Seafood processors weather virus.
Precautions pay off as plants stay open, workers stay healthy
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Martin Sullivan knew in January that Ocean Choice International would need to make significant changes to how it processed fish and protected its people in 2020.
Sullivan is chief executive officer and co-chairman of OCI, which employs more than 1,700 people at five fish plants in Newfoundland and Labrador, a scallop processor in Nova Scotia and on four offshore vessels.
The company’s strong ties to China gave it an early warning of what was to come.
“We export more species to China than any other country for domestic consumption,” Sullivan told Saltwire in a recent interview.
The company began hearing from its sales representatives on the ground about COVID-19 soon after the virus appeared there.
“We have five people in four different cities over there. And they were telling us they were on complete shutdown, extreme lockdown, not able to go out of their apartments (and) roads blockaded in some cities.”
Sullivan said the OCI management team realized then they had to be ready if the virus spread to Canada.
The company’s processing plant in Fortune, on the Burin Peninsula of Newfoundland, was already in the middle of its usual operating season. It handles yellowtail flounder, redfish and grey sole from September to March.
“We had to react immediately,” said Sullivan.
“We started doing preparations . . . building our protocols on how we should handle things in our plants, on our vessels and in our offices.”
By April, new operating procedures were in place to open the OCI plants in Triton, Bonavista, St. Lawrence and Port aux Choix. They run from April to November, starting with snow crab in the spring.
NEW NORMAL
At fish processing plants around Atlantic Canada, the so-called new normal means employees are screened each day before they start their shift.
Allan Maclean, manager for Louisbourg Seafood, said the beginning of the day is a 45- to 60-minute process to check temperatures and run through a health checklist with each employee.
OCI and Louisbourg Seafoods have installed Plexiglas barriers on the processing line. Other processing plants in the region have done the same.
Processors have also adopted staggered breaks to limit the number of workers in lunchrooms.
At OCI, narrow hallways have been arrowed one way, with extra markers two metres apart to ensure people keep their distance.
“There’s also a lot of daily cleaning and sanitization,” said Sullivan.
“And we bought fogging equipment as well that can basically fog and sanitize the whole room.”
Maclean said Louisbourg Seafoods has hired people to help with cleaning and daily health checks.
Management applauded employees for co-operating on the new measures and adjusting well.
“We were really worried that a lot of people would not come back to work,” Maclean said.
“But when they understood the policies that we put in place and the (physical) changes that we made to make the workplace safer for them regarding COVID-19, we have very, very few people who did not come back to work because of COVID-19.”
At OCI, Sullivan said some were a little fearful about returning to a busy workplace during a pandemic.
“Once they realized all the measures that were put in place, they felt safe,” he told Saltwire.
The fact that the province of Newfoundland and Labrador has seen just 260 cases of COVID-19 since early March — Friday, May 22 marked two straight weeks without a new case reported — also helped.
COVID CHALLENGES
One hurdle, