North Seafood Ltd. held a grand opening of its new crab processing facility at Steveston Harbour on Friday.
The facility took around a year to build and now employs 10 full-time and around 15 part-time workers and is capable of storing around 50,000 pounds of crab at full capacity.
Not only does the facility contribute jobs to the local Steveston economy, but it also opens doors to other markets, said North Seafoods director Henry Zhang.
Crabs are shipped in pallets, with each one holding around 2,000 pounds of shellfish at a time.
According to Zhang, it’s hard to estimate how many pallets are shipped everyday, but 10 pallets per day is certainly possible.
In addition to the Steveston facility, North Seafoods also employs 10 full-time and 15 part-time workers in Prince Rupert, as well as 125 self-employed fishermen.
Crabs are caught in North Seafoods’ location in Prince Rupert and placed in totes filled with water. These containers are then shipped on a 20-hour journey south by land, ensuring the water is properly oxygenated before arriving in Steveston.
The shellfish are then held at this processing facility for approximately 24 hours to get them adjusted, finally being placed into containers and shipped out live.
The destination for these shellfish varies and depends on demand, and could be shipped internationally or across the country.
Harbour adapting to changing industry
With the fishing industry changing over time, the Steveston Harbour Authority (SHA) has had to adapt, said SHA board chairman Robert Kiesman.
He reminisced about a time when Steveston Harbour was filled with thousands of boats, workers and pounds of fish.
“We knew that was no longer the case, so we had two choices,” said Kiesman. “We can either put our tail between our legs and fold up, or we can take charge of our destiny and make a new plan for the future by adapting."
Throwing nets wasn’t enough anymore, so the need to expand and do more with the fish was vital, he added.
The SHA has invested around $50 million to diversify the operations of the harbour, with the support of the City of Richmond, federal government, First Nations and other industry players.
This includes the creation of an ice plant, their largest capital project, a net loft on the Gulf of Georgia site, and now this processing facility, Kiesman explained.
“We're about improving the value of the seafood that's available in the province of B.C., and we’re putting a moat around the site… to protect it for the future,” he said.
The grand opening was attended by business and community figures as well as Steveston Richmond-East member of Parliament Parm Bains and members of Richmond city council attended.
Coun. Bill McNulty, along with other members of council, also alluded to these benefits, thanking the family business for establishing themselves in Canada’s most vibrant fishing harbour.
“The abundance of seafood in our waters has created a robust fishing industry, earning an international reputation for salmon, shellfish and other seafood right here in Richmond,” he said.
“The crab processing facility, officially opening here today, will strengthen the market opportunities and show again Richmond's strong local economy.”
Though the company doesn’t do much processing aside from putting bands on crab claws, there are plans to expand into filleting fish, sea urchins or sea cucumbers in the future, said Zhang.
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