‘We Care About Our Fishery’ : Skipper Justin Rillstone on his career at sea.
At 18, Justin Rillstone had a choice: use his ACDC ticket and see the hard rockers play in Wellington, or accept a job on Sealord trawler the Will Watch.
Thirty-seven years later, now a skipper for Sealord, he’s confident he made the right call, despite the FOMO. “I still remember sailing past Wellington on the way to the Chatham Rise and wishing I’d gone to ACDC,” he laughs.
Justin was named skipper on Sealord trawler the Rehua in late 2025. It’s a job he’s excited about, and one 18-year-old Justin wouldn’t have thought possible. But the fishing industry, with its unique lifestyle and opportunities, became a career he “just moulded into”.
Justin started in the industry on his uncle’s crayfish boat at 13, spending as many school holidays at sea as he could. “It was long days, but good reward.” At 16 he wanted to try deep-sea boats, so he did the fishing cadet course in Nelson; when it finished, a vacancy came up on the Will Watch.
Most of his career has been spent at Sealord. He was on the delivery voyage of the Rehua from Norway in 1997 and worked on her until 2007. He has skippered the Independent 1 (now the Aukaha) and the Ocean Dawn. During his career he has also taken breaks to experience other parts of the industry.
Asked what he wishes people outside the industry better understood, Justin says fishers genuinely “care about our fishery”. “We are not here to rape and pillage the ocean, it’s our livelihood.”
The skills he believes make a good fisher is someone who is highly motivated, a good listener and someone able to learn from those around them.
He would absolutely recommend fishing as a career. “There’s opportunity in the industry – and not just for Captains and First Mates but for Engineers and other roles.”
He’s still never seen ACDC live, but he’s thankful he took up the opportunity to go to sea. “Two days are never the same when you’re looking out the windows at sea – it changes every day. It’s a pretty cool office.”
