Securing a Fishing Industry Labour Agreement for a Major Seafood Company

The challenge

Our client is one of Australia’s largest seafood and fishing companies, with operations spanning some of the most remote and regional waters in the country. It is a significant Australian business and exporter, and its operations depend entirely on being able to crew its vessels with skilled, safety-trained people.

For years, the company had struggled to source local workers for critical seagoing roles, including deckhands, fishing hands, and ship engineers. This was not for want of trying or a question of pay. The shortage was structural, built into the nature of the work itself.

These roles are remote and regional by definition. The vessels operate far from major population centres, in isolated and often harsh conditions, and the work involves long rotations at sea, with crew away from home and family for extended periods at a time. The positions are also genuinely skilled and safety-critical. Working on a commercial fishing vessel requires specialised training and certification to operate heavy equipment and to stay safe in a high-risk marine environment. These are not roles that can be filled at short notice or trained up overnight.

The COVID-19 pandemic deepened an already chronic problem. Border closures and broader workforce disruption tightened the labour market further, and the pool of available, suitably trained local workers simply could not meet the company’s needs.

The consequences were operational and serious. Without reliable access to skilled crew, vessels risked being unable to sail, with flow-on disruption to harvesting, processing, supply commitments, and the business as a whole. The ordinary, off-the-shelf sponsorship pathways were a poor fit for these occupations and the realities of the industry. The company needed a tailored solution.

Our approach

We advised the company on, and assisted it to secure, a Fishing Industry Labour Agreement.

Labour agreements are a distinct pathway in Australia’s migration system. Industry labour agreements are tailored arrangements with fixed terms, designed for a specific industry where genuine, ongoing labour shortages have been demonstrated through extensive consultation. They allow approved businesses to sponsor skilled overseas workers in identified occupations, with concessions that reflect the industry’s particular circumstances, where standard programs do not fit.

The Fishing Industry Labour Agreement allows a sponsor to engage skilled overseas workers in the identified seagoing occupations, for temporary stays of up to four years and, in appropriate cases, for permanent residence, with concessions that vary according to the visa subclass and the regional location of the business.

Our work involved building and presenting the case for access to the agreement: demonstrating the genuine and ongoing nature of the labour shortage in these occupations, working through the evidentiary and procedural requirements, preparing the agreement request and supporting submissions, matching the nominated occupations and terms with the company’s real operational needs, and managing the process with the Department through to a successful outcome.

The outcome

We secured the labour agreement, and for this company it was a game changer.

The business now has reliable, lawful access to the skilled seagoing workers it needs. It can crew its vessels, keep its fleet operating, and run its operations without the disruption that staffing gaps had repeatedly caused. Just as importantly, it can plan ahead with confidence, knowing the workforce will be there. The pathway also gives those workers a route to longer-term stays and, in time, permanent residence, which supports retention of skilled crew the company has invested in.

Why it matters

Some skill shortages cannot be solved by ordinary recruitment or standard visa programs. Remote, seagoing, safety-critical work in the fishing industry is a clear example, where the constraints are built into the work rather than a matter of effort or wages. Industry labour agreements exist precisely for these situations, but securing access to one takes a careful, evidence-led case and a sure hand through the Department’s requirements. For employers in regional and specialised industries, the right labour agreement can be the difference between operating at full capacity and being held back by a workforce they simply cannot fill locally.

Details in this case study have been anonymised to protect our client’s privacy.