Wharfside
May 2015
New Saltwater Director at MHC
In this issue New Saltwater Director at MHC. . . . . . . . . . . 1 Take a Bite of B.C.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Genuine Islander has background in a variety of farming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 MHC suppliers come up BIG for Variety, The Children’s Charity!. . . . . . . . 4 Safety walks and BrainSafe talks. . . . . . . . . . 4 20 years!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Tour at Dalrymple Hatchery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Dougie Hunter, Saltwater Director, Marine Harvest Canada
New menu item!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
In his 19 years working with Marine Harvest Scotland (MHS), Dougie Hunter had made a few work trips to Canada. He obviously liked what he saw because Dougie and his family are now ready to call Canada home.
Future farmers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 New Gazebo looks great!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Did you Know? The Grateful Dead has issued 319 albums (142 separately released), but their discography as a group is only 22 albums (9 arranged and 13 live).
Trivia time! In the leisure game of Shinty what is the curved stick called? Answer on Page 4
Comments about this Newsletter? Please email comments, articles and ideas to Ian Roberts, Communications Manager, at ian.roberts@marineharvest.com
Dougie began his new position as Saltwater Director at Marine Harvest Canada (MHC) on April 15, replacing outgoing Director James Gaskill. In this position, Dougie is responsible for all MHC’s saltwater farm sites and over 200 staff. Dougie’s wide range of expertise, leadership, and technical input will serve Marine Harvest Canada well.
Throughout his aquaculture career Dougie (pronounced Doo-gee) has had a variety of roles including brood stock technician and, since 2007, as the Technical Manager on the MHS management team. As Technical Manager, Dougie was responsible for providing technical support to production, processing, and sales and has been an integral part in the improved performance of MHS. In addition, Dougie formulated feed diets which have helped MHS deliver significant growth and feed conversion rate performance. He has also led Scotland’s environmental and planning team as well as the product safety and quality teams. In this function he was successful in achieving four new sites adding 15,000 MT production capacity as well as two Aquaculture Stewardship Council site certifications. Dougie will reside in Campbell River and will be joined in July by his wife Catriona, daughter Reba, and son Angus Iain.
Dougie’s Scottish colleagues had a party to wish him well on his adventure
Take a Bite of B.C.
(reported by the BC Salmon Farmers Association)
Marine Harvest Canada was proud to provide salmon to Maple Ridge Secondary School’s culinary class, in support of the Take a Bite of B.C. program. Now in its sixth year, Take a Bite of B.C. was launched in 2009 by the BC Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation and continues to expand into new secondary schools across the province. Products used as part of this program are prepared by the culinary arts students and then served to 37,000 students and
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3,000 staff members in the 30 schools throughout the province. Last month the culinary arts students at Maple Ridge Secondary School prepared salmon that was raised by Marine Harvest in the waters off of Northern Vancouver Island. Chef Trevor Randle, Culinary Arts Instructor at Maple Ridge Secondary, taught students how to cut, fillet and portion a whole salmon, and then showed them how cook the portions to create the perfect result. The students were definitely proud of their work and enjoyed eating it when
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they were done. “It’s the best salmon I’ve ever had,” said Danielle Spencer, a grade 11 culinary arts student. “It’s not dry. No offense to my parents, but when they cook salmon, it’s dry. This is just everything…it’s so good!” She was not alone in her opinion. The students prepared 42 plates of salmon and these were sold out in less than 15 minutes, even before the official lunch bell rang. You can read the whole story at http:// bcsalmonfarmers.ca/learning-to-cookthe-young-chefs-of-tomorrow/
Genuine Islander has background in a variety of farming farm, which included llamas, pigs and bison. “I enjoyed teaching people the role farming plays in people’s lives and the job satisfaction was through the roof but I needed more”. He applied to Marine Harvest at the suggestion of a friend and was thrilled when he received a phone call. “It feels good to be valued as an employee and invested in through ongoing educational opportunities,” said Jordan. “I work with dedicated people who care about their job,” he added, also saying that he likes being part of the going ‘above and beyond’ attitude that’s prevalent throughout the company.
