Wharfside
August 2015
And the Cup goes to…
In this issue And the Cup goes to…. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Smokin’ donation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Congratulations Sierra Hall!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 A new product line: Sterling Fillets. . . . . . . . 2 The commute. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Fresh water, straight from the ocean. . . . . . 4 Spot a whale? Click the app for that!. . . . . . 4 This one didn’t get away!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Supplying fish to feed the hungry is no miracle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Drop by a charity BBQ in August. . . . . . . . . . 6 Want to join the Marine Harvest family?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Did you Know? In recent years, salmon catches in the Pacific Northwest have topped 600 million fish: two to three times the historical average.
Trivia time! In the 1963 film The Great Escape, what names were given to the three tunnels? Answer on Page 4
Comments about this Newsletter? Please email comments, articles and ideas to Ian Roberts, Director of Public Affairs, at ian.roberts@marineharvest.com
From left to right: John Ilett, Dave Guzda, Mike Robson, Tony Redekopp (absent from picture: Rocky Blouin)
Bragging rights for this year’s Sterling Cup go to Okisollo and Bell Island farms – falling on the heels of Okisollo’s previous crop that received the honour in 2013. The prestigious Sterling Cup is awarded annually to the Marine Harvest salmon farm that achieves the lowest economical feed conversion ratio (eFCR) for that year class. Okisollo (supplied with smolts from Bell Island) achieved a final eFCR of 1.148 – about .08 better than the previous cycle – for its 2013 (S1) year class. Okisollo site manager John Ilett is very proud once again receive the honours. “I would like to thank my staff, and the staff at Bell Island, for all their hard work and long
hours that it took to achieve this result,” said John. “I just gave my staff direction, but they are the reason that we won.” In addition to bragging rights and names engraved on the Cup, the staff are rewarded with a paid trip to anywhere within North America (Okisollo staff have chosen Cabo San Lucas). Winners include John Ilett, Mike Robson, Rocky Blouin, Tony Redekopp, Dave Guzda, Dylan Hall, Michael Stead, Michael Ralph, Roger Stagg, Chris Patterson, Michael Schaprickyn and Jason Saunders. Honourable mention goes to Phil McKirgan who worked at Okisollo for five months (just missing the six month period of eligibility).
Smokin’ donation Part proceeds from the Van Isle 360 International Yacht Race barbeque held on Marine Harvest Canada’s Hardwicke Island salmon farm in June were donated to the Sayward Fire Department. The $1500 donation was a joint effort by MHC and the BC Salmon Farmers Association. The donation will help fund a new rescue vehicle required for the vast Sayward Valley. Ian Roberts (MHC) and David Minato (BC Salmon Farmers Association) dropped off the donation to John Hanson (Sayward Fire Chief) and Beckie Beck (volunteer fire fighter)
Sierra Hall received her scholarship from principal Pier De Paola
A new product line: Sterling Fillets Since winter, our Sterling team has been interviewing chefs across the U.S. to find out what their preference is when purchasing salmon; whole fish or fillets? After much research they’ve learned that the demand is balanced between whole fish and fillets. Close to half of all chefs surveyed were currently purchasing salmon that had already been filleted by their distributor. Since 2
our Sterling brand has been only sold as a whole (head on gutted) fish, we decided to develop a Sterling Fillet program, one that would meet the demand for fillets and also maintain our high standards of “HandSelected” Sterling quality salmon. As of May, Sterling fillets are being processed out of Los Angeles, and packed in their own unique black 10lb case.
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Congratulations Sierra Hall! Sierra Hall is this year’s recipient of the Stewart Wallis Scholarship, awarded to the top student graduating from the Kitasoo Community School in Klemtu. The annual endowment is funded by Marine Harvest in memory of the late Stewart E. Wallis. This year’s award is valued at $5,590. Sierra begins her Bachelor of Arts studies at the University of British Columbia in September.
The commute When you say the word “commute” to most anyone living in a big city, they’ll probably react with a roll of the eyes, or a grimace. But when you mention the same word to Sheldon Holloway, he can only think of a weekly trip that most people around the world would pay big money to experience.
Marine Harvest and the Kitasoo/Xai’xais First Nation began its salmon farming and processing partnership in 1998, the area has grown to its original vision of six sites, and there has been a complete overhaul of infrastructure that includes specially designed workboats, 120 metre circles, automated feeding systems, and a brand new accommodation coming in 2016. When complete, the new feed storage and accommodation float will be the largest and most technologically advanced example in the aquaculture industry.
Sheldon notes that a lot has improved in Klemtu in the two years he’s worked there, but the region’s salmon aquaculture operations go much further back. Since
When arriving in Bella Bella, Sheldon and his colleagues take a quick taxi ride to a nearby dock and board a seabus departing for Klemtu. The one and a half hour trip is a pleasure, Sheldon explained, and provides enough time to enjoy a full-length movie on the vessel’s individual televisions. The incoming crew arrive at the most northern sites at about three in the afternoon, and then the week’s work begins. Of course, feeding fish is priority, but you can also find time during the longer summer days to enjoy a boat ride up a fjord or “go fishing with the boys.” On day eight, the travel is reversed and has Sheldon arriving home in Campbell River by mid-afternoon.
“I see glaciers on my way to work – all year round. It’s absolutely beautiful.” In 2013, Sheldon was promoted to assistant manager at Marine Harvest’s Klemtu region. He currently helps manage two sites – Kid Bay and Goat Cove – with site manager Riley McFadyen. While it’s challenging working in a remote part of British Columbia’s Central Coast, the opportunity to experience this part of the world is something Sheldon described as “very fortunate”.
planes, so my nerves about flying were settled when I boarded these larger planes.”
