Marine Harvest Canada Wharfside newsletter July 2012
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Transcript of Marine Harvest Canada Wharfside newsletter July 2012
MarineHarvestCanada.com
Wharfside In This IssueKofi Annan Recognizes Potential for Aquaculture in Sustainable Food Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Robot Buddies Lighten the Box Stacking Load at Processing Plant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
First Ever Island Vacation Leads to “dream job” for Ontario Native. . . . . . . . . . 3
Congratulations on being Brainsafe Trained! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Positive Aquaculture Awareness 16th Annual BC Aquaculture Slo-Pitch Tournament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Thank you . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Plankton Season in Quatsino Sound . . . . . . . 4
Get Yer Passes! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
New Quatsino Marina Open For Biz . . . . . . . 5
Thank you . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Missing Friends, Not the Rain . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Salmon Barbeques - Thank you for your support! . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Celebrating our Successes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
July 2012
CANADA
Please email comments, articles and ideas to Ian Roberts, Communications Manager
Comments about this Newsletter?
Aquaculture has a strong potential to contribute
to reducing hunger in the world said Kofi
Annan, twice Secretary General of the United
Nations, when addressing AquaVision 2012
delegates in Norway last month. He asked the
major aquaculture companies represented at
the conference to look beyond their bottom
line and share knowledge and partner with the
small fish farmers in
developing countries. If
the industry leaders do
that it will accelerate the
reduction in hunger and
lead to sustainable food
production. He added
that aquaculture also
needs the facilitation of
governments and support of society because we
are struggling today to feed seven billion people.
In 2050 it will be nine billion.
The farming of fish is about more than
producing food, it is good protein that provides
excellent nutrition and generates a means
of earning an income, leading to economic
development. In particular, women are often
involved in small scale enterprises and when
that happens their children benefit from better
nutrition. We often talk about food security
but forget the word nutrition. Hunger and
poor nutrition damage health and inhibit
development and growth, which leads to
continuing failure.
Kofi Annan congratulated the industry for
its focus on improving sustainability, with
initiatives such as the Aquaculture Stewardship
Council, then asked for more attention to
the potential long term impacts of climate
change to increase productivity in conditions
to come, in the developing countries as well as
the developed world.
Reviewing the industry’s
current approach to
improving productivity
and sustainability
he commented; “I do
not ask you to change
direction, but I ask you
to accelerate progress.
We need to work together if we are to overcome
world hunger.”
(file from AquaVision 2012 Management Brief – Issue 3)
Kofi Annan Recognizes Potential for Aquaculture in Sustainable Food Production
Kofi Annan Secretary General of the United Nations
Did you Know?Butterflies taste with their feet.
Trivia time!Which was the tenth province
to join Confederation?
Answer on Page 4
“I do not ask you to change direction,
but I ask you to accelerate progress.”
MarineHarvestCanada.com
“Sir Stack a Lot,” the state of the art box
stacking robot at the Port Hardy Processing
(PHPP) on northern Vancouver Island, will
have a friend to share the work with by the
end of summer 2012.
In September 2010 PHPP installed an
automated robot to organize, handle and
stack the boxes of market ready salmon and
ice onto pallets in preparation for shipment.
The first robot was so successful in reducing
the amount of back and shoulder injuries
commonly associated with box stacking, that
a second, identical one was announced in
the spring by Dave Pashley, PHPP Processing
Director and Plant Manager.
This second robot, who name has yet to be
chosen, gives PHPP the capacity to reduce
manually stacking of boxes by approximately
85%, a huge step forward for the company’s
health and safety program. The expectation
is for further reduction and the potential
elimination of all injuries related to box
stacking, one of the most physically
demanding jobs in the plant.
“These robots are common in Norway but
not in Canada,” said Blaine Tremblay, PHPP
Health and Safety Manager. “Sir Stack a Lot”
was a first not only for our company but for
Canada’s aquaculture industry. MHC remains
the only company operating this hi-tech
piece of equipment, added Blaine.
Employees at PHPP manually lift boxes filled
with salmon and ice that routinely weigh
upwards of 75 lbs and stack them as low as
4 inches off the ground and more than 6 feet
high. Between 5,000 and 6,000 boxes are
moved daily. “Sir Stack a Lot” has reduced our
manual handling for this job by 45% on any
given day and also sharply reduced injuries.”
The process starts with the programming
of the robot for each of the eight pallet
locations it can reach. As each box enters the
robot zone, it is scanned via bar code reader
and communicates to the robot what size
range of fish the box contains. Based on this
information, the robot knows which pallet to
place the box on.
As the robot stacks the boxes it keeps
track of each one and how it’s placed in
preparation for the next box. It’s essential
to keep the boxes stable and as a result, “Sir
Stack a Lot” follows a chimney block stacking
pattern and knows where exactly each box
must be placed to maintain this specific
stacking pattern.
