Accommodation issues for workers have hit many areas in the past few years and Stewart Island is not immune.
Airbnb has had an adverse effect on the accommodation supply for workers in many towns.
Stewart Island has less than a dozen properties listed on the website.
Southland district councillor Jon Spraggon said there was a real shortage of accommodation for workers on the island and there was nothing on the horizon.
"PowerNet, Downer and Fulton Hogan all have had difficulty getting housing for staff.
"They have at times been forced to fly them in and out," Mr Spraggon said.
The council was aware of the accommodation shortage but it was dealing with other problems at the moment, he said.
"The housing one — in the sense of supplying staff accommodation — is not one that I believe that we would jump into at this time.
"In the long term, we could be looking at finding some land to sell off. It could be used for that type of accommodation."
He encouraged firms to establish their own accommodation, like Real Journeys, which had built its own accommodation for staff.
Limited plans were available and "firms like Sanford should really consider putting some money in for accommodation", Mr Spraggon said.
Seafood company Sanford struggled to secure long-term accommodation for its workforce, especially during the post-Covid period.
The seafood business has some living capacity on board its feeding barges that have been designed and built with some accommodation in mind.
Despite forward planning for the summer ahead and working through longer-term issues, on-site accommodation on the barges would just be a temporary measure and not a long-term solution in the company’s search for accommodation.
Sanford had continued to work directly with locals to investigate accommodation options which included a new development and supporting its team as well as meeting contractor requirements.
The company did have occasional day trips for people to do specific work that could be completed within the day.
This was not driven by lack of accommodation specifically and did not occur daily.
The Department of Conservation (Doc) is also struggling to find beds for its workers.
The government department has an expansion of activity on the island and has increased staffing numbers.
A Doc spokeswoman said the lack of accommodation was impacting staff recruitment.
"Accommodation is at a premium on the island, which does pose challenges for recruiting new staff.
"Doc has some housing on the island where staff have lease arrangements which helps ease some of the pressure. This is a mixture of sole occupancy and shared accommodation."
Doc was not flying people to Stewart Island on a daily basis to work. — Additional reporting Steve Hepburn
By Nina Tapu
