BONAVISTA, N.L. — It was one of the best years in recent memory for the Ocean Choice International (OCI) fish plant in Bonavista.
On Wednesday, Nov. 6, representatives from the Bonavista Town Council — Mayor John Norman, Coun. Barry Randell, Coun. Reg Butler and town clerk David Hiscock — met with OCI for an annual update on the processing season.
In an interview with The Packet, Norman says they’re pleased with how business is progressing at the plant, with plenty of new, young workers available for employees who may be retiring.
“It was a very strong season, I think the workforce was very pleased with how it went” said Norman. “Price was good, OCI commented that they’re very pleased with the available labour force in the area. They’re very encouraged by the continued investments the town is making, the strong working relationship that they have with the town.
“All in all, it was a very positive meeting.”
This year, there were roughly 260 workers on the seniority list, all of whom received enough hours to qualify for seasonal employment insurance. In addition, there were about 80 casual workers and as many as 50 of those qualified for EI benefits.
"They’re very encouraged by the continued investments the town is making, the strong working relationship that they have with the town." – Bonavista Mayor John Norman
Many of these workers are also on hand to replace about 25 or more positions becoming available since last season through retirement, sickness or death.
“We are pleased to be operating in Bonavista — it is a growing and thriving community,” said Blaine Sullivan, President of OCI in a statement emailed to The Packet.
“The employees at the plant are some of the best in the province — they are hardworking and dedicated to their work and the community. This past year we were able to attract some younger workers to the plant — something that is extremely important to us as we look for our future generation of workers.”
“We look forward to continuing to work alongside, and in cooperation with the town for many, many years to come,” adds Sullivan.
Norman said discussions centred on reinvestment, expansion and species diversification.
“There’s no immediate plans but it seems we’re all on the same page moving towards these things…when it makes sense financially and, of course, scientifically.”
He adds the town would love to see a longer work period with more species being processed at the plant because single stock processing can sometimes be a challenge.
Norman says the fishery — processing and harvesting — is the second most valuable business sector in the town. Number one is the government service sector, with 400 local employees between federal, provincial and municipal governments.
"Diversification is very important and OCI is quite pleased with how Bonavista has been diversifying." — Norman
Closely behind the fishery is the tourism sector, which Norman expects to further expand — possibly surpassing the town's fishery by 2021. Small business manufacturing and export is considered the fourth largest employment sector in Bonavista, which he says is also growing quickly.
“We comment a lot on the value of the fishery and the fact that it plays a pivotal role,” said Norman.
“Diversification is very important and OCI is quite pleased with how Bonavista has been diversifying, how it’s strengthening in many ways on the municipal management side and in other ways — because that strengthens the availability of its workforce.
“They have young people entering the fishery now, both in harvesting and on the production side, which is very unusual in a lot of other places that they see.”
He says there’s no labour shortage in the area.
Representing council and union
Coun. Barry Randell was present at the meeting on behalf of both the Town of Bonavista, and as local union chair at the plant for Fish Food and Allied Workers (FFAW).
Randell told The Packet they had a good year this past season.
He says the plant was actually processing less crab overall than a few years ago, but changes in packaging contributed to more work. Crab is now packaged in packs of four, five and 10 pounds —versus 30-pound packs in previous years.
“The bottom line is the product we’re doing now is a lot more labour intensive than it was a few years ago; therefore, it requires more work,” said Randell.
Products prepared "raw" and shipped to the Japanese market also requires more work, Randell explains.
He says they were able to process several other species this year, namely capelin, turbot and some squid in the late summer. While they’ve handled some capelin and turbot in the past, squid is a rarity for the Bonavista plant.
“When you’re doing different species, it all adds up at the end of the day.”
He hopes to see more freezing capacity in the future, which can improve the amount of capelin they can process if, for example, capelin and crab need to be processed at the same time.
As always, the topic of the future of groundfish processing was discussed, he says.
While other plants in Fogo Island, Mary’s Harbour and Arnold’s Cove are processing codfish, Randell says they want to be able to process cod in Bonavista, too.
“Some other plants are gearing up to do it, OCI is going to have to get their heads around doing it, too.”
At the end of the day, Randell says Bonavista has a good relationship with OCI and wants to keep it that way.
“It’s positive, but we’re always looking for improvements.”
Twitter: @jejparsons
