Our Webinar series provides you an opportunity to join the Rt Hon Winston Peters and Hon Shane Jones as we navigate the effect that Covid-19 has on the seafood industry.

Moderated by Glen Inwood, our guest speakers are Rachel Taulelei and Vaughan Wilkinson.

Rachel Taulelei, Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, Ngāti Rārua, Ngāti Koata

Rachel Taulelei is a prominent business leader and a strong advocate for the Māori economy and sustainability in the food and beverage sector.

Her commitment to kaitiakitanga has been evident throughout her career, as founder of sustainable seafood company Yellow Brick Road in 2006, to her time as CEO of Māori-owned food and beverage company Kono, and now in her current role as co-founder of business design and brand strategy firm, Oho.

She has held a number of governance roles, with a particular expertise in primary industries. She presently chairs the APEC Business Advisory Council and the Wellington Regional Stadium Trust. She serves as a member on the boards of the Warehouse Group, Moana NZ, ANZCO Foods, Young Enterprise Trust, and acts an advisor to venture capital firm Movac.

Vaughan Wilkinson

Vaughan's diverse career associated with the seafood sector spans almost 40 years. He began his working life as an oceanographer with a DSIR division (now part of NIWA), focusing on primary production systems supporting fisheries. Vaughan then shifted roles to that of a fisheries manager in the Fisheries Management Division of MAF (now MPI), during the lead up to the QMS introduction.

A few years later he left the public service, as the Northern Region's senior fisheries manager, to join the commercial seafood sector. Much of Vaughan's career since was spent as an executive director of Simunovich Fisheries Limited. This was followed by a decade at Sanford Limited where he served firstly as the Business Development Manager and subsequently as General Manager- Marketing and Development. Vaughan has also represented the industry in numerous stakeholder roles during his career, including many years on the Seafood Industry Council and two terms as President of the Fishing Industry Association.

In the past few years he has been assisting select interests (domestic and international) with strategic advice, predominately relating to the seafood sector. One of these interests is Whakatohea Mussels (Opotiki) Limited which is currently developing a substantial aquaculture enterprise five miles offshore of Opotiki.