Donna Wells

Kia ora and welcome to my profile – 10 years on! April 2026 – month of my 68^th trip around the sun.

It might be best to start now and revisit…

The biggest news is that on 1 May 2024, Finestkind Limited was sold to Dan Martin, and became Finestkind NZ Ltd!  After 23 years of being CEO and 10 years of business partnership with Ken Wells, as Orca Fishing, my role changed.

 

Our transition was smooth.  A big learning curve for both.  I am delighted to have Finestkind carry on trading and very pleased with my choice of buyer.  Dan, already with a career in the fishing industry, has bought a next generation perspective and new energy to the Company. 

The first 6 months of transition were full on, and looking down the barrel of almost two years, there are still final tidy ups, e.g. Dan has now taken on oyster sales and in updating these profiles, I’m ready to relinquish more responsibility. My role now is really one of Founder and some social media for Finestkind, Women in Seafood and Port Nelson Fishermen’s Association.

Even updating the contact details on this page is necessary. 

So many things have changed, as has our industry. Environmental groups and factors, variables, automation and constantly increasing exorbitant costs have impacted hugely on the industry. Attrition, alone, gives us the following figures and our numbers are down –

In a nutshell:

• 1185 Registered vessels in 2000, currently 849
• 1407 Permit Holders in 2000, currently 735

It is pleasing to see we have an 80% industry retention rate from all the ladies we profiled earlier.

I digress…. Let’s go back to February 2023.  After a very challenging period that prompted me to reassess my own sustainability and workload, I knew changes had to be made and I began looking more seriously for people-based solutions.

Reflecting on significant dates and years – highs and lows:

2023 – Winning the ENL Shield at the NZ Federation of Commercial Fishermen’s Conference. This was also the year I stepped down from my role as Treasurer for Port Nelson Fishermen’s Association, after 33 years. The position was absorbed into the Secretary’s role, now being done by Carol Scott. I still maintain my membership and contribute to the Association.

December 1, 2020 – Finestkind is 20 years old and we celebrated post lockdown by making a video and holding a gathering of industry friends at the Boathouse in Nelson. It was a very special occasion and one I am proud of.  Thank you to those who came along and to George Guille for such an amazing effort and outcome on the video. You are all legends!

This was a period of operating pre, during and post Covid in an essential industry that had a virtual restart.  No longer were passenger flights available for air cargo.  We really had to re-invent the wheel – or the Government had to – and they did. Charter flights and cargo flights came into being until borders opened again. There was a time during that lockdown when I wondered if we would ever export again, but we did.  The phone rang and we gingerly set about doing what we do, in the new now.

Rewind to 2018 – the biggest disruption and a great disappointment for me was losing my office in the Port, after 13 years.  The silver lining in this was a massive cleanout and going into the cloud, essentially becoming paperless – and when Covid hit, systems were much better for dealing with it. For a small company relying on consistency and visibility, plus the actual volume of work that was pumping through our business veins, it was huge.  Many things lurched and wobbled. I knew I’d go one day, but I thought it would be on my terms. Newsflash – life doesn’t always go the way we planned.

Also in 2018, receiving a Seafood Star Award for Longstanding Service from Seafood New Zealand. Some consolation as I worked up a storm from my kitchen table…

Food Festivals and Seafood Promotion!

Our last appearance (to date) was at the Bluff Oyster Festival in 2021.  This marked a decade of travelling from Nelson annually – a logistical feat on its own – usually coinciding with the Fed’s conference! The Marlborough Wine and Food festival got passed in back in 2015, after 10 years there, also.  Initially testing the water at the inaugural Visionz Festival in Golden Bay in December 2000, followed by the Kaikoura Seafest in 2002 and returning every year until 2009 when the event folded.  Those were the days!  Industry was very present at those events.  There were also several attendances at local festivals and events, Wildfoods at Hokitika and appearances at the Auckland Seafood Festival and one time even the Blessing of the Fleet at Bundaberg!

Covid played havoc with festivals and events. The demise of the New Zealand Scallop fisheries played a huge and irrevocable part in not being able to supply the product we wanted to.  We managed to clock up over 20 years of experience, multiple awards and rewards from this branch of Finestkind.

I have loved my work and role in the industry.  There has been a real process involved in transitioning out and on many levels; much of it only realised recently as time has brought a different perspective to the journey.  I love my new life, too, and am still working a lot of it out. There are many things I miss, and I look back with the realisation that I am in exactly the right place now. That version of me completed her work!  It is time now to ‘work’ on my bucket list and personal admin.

