1930 - First subsidies on butter and cheese

1934 - Canadian Federation of Dairy Farmers formed in Ottawa, leading to the Dairy Farmers of Canada in 1942

1940 - War Measures Act with Com­mission to regulate prices and trade

1944 - Offer to purchase program introduced to prevent agricultural prices from falling to encourage exports in order to eliminate sur­pluses and restrict importation

1958 - Agricultural stabilization legis­lation

1963 - Canadian conference on the dairy industry, which led to the legislation process creating the Canadian Dairy Commission (CDC) in 1966

1975 - Industrial milk policy with its related global cheese quota of 50 million pounds reduced to 45 million pounds in 1978

1980 - Canadian cheese arrange­ments with 18 countries, including a price discipline system restricting unfair competition and favoring Canadian cheese production

1986 - Cheese production in Canada reaching 250,000 tonnes

Source: Canadian trends for selected spe­cialty cheeses Published by Agri-

Fish processing establishments in Canada range in size from small lobster and shellfish dealers to the largest and most diversified fish plants in the world, such as that operated by National Sea Products at Lunenberg.

Atlantic Canada

While a few fish processing plants in Atlantic Canada specialize in particular species or types of processing, others handle a variety of products. For exam­ple, there are a large number of plants in the Atlantic region producing dried salt fish with a variety of cures. Other plants process fresh and frozen ground­fish fillets, frozen and cured herring products, or fresh and frozen scallops, as well as other products. Canned seafood products available from Nova Scotia include herring and mackerel in sauce, in addition to queen crab and lobster. Tuna had, until recently, been canned in Canada's only tuna packing plant in New Brunswick. Herring is also canned as "sardines" in New Brun­swick by Connor Bros. Limited.

A recent listing of the seafood products being marketed by fish processing firms in Nova Scotia iden­tified more than 140 such products. In

1985,95 firms were identified as being in the business ot'marketing seafood to foreign and domestic markets from a Nova Scotia base. It is known that many small processors market their products through larger firms: this explains how it is that there are approx­imately 250 processing establishments but only 95 firms that market seafood products from Nova Scotia. Similarly, some 118 firms are listed in the New­foundland Seafood Processors Direc­tory, but the number of operating plants is approximately 220.

Unless they are involved in the production of specialty canned, cured or smoked seafood products, Nova Scotia seafood processors most often seek to market fresh products in the relatively close U.S. market. Only the excess which cannot be sold fresh at a high price at the particular time of the year is frozen and inventoried.

In Nova Scotia port markets, the competition for supplies of raw material is intense: there are often too many plants for the quantity of fish landed. The larger processors own their own trawlers with which they fish off­shore; this enables them to stabilize seasonal variations. The technology used to process fish is generally not

culture Canada. ~

1976 152,000

1985 250,000

Canadian Cheese Production (metric tonnes)

Fish .Processing Overview

The function of fish processors is to convert the raw materials they obtain into fish products in demand in the mar­ketplace. That is, the fish processor acts as intermediary between the fish­ing enterprises which land the fish and the buyers of fish and fish products. Because there are usually many fishing enterprises in any sub-region served by a processor, each producing small har­vests of different species, the first role of the processor is to assemble these products into larger volumes for effi­cient marketing.

Can. [nst. Food Sci. Techno/. J. Vol. 20, No. I, 1987

\.

Recherchons acquisition La division des services de conseils aux entreprises du cabinet Poissant Richard-Thorne Ernst & Whinney, se specialise dans les fusions, les acquisitions, les demantelements et la recherche de capitaux. Nous sommes actuellement mandataires d'une societe chef de file dans la fabrication et la vente d'ingredients et de specialites alimentaires. Notre client cherche a acquerir une societe dans la meme industrie. L'entreprise recherchee possecte les caracteristiques suivantes: • elle fabrique ou distribue des produits alimentaires; • son chiffre d'affaires atteint au moins 15 millions de dollars; • elle est situee au Canada, de preference au Quebec ou en Ontario; • ses employes ne sont pas syndiques; • elle a une clientele variee, situee principalement au Canada. Les reponses seront traitees confidentiellement. Priere de s'adresser a M. Ted Maksimowski ou M. John Zaytsoff a Toronto, bureau 2300, Commerce Court West, M5L IC6, telephone (416) 864-9520.