The robot gripper picks up each styrofoam
box off a conveyor with the correct amount
of grip strength to lift, rotate and stack while
ensuring that it doesn’t break the styrofoam
boxes and still placing it within millimeters
of the other boxes. Once the pallet is full, the
robot lifts up an empty pallet and holds it
above the completed stack while it waits for
a trained operator to remove the stack and
restart the process.
The staff maintenance electrician at PHPP is
fully trained in updating the robot’s software
and hardware components. However, should
the need arise, today’s technology allows for
access from Iceland via the Internet for any
necessary trouble shooting. Maintenance on
Sir Stack a Lot and his soon to arrive friend is
limited to replacing cylinders in the grippers.
2
By Gina Forsyth
Robot Buddies Lighten the Box Stacking Load at Processing Plant
MarineHarvestCanada.com 3
First Ever Island Vacation Leads to “dream job” for Ontario Native
Congratulations on being Brainsafe Trained!
By Gina Forsyth
The Quatsino region on northwest Vancouver Island is fortunate to have Nicky Barchuk’s positive energy
and keen interest in the industry. As a Farm Technician 2 at Monday Rocks, she feeds fish and samples for plankton, along with the position’s many other responsibilities.
Nicky grew up outside Guelph, Ontario. After high school, she earned her certificate
in drilling and blasting from Sir Sandford Fleming College in Lindsay in 2006.
When it was holiday time, Nicky headed to Vancouver Island and Campbell River, both for the first time. “I loved it here and quickly decided to move last spring”. Through word of mouth, Nicky heard about the salmon aquaculture industry and immediately applied, excited about employment with such a strong focus on outdoor work. “I was ecstatic to be hired,” Nicky added, “It’s my dream job.”
Adding to the sheer pleasure of Nicky’s farm work was her involvement in the Vancouver
Aquarium’s BC Cetacean Sightings Network. All Marine Harvest sites and vessels have been part of it since last year. In recognition of her dedication, Nicky was named one of the Top 25 Whale Observers in BC for 2011. “I travel to every farm in the Quatsino region and collect the whale sighting data from their log books. We record the date, time, behavior and location of each whale and the weather.” She also takes pictures and encourages everyone in her region to as well.
Even on days off, Nicky’s never far from the water. She loves to beach-comb and “to say I fish a lot would be an understatement”.
Positive Aquaculture Awareness
16th Annual BC Aquaculture Slo-Pitch Tournament
Date: Saturday, July 7th, 2012 & Sunday, July 8th, 2012
Location: Willow Point Park, Campbell River
Come out and cheer on your Marine Harvest teams!
Submitted by
Dean Dobrinsky,
HR Director
In the fall of 2011, we sent four of our coworkers; Kristian Fletcher
(Fletch), Glen Molland, Joy Stowe and Blaine Tremblay to be trained as BRAINSAFE Master Facilitators. After 9 months, 34 training sessions from Klemtu to Port Hardy to Campbell River, 490+ employees and 56 contractors are now Brainsafe trained.
Many thanks go out to these four Master Facilitators who showed their commitment and caring to our safety by providing a level of training that has been second to none.
EXCEPTIONAL JOB WELL DONE! Thanks also to Kristi Super who provided great support by organizing the facilities and logistics.
This is just the beginning of this project; as CEO Alf-Helge Aarskog stated recently, “At Marine Harvest we have now reached an important and critical phase of our safety journey. The new competence and knowledge needs to be embedded in structures and activities, and to be built in properly in all our thinking.”
Our next steps for Brainsafe will be to introduce ways to “embed” Brainsafe into our culture. One key step will be to take the feedback from all sessions to create a Red Zone list that all worksites will review and provide corrective actions.
Nicky Barchuk
10th ANNUAL AQUACULTURE GOLF TOURNAMENT
GLACIER GREENS GOLF COURSE SEPTEMBER 11Th, 2010
1:00PM SHOT GUN START 6:30 PM DINNER
TEXAS SCRAMBLE FORMAT COST: $100.00/PERSON
TO BOOK YOUR TEAM OF FOUR CONTACTDAVE ASHCROFT AT: [email protected]
Golf Carts are to be reserved by each team by calling Glacier Greens Pro Shop @ (250) 339-6515 and are at a first come, first served basis
SUPPORT POSITIVE AQUACULTURE AWARENESS
MarineHarvestCanada.com4 Answer: Newfoundland
A reminder to all staff that MHC is a proud sponsor of Saratoga Speedway. We have 6 season passes are available for each event (excluding Monster Trucks).
For full schedule visit www.saratogaspeedway.bc.ca.
Contact Stephaney at [email protected]
to reserve season passes, or visit her at the Campbell River office front desk.
Plankton Season in Quatsino Sound
Get Yer Passes!
To Marine Harvest;
Kitasoo Community School would like to thank you for your participation in Ocean’s Day 2012! The students were very happy to see people come to help the clean-up, the example your participation has set for the students and the community, and to learn from the displays at the barge. The staff could not have done it without your generous support and participation.
We look forward to seeing you at future community and school events in Klemtu.
Sincerely,
Staff and students at Kitasoo Community School
Just like spring flowers blooming at Butchart Gardens, so do the plankton at Quatsino Sound! Summer plankton blooms are common in the Pacific Ocean and are caused by the seasons warming ocean waters and hot sun. Salmon farmers prepare their farms each spring to mitigate any harm that plankton may have on their fish. New polyester vinyl plankton tarps arrived to
Quatsino in May and were quickly deployed. Combined with bubbling plankton-free water from depth, each net pen can be protected from harmful plankton.
MarineHarvestCanada.com
Hello MHC. It’s been almost five months now since leaving the Island and I thought I would send back a photo of what I’ve been up to. Many people asked why I was leaving and I always found it difficult to explain as I had a
great job, for great company, in a great town. This picture with the kids is my answer. I’m enjoying my new work and Summerlanders are being very friendly to us. April and Alice are excited to move into our new home. I want to thank everyone who supported me for 10 years on the Island especially the crew at Sayward North and the Freshwater Team. Keep em’ Belly Down! (And don’t forget to buy your Freshwater Fishing Licenses!)
Craig Schelter can be reached at [email protected]
The Quatsino First Nation celebrated the grand opening of a new marina at Quatsino Harbour on Saturday June 23rd. Marine Harvest staff, including Dave Guhl, Nicky Barchuk and Eric Rogers were invited to celebrate the event.
Chief Tom Nelson opened the ceremonies under clear skies and Marine Harvest treated over 150 people to a tasty salmon barbeque.
The new marina is a welcome addition to boaters in Quatsino and will serve
the sportfishers, commercial fishers and fish farmers with supplies and fuel in Quatsino Sound.
5
New Quatsino Marina Open For Biz
Missing Friends, Not the Rain
Chef Ben (on left, joined by Quatsino Economic Development Director Dale Blackburn and Dave Guhl) did an excellent job barbequing Marine Harvest Sterling salmon for the Quatsino crowd.
Thank You!“Dear Marine Harvest, thank you so much for the contributions you made to the grand opening. The fish was absolutely delicious and enjoyed by all. The barbeque came in handy and we appreciate you lending it to us.
Most of all – thank you for Dave, Nicky and Eric – they are awesome people and contributed so much to the success of the event. They did everything from canopy setup, balloon decorations, cooking the fish and cleanup. Believe me, the cleanup was a HUGE job and they hung in there to the very end. We enjoyed their company as well – very, very nice people!!”
Irene Paterson, General Manager Quatsino First Nation Economic Development Corporation
MarineHarvestCanada.com6
bit.ly/MHCanadatwitter.com/MHCanada facebook.com/MHCanada
Chef Joe Johnson and volunteers Anna, Emily and Ben serve up a delicious salmon burger to a happy customer at the Canadian Cancer Society’s ‘Relay for Life’ fundraiser in
Courtenay held in June.
Jacob Koomen (at back) and the Dobrinsky family (Sarah, Chloe and Dean) were just a few of the MHC staff who came out to support the Campbell River Head
Injury Society’s salmon barbeque fundraiser last month.
Please stop by, enjoy a salmon burger and help support the following charities and societies at the following events in 2012:
March 17 Vanier Park, Courtenay Y.A.N.A / St Joseph’s Hospital Foundation
April 14 Spirit Square, Campbell River John Howard Society
May 26 Port Hardy Cancer Society - Relay for Life
May 30 Spirit Square, Campbell River Head Injury Society
June 23 Vanier Park, Courtenay Cancer Society - Relay for Life
June 30 Dick Murphy Park, Campbell River Dragon Boat Society
July 1 Robert Ostler Park, Campbell River BC Firefighters Burn Fund
July 14 Centennial Pool, Campbell River Salmon Kings Swim Society
July 28 Coastline Mazda, Campbell River Hospice Society
August 18 OrcaFest, Port McNeill Harvest Food Bank
September 9 Nunn’s Creek Park, Campbell River SPCA - Paws for a Cause
Done!Done!Done!Done!Done!Done!
Salmon Barbeques - Thank you for your support!
Celebrating our Successes
Andre Marthinsen manned the BBQ with a view (aka “bar-be-view”)
Marine Harvest’s Campbell River staff gathered at Young Pass site in June to celebrate their successful results, share information and enjoy a yummy barbeque. To accommodate both crew shifts, staff met over two days.