Over the years, the commute to Klemtu has also changed for employees that live outside of Klemtu. Sheldon’s shift is an “eight days on, six days off ” rotation, and starts on day one at about 9am. He picks up a week’s worth of groceries for his staff and arrives at Campbell River’s airport to board a large and comfortable plane bound for Bella Bella. Depending on the season, the Pacific Coastal aircraft may be a Saab 340B or a Beechcraft 1900D (30 and 19 passenger respectively), and has all the bells and whistles like drinks, snacks, and “candies for decent,” Sheldon said with an appreciative grin.
Sheldon loves the challenge his work offers him and would advise anyone looking to join the Klemtu team to “think ahead, because things aren’t easily available in the middle of nowhere!” Speaking of challenges, Sheldon is also enjoying the local foods his peers bring to work on occasion. “I’d never tried herring eggs and dried seaweed until working in Klemtu. Put the seaweed on your popcorn and…‘wow’!”
“The comfort of the commute was a game changer for me,” remarked Sheldon. “The west coast weather can be tough on little MarineHarvest.ca
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Jason Saunders (left) and Joel McGee “cheers” each other with a cold glass of reverse osmosis liquid
Fresh water, straight from the ocean Marine Harvest staff are enjoying the new desalinators installed at a few Marine Harvest farm sites. The NDX1500 is manufactured by Lifestream and can
produce up to 5600 litres (1500 gallons) per day through reverse osmosis. The end product is UV sterilized freshwater which staff say is “cold and delicious!”
David Klatt and the Port Hardy Minor Hockey Association were pleased to receive sponsorship from Marine Harvest Canada.
“Thank you so much for your sponsorship this season” – David Klatt, #12
Spot a whale? Click the app for that!
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This one didn’t get away! The Rotary Club of Strathcona Sunrise (Courtenay) recently held a fundraiser that painted a concrete salmon by donation. Well, of course, Marine Harvest was all
over that! Our very large and beautifully painted salmon now resides at Marine Harvest’s processing plant in Port Hardy.
MarineHarvest.ca Answer: Tom, Dick, and Harry
A new app produced for the B.C. Cetaceans Sightings Network is now available for download onto your mobile device. So the next time you spot a whale or dolphin on your way to work, report your sighting with the app. For more information and a link to the app download, check out http://wildwhales.org/2015/06/ report-sightings-with-our-new-app/.
Supplying fish to feed the hungry is no miracle Salvation Army Lighthouse Centre soup kitchen, where he has been going for lunch every day, Monday to Friday, for the past four years. He’d gone to Fraser Valley, Vancouver, Victoria, Nanaimo and, finally, Campbell River, where the weather is mild and the community warmer, welcoming all its citizens, even those less fortunate than others. A few blocks from the soup kitchen, down by the dockyard, are the facilities and offices of one of several generous corporate citizens – Marine Harvest Canada. For two decades, a salmon-farming company has been quietly donating 30 pounds of fresh Atlantic salmon every Wednesday to the Salvation Army to help nourish its clients.
Eric Hoch is one of 80 people who lunch at The Lighthouse Centre of Campbell River. Much of the food is supplied through a donation program of the BC Salmon Farmers Association and Marine Harvest Canada. (Lance Sullivan)
As published in the Globe and Mail on June 4, 2015: Campbell River is where the homeless meet the salmon capital of the world. This picturesque gateway to northern Vancouver Island is also where Eric Hoch landed when the recession of 2008 knocked him off his feet. Mr. Hoch, who never imagined he would find himself poverty-stricken, says Campbell River is “a mecca for homeless services.”
A victim of the global financial crisis, the 52-year-old, whose university-degree and post-secondary diplomas decorate his proverbial wall, lost his job as a software engineer in downtown Calgary’s lucrative oil industry. When he couldn’t find new work, he watched his 20-year identity as a successful oil-patch professional slowly slip away. “It basically changed my life. Not one interview in two years, so I pulled the plug and went west,” Mr. Hoch says from the MarineHarvest.ca
“We appreciate what the Salvation Army and so many other groups like them are doing for our community, and this was our way of saying, ‘Thanks,’ ” says Dale Blackburn, who started Marine Harvest’s donation program when he was the company’s managing director. The staff vision at the time, recalls Mr. Blackburn, who has now retired, was to make a long-term commitment. “It wasn’t a splashy or large one-time donation. It was a relatively small donation, but consistent and meaningful.” The Salvation Army uses the salmon for three programs. It’s served fresh for dinner at the ministry’s emergency shelter every Thursday night. The rest is cut up and frozen, served later at the Lighthouse soup kitchen and also delivered, through a food-hamper program, to families living in poverty.
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Drop by a charity BBQ in August
This year’s new menu item: salmon tacos!
We’re fundraising for local charities at the following places in August. Stop by and try the new salmon tacos, as well as the ‘ol staple: fresh salmon burgers!
Event
Date
Location
Serving Time
Sayward’s Oscar Daze
2-Aug-15
Sayward
lunchtime
Port McNeill’s OrcaFest
15-Aug-15
Port McNeill
lunchtime
Want to join the Marine Harvest family? Careers opportunities are regularly posted on our website. If you would like to apply for work with Marine Harvest, please visit us at http://www. marineharvest.ca/people/employmentpostings/.
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