A Whitianga fisherman whose leadership and work to reduce the risks to seabirds from fishing has been recognised as a ‘Seafood Star' by Seafood New Zealand.

Third generation fisherman and owner/skipper of the FV Southern Cross Adam Clow was the joint winner of the industry's Young Achiever Award announced at Wednesday's Seafood Stars Awards.

Coromandel-based fisherman, FV Southern Cross owner/skipper and this year's Seafood New Zealand Young Achiever Award join winner Adam Clow. Supplied Photo.

'Adam has been instrumental in driving change in education and practice within the fishing industry with respect to mitigation techniques to avoid seabird capture particularly the black petrel in the Hauraki Gulf” says Seafood NZ chief executive Tim Pankhurst.

'The awards reward innovation and excellence within our industry and recognise the contribution our diverse workforce makes to this important industry and their commitment to its ongoing sustainability.”

Based on the Coromandel, Adam fishes from North Cape to East Cape, primarily for snapper.

This latest accolade is the second Adam's received from Seafood NZ after winning the Seabird Smart Award for his innovative approach to reducing risks to seabirds from fishing in 2012.

His ongoing work in this area was also recognised in 2014 when he was awarded the prestigious Holdaway Award by the Hauraki Gulf Forum for making a significant contribution to conservation in the Gulf.

This year Adam volunteered to participate in trialling electronic monitoring with proxy seabirds attached to lines to give greater transparency to operations on the water.

The trial is a collaboration between Adam, the Department of Conservation, the Ministry for Primary Industries and Trident Systems.

'Every day in fishing communities around the country thousands of people go to work to contribute to our $1.8 billion export industry whether it's putting to sea in our inshore fisheries, working away from home in our deepwater fisheries, working on salmon and mussel farms, or onshore processing and marketing our products,” says Tim.

Adam shares the Young Achievers Award with with Te Tane Trinick of Mt Cook Alpine Salmon.