Ben McDonald
“Leadership is earned by showing up, being consistent, and doing the hard work alongside your crew”
Skipper - Waimana Marine
After one summer in Havelock, the sea – and the lifestyle that came with it – hooked Ben McDonald into a career in mussels.
Born in Christchurch and raised partly in Australia, Ben returned to New Zealand to study at Lincoln University.
He started in a sport and recreation management degree, with vague ideas about working in high-performance sport. Then a summer break changed everything. Ben took a job pulling ropes in Sanford's mussel spat yard in Havelock (Marlborough).
“The work sucked,” he laughs, “but I was doing it with good mates, and I loved the lifestyle.”
Evenings fishing, days off diving, and time on friends’ farms opened his eyes to a different way of living.
“There was just so much more for us to do with our time off. That really attracted me.”
Ben switched to a Bachelor of Commerce, choosing a degree he felt he could use back in the mussel industry. He based his university projects on mussels and aquaculture, applying what he learned directly to the work he saw around him.
“It makes you more curious,” he says. “You start asking better questions.”
After graduating, Ben was keen to learn the industry properly, starting on the water. He spent time on the mussel boat Pacifica, then landed his first full‑time role as a deckhand on the boat Intrepid.
“It was awesome. I loved that,” he says. “I had a great skipper and learned a lot.”
Then a health and safety project with Sanford became a turning point. Ben was tasked with updating systems and procedures, taking him onto every mussel boat in their fleet. “It was a fast‑tracked way of learning,” he says. “I got to see how everyone did things, and how the whole operation fitted together.”
Over the next few years, Ben tried a bit of everything – processing, sales, hatchery work, contract roles, and complete post‑graduate study in sustainable aquaculture. But one thing stayed consistent.
“Every time I got to go to sea, I knew I was in the right place,” he says. “I kept getting drawn back.”
In January 2024, Ben joined the Morning Star as first mate. The 24‑metre aluminium vessel works across the Marlborough Sounds, Tasman Bay, and Golden Bay, carrying out seeding, harvesting, and farm maintenance. By September, Ben was skippering the boat solo.
“The weight of it hit me the first time I pulled away from the wharf on my own,” he says. “Sea time on your own is when you really learn stuff.”
By the end of 2024, Ben was running the Morning Star full time, leading a crew of four.
He admits leadership has been one of the biggest challenges.
“You’re not just running the boat – you’re running people,” he says. “When you’re relatively young, it’s easy for your authority to be questioned, so you have to earn trust by being consistent, fair, and doing the hard work alongside your crew.”
Taking part in the AQNZ Evolving Leaders programme has helped him grow into the role. “Being able to talk honestly about managing people – what works and what doesn’t – made a huge difference,” he says.
Alongside his day job, Ben is a co‑founder of Young Fish, a nationwide network supporting young people working in fishing, aquaculture, and seafood.
The idea came from his own experience of moving into regional work and not knowing many people.
“I thought it would be really helpful to have something like Young Farmers for seafood,” he says. Today, Young Fish connects people, works with schools, and helps promote careers across the sector.
Now based in Renwick, Ben still spends his time off fishing and diving. He’s even bought a couple of mussel lines of his own, with harvesting a few years away.
His advice to others thinking about a career in the industry is simple:
“Keep an open mind, work hard, and keep showing up. Get stuck into the dirty jobs – and enjoy it, because it’s a lot of fun.”