Poissant Richard Thorne Ernst & Whinney Comptables agrees

Membre de Ell Ernst & Whinney International

Institute Affairs / xiii

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

We are a National Food Manufacturer supplying products to the Foodservice Industry. We require a take charge R&D Manager for our St. Marys facility. Because of our rapid growth and the ever changing needs of our customers, this position offers the responsi­bility and rewards for someone who needs to be challenged. The qualified applicant will possess a B.Sc. in Food-Science or equivalent and preferably several years experience in our product line. We offer a competitive salary and benefit program in addition to an opportunity for career advancement. Qualified persons should submit their resumes, including salary expectations to:

Wendy Robertson, Personnel Manager Richardson Foods Limited P.O. Box 1118 St. Marys, Ontario NOM 2VO

state-of-the-art: filleting machines have not yet come into widespread use, although many were apparently bought at one point. This is because such machines can only process one or two species of fish (e.g., cod and pollock), and then only if they are of a certain size and their flesh is firm. Humans, on the other hand, can easily fillet differ­ent species and grades of fish using simple tools.

There is little impetus at the moment to utilize more fish processing machinery in Nova Scotia. Labour is usually abundant, relatively cheap, and also skilled enough to meet the require­ments of the plant operators, since the same people usually work in the plants year after year if the employment is most often seasonal.

Limited data is available on the degree of mechanization of fish plants.

In 1983, filleting machines were in use in the Scotia-Fundy Region to process groundfish in 17 plants. On the other hand, there were 52 groundfish processing plants doing filleting by hand only. Thus, less than 25 per cent of the plants in Scotia-Fundy made use of filleting machines.

Filleting machines are used more often to process pelagic species, since 22 of 30 plants processing such fish in the Scotia-Fundy region in 1983 used them.

When we look at splitting machines, we see that 70 per cent of the Nova Scotia plants processing groundfish split the fish by hand, while 30 per cent use machines. For pelagics, the propor­tion is closer to 50 per cent.

National Sea Products based in Nova Scotia, and Fisheries Products Interna­tional, based in Newfoundland, are the

CIFST CONFERENCES I CONFERENCES L'ICSTA

1987 HAMILTON, ONTARIO May 17 - May 20 Hamilton Convention Centre

1988 WINNIPEG, MANITOBA May 29 - June 1

1989 QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC June 4 - June 7

1990 SASKATOON,SASKATCHEWAN June 2 - June 6

1991 MONTREAL, QUEBEC To be announced

1992 OTTAWA, ONTARIO To be announced

xiv / Affaires de l'Institut

leading processors of fish in Atlantic Canada. They have strong quality and productivity pre-occupations. As they account for perhaps half of fish processing and 70 per cent of fish mar­keting activity in the area, these firms can have a significant impact on the fishery as they seek to improve produc­tivity and the quality of the product range through innovation. A few of the smaller processors should follow suit in the longer-term.

In Newfoundland, saltfish represents approximately 7 per cent of fish exports. In 1985, there were 30 salt­fish plants in Newfoundland and Labrador; drying of this fish is carried out at a couple of central facilities.

Saltfish production has been declin­ing in importance over the last 20-30 years. The bulk of the plants are now primary processing and freezing facili­ties, which focus on groundfish, although there are a few plants that specialize in the processing of pelagic species such as herring, or shellfish species such as crab. Finally, there are a number of squid processing plants in Newfoundland.

The bulk of Newfoundland's ground­fish and pelagic fish products take the form of frozen fillet packs and frozen blocks. A small quantity of Newfound­land fish is sold frozen in the round or merely dressed.

Altogether there are 221 fish processing plants in Newfoundland: 93 of these both process and freeze fish; 40 only dress and fillet the fish which is then sent to the freezing plants; 1 7 specialize in the processing of squid for the Japanese market; 30 produce salt­fish; another 33 process species such as crab.

The fish processing technology used in Newfoundland tends to be less sophisticated. Many of the older, obso­lete plants consist of warehouse-type buildings in which, at the time of the peak inshore trap season, processing goes on around the clock in very cramped conditions, filleting fish on small tables. During this period of glut, when 100,000 tonnes of cod are processed in a period of 10 weeks or less, the freezer plants can not keep up with the inflow of fillets. A few mobile plants exist which are rented out for the period.

At the end of the short inshore trap fishery season, most of the groundfish processing plants and the processing personnel become idle. Thus, the facil­ities are used intensely for only 20 per cent of the year. The rest of the time only a few plants, particularly those which serve the offshore fleet, are kept busy.