What next? This is not goodbye. 

Weight and Sea….. I will continue to make a difference where it matters, where my voice and judgement are genuinely useful and choose my presence wisely. I’m not done yet and still here to help Dan when needed (if I can)!

Writing this has been cathartic. Who knew?

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Profile – December 31, 2016

I am the Chief Executive, owner, and sole Director of Finestkind Limited, a business established in December 2000. Finestkind has become a multi award winning company specializing in quota trading, exporting of fresh chilled fish and seafood promotion.

I was born and raised in Auckland and am of Ngati Kahu descent. I hold an IATA/UFTAA Diploma and am a graduate of the National Seafood Industry Leadership Programme (Australia) 2012 and the Seafood Executive Programme 2013. I have been Treasurer of Port Nelson Fishermen’s Association since 1992 actively support the New Zealand Federation of Commercial Fishermen.

My beginning in the commercial fishing industry really came when I met Ken Wells on Hayman Island (Australia) back in the 1970’s. We travelled, married and had a child, Max; and our relationship survived some 20 years.  The Wells name is synonymous with fishing, a respected family who have their base at Wakatahuri, in the Marlborough Sounds.  The place, to this day, is not on the national grid.  Many boats have been built and launched there over the years, including Ken’s own, the FV Orca.  I returned from Australia and my work as a court reporter to be Ken’s wife and business partner in 1992.

Being a woman in the seafood industry, for me, has been about creating a role and finding the confidence to work towards that role by on-going learning. My background and commitment to the fishing industry are at the foundation of Finestkind’s success as a small independent operator.  I have built a reputation based on honesty,  good service and accountability and I rely on repeat business for my livelihood.

My journey has seen my initial involvement in this industry as a fisherman’s wife and business partner, to the independent growth of Finestkind from a home based business in Golden Bay. For the last 12 years, my office has been in the Aimex Building,  Nelson, (formerly owned by Sanford Limited) and shared with the Port Nelson Fishermen’s Association .

I have never looked back since my initial trip to Sydney Fish Market in 1995, some 20 years ago now. This trip effectively put in place what became our “supply chain” and has been a pivotal part of my business life and development.  This has helped me grow my company and consolidate my position and reputation in the NZ fishing industry.

Through my strong trans-Tasman involvement, I was invited to travel with a delegation of Australian seafood professionals on the European Seafood Exposition (ESE) Tour 2008 to Spain, France, Belgium, England and independently to UAE (Dubai) on my return.

In 2012, I was nominated by Sydney Fish Market, and received a scholarship from them, as the first International member of the Fisheries Research Development Corporation (FRDC) National Seafood Industry Leadership Programme in Australia. In 2013, I attended the Seafood Executive Programme at Mt Eliza, Victoria facilitated by the esteemed Professor John Morris and Dr Melinda Muth.

Through our local fishing scene, I inherited the Treasurer’s position for Port Nelson Fishermen’s Association from Ken and still have this role. I am proud of the Association and its 50 year existence.  It is the only one in New Zealand with a bricks and mortar presence and a Facebook page.  The Association has been extremely fortunate in applying for and receiving financial sponsorship from Port Nelson Limited for the past 10 years which has helped us get members to conference annually.

Highlights  –

Finestkind’s achievements include being a member of the industry group which created the Code of Practice for Bar Crossings; involvement in the “Crossing the Bar” video made for industry to educate and save lives;  being a member of the initial FishGROUP – which evolved into FishSAFE –  and becoming the first NZ member of the Women  in Seafood Community (WINSC) Australia. I subsequently stood as a Director of this group for four years.

Awards –

Finestkind has participated in many of New Zealand’s finest seafood festivals and was successful in winning the Best Seafood Item at Seafest, Kaikoura (2003 and 2009).  Over several years at the prestigious Marlborough Wine and Food Festival, we have taken the People’s Choice Award (2013),  2nd place (2012) and Winner of the Supreme Food and Wine Match Competition Award (2009) with partner Saint Clair Family Estate, New Zealand’s most awarded Winery.  We have attended and promoted the Bluff Oyster & Food Festival annually since 2009.

Finestkind has also been Highly Commended in the Best Supplier (Overseas and Interstate) Category of the Sydney Fish Market Seafood Excellence Awards in 2011 and 2013.

Thank you for your continued business support.