Jordan Smith, Hatchery Technician By Gina Forsyth
Jordan Smith is a hatchery technician at Freshwater Farms in Duncan, British Columbia. It was six years ago in February that Jordan joined Marine Harvest’s fresh water division, first at United Hatchery and then at Stelling Hatchery before settling in at Fresh Water Farms. “I’m loving the hatchery,” Jordan said. “It’s unique because we handle the incubation of eggs through to smolts and we also do spawning. It’s very hands-on
work since there’s not a lot of automation,” Jordan said. Jordan does record-keeping for the brood stock, and in the incubation room there’s water quality testing every day as well as egg sorting. Prior to joining Marine Harvest, Jordan was employed by Desolation Sound Oysters and then by the Seaview Game Farm at Miracle Beach. He tended to the fallow deer, worked in the commercial greenhouses and ran tours of the petting MarineHarvest.ca
Born in Victoria and raised in Metchosin, northwest of Victoria, Jordan is an only child and a self-described “genuine true Islander”. His dad was an electrician at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt. The family moved to Cortes Island when Jordan was 14. “We bought 14 acres of raw land and lived off the grid, including no electricity.” Jordan completed grades nine and 10 on the island and then arranged his classes at Carihi to suit the ferry schedule. He graduated in 1999. He lives on-site at the hatchery with his wife Krista and their three kids: two daughters and a son. “Being on-site with the kids is working very well,” he explained. Away from work, “we’re campaholics,” he said. They like Goldstream Provincial Park and Ralph River. He also enjoys cooking a variety of dishes, “from Beef Wellington to chicken curry. “I also grind my own spices and do my own smoking,” said Jordan.
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MHC suppliers come up BIG for Variety, The Children’s Charity!
On April 29, a team of MHC staff took over the phones at 97.3 The Eagle FM to help raise funds for Variety Children’s Charity. What a rewarding day it was: for staff and for Variety. Marine Harvest suppliers were called, and they really stepped up to plate! Special thanks goes to the following aquaculture suppliers for their wonderful donations:
• • • • • • • • • •
James Walkus Fishing Company Skretting Coastline Towing and Transport Beal Graphic Design Searoamer Marine Services Centre for Aquatic Health Sciences AKVA IPS Powerserve Energy Pathfinder Travel
At the end of the day, over $20,000 was raised! That whopping total surpassed the previous year’s high by $8,000. All the funds raised that day will be spent in our North Island communities. Special thanks to staff who helped on the day: Debbie Ashcroft, Andrew Foy, Corey Fitzgerald, Roger King, Ian Roberts, Rocky Boschman, and Kristi Super.
Safety walks and BrainSafe talks Increases safety awareness.
Are you aware that every manager in Marine Harvest is required by the Code of Conduct to carry out “Safety walks”? It’s a core expectation that managers will observe their worksite and communicate with their employees about safety. I’m sure you can imagine how this could benefit the safety culture and improve the effectiveness of the work site and here are some other benefits of effective safety walks:
Demonstrates management commitment to safety. Allows the correction of unsafe work practices and/or unsafe conditions. Ensures that tasks are being carried out correctly. Reinforces positive behaviours. Leading trend indicator of potential incidents.
Measures the effects of the safety education, training & competency system. Increases morale. Conducting safety walks demonstrates at least three of the Marine Harvest B’s; Be aware, Be responsible and Be vocal.
MarineHarvest.ca Answer: Caman
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By James Rogers, Project Manager
20 years! Lorraine Nash recently celebrated 20 years at the Port Hardy Processing Plant. Congratulations Lorraine!
New menu item!
Dalrymple manager, Graeme Bull, shared his vast knowledge of recirculating
As if Marine Harvest’s barbeque salmon burgers weren’t delicious enough – Chefs Cori and Pierre have added salmon tacos to MarineHarvest.ca
aquaculture systems with students of Black Creek Mennonite School in April.
the menu. Make sure you stop by one of our charitable salmon barbeques this summer and give them a try! 5
Future farmers Students of Vancouver Island University’s Fisheries & Aquaculture program visited MHC operations just before graduation. MHC and VIU maintain a close working relationship to ensure the students are well prepared to enter into the company’s workforce upon graduation. Several of this year’s graduates have already confirmed fulltime careers with MHC.
Touring Dalrymple salmon nursery
Touring Hardwicke salmon farm
Marine Harvest staff volunteered their time to help construct a new gazebo (donated by Marine Harvest) for the Eagle Ridge Manor retirement home in Port Hardy.
Lending a hand was: (l-r)Tom Baker, Ken Sampson, Kathy Baker, Alvin Walkus, Christine Snowdon, Lindsay Robinson, Phoebe Walkus, Chris Miner, John Wallace, and Delilah the dog. Missing: Mike Strasdine & John Robichaud.
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