for the day-today Operations of Port Nicholson Fisheries (PNF) Export Factory in Wellington. 

 

I have been working for Port Nicholson Fisheries since 2018. I started as a Factory worker on the floor doing things like packing lobsters, organizing inventory in the tanks, and making sure the facility was kept clean.  Within six months I was made supervisor and in 2023 I became PNF’s Export Factory Manager for Wellington.

 

As a Factory Manager, my job is to manage a team of people who look after the flow of live crays that come in from fishers.  For Fisheries compliance we have to be very diligent in recording information about the lobsters and have an IT system to help do that. It’s really important that the crays stay healthy in our holding tanks so that means monitoring water quality every day, scheduling water deliveries and making sure our water purification systems are working properly. The other key area of my work is to manage the export packing teams and the paperwork that is needed to send live product overseas.  

 

During the off season (around February to April, usually) we are a small crew and  concentrate on things like factory maintenance, equipment upgrades and training.  During the busy season I will manage up to 13 staff members of all agers and different cultures. 

 

Port Nicholson Fisheries offers great opportunities and development that I wouldn’t find anywhere else! I have gained so much knowledge and experience in this industry and I am eager to always learn more and to get on the floor with the team to get work done.

 

The support I get from the Senior management is something I struggled to get anywhere else; this is definitely a very close-knit family.

The fishing industry may not be for everyone but give it a go and see where it takes you! Anything is possible.

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