1. Ins!. Can. Sci. Technol. Aliment. Vol. 20, No.1, 1987

Reliance on inshore trap fishing to h rvest a large part of Newfoundland

ad stocks makes the adoption of more ro . h I advanced fish ~roces~l.ng. tec no ogy impossible. For, If a faCility IS to be used for only 10 weeks of the year, capital investment must be kept to the very minimum. This can best be done by continuing present practices, where workers are quite happy to work intensely for 10 weeks processing cod in order to be able to receive Unemploy­ment Insurance for the rest of the year. In this way fish processing plant owners minimize the use of capital equipment.

Newfoundland seafood products are marketed throughout the world, but a full 50 per cent of Newfoundland fish­ery products (76 per cent of ground­fish) is marketed in the U.S.A.

The marketing effort has been largely ad hoc, except for the sales of saltfish which are handled by the Canadian Saltfish Corporation, and the market­ing activities of Fisheries Product Inter­national. Recently, some of the smaller processors have been coming together to form marketing consortia in order to be able to better deal with the dealers and brokers in the U.S.A. to whom they have traditionally sold their fish. About 70 per cent of the total New­foundland harvest is marketed by Fish­eries Product International, the large vertically-integrated company operat­ing out of Newfoundland.

If Atlantic Canada's fish processing industry were now to attempt to catch up with Iceland or Denmark in its fish processing techniques, it would have a great distance to go. However, as long as unemployment levels are as high as they are in Newfoundland and the Maritime provinces, and the government is ready to provide what is effectively a guaranteed income for processing fish for a few weeks, we can not realistically expect much change.

Pacific Coast

In 1980, the wholesale value of West Coast processed products exceeded $400 million. Some $290 million of this (more than 70 per cent of the total) was accounted for by salmon products. Processing roughly doubles the landed value of fish catches.

In recent years, the number of processing enterprises serving the fresh fish market has increased con­siderably; in particular, the volume of salmon processed into fresh or frozen products has increased, while the volume canned has declined some-

Can. Inst. Food Sci. Technol. J. Vol. 20, No.1, 1987

what. The number of roe-herring processors has undergone a dramatic rise and fall, from 21 in 1975, to 42 in 1979, then back to 17 in 1980. These fluctuations in numbers of salmon and roe-herring processors and buyers were triggered mainly by speculative mar­kets in Japan, due to the 200-mile fish­eries zone extensions in 1977. The majority of those that entered and exited were small firms, and they had little effect on the general pattern of control in the processing industry.

The numbers of licences for all categories of processing companies except canneries have increased dur­ing the last few years. Fish buyers have increased particularly rapidly reflecting an influx during the late 1970s of so­called cash buyers (often associated with foreign interests). who purchase and pay for fish on the fishing grounds ("over the side sales"). They are not usually involved in canning and there­fore compete only for the best-quality fish for freezing. However, most fish are purchased by long-established processing companies or their agents. Between 1973 and 1977 these proces­sors, who are involved in canning as well as fresh and frozen sales, accounted for 95 percent of the pur­chases of raw salmon.

Processors range from small special­ized firms to the four large integrated operations that produce most fish products. A significant portion of the catch never enters the market until sold as a processed product: in the salmon and herring fisheries, the landings recorded by vessels of processing com-

panies, by members of fishermen's cooperatives and by others who have made advance commitments to buyers, are not subject to arms-length transactions.

The processing of roe-herring is car­ried out principally by the four large companies that can the salmon. The processing of herring roe is not a difficult process but, because it is a new industry in Canada and the Japanese demand a high quality product, it must be done carefully. With greater experience, it has been possible to develop new "tricks of the trade" which result in a higher grade product and better yield. For example, it was learned that roe would be firmed up better by freezing the herring for a few days, than by brining, which was the traditional Japanese technique. Other similar discoveries have been made, some through serendipity, others through systematic govern­ment-sponsored research.

The Pacific coast fisheries do not have any serious processing problems warranting concerted R&D. The tech­nology currently used is generally con­sidered to be satisfactory; nevertheless some piece-meal attempts at incremen­tal improvements are taking place in the salmon canneries. Some attention is also being given to the depuration of shellfish that might be contaminated by pollutants.

Excerpted from: Industry in Transition -The Development and Application of Tech­nology in the Fisheries Industry. Prepared for the Ministry of State for Science and Tech­nology.

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Professional Technical Organization Offering Development of Products, Processes and Systems for the Food Industry

• Prototype Development • Competitive Product Analysis

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Institute Affairs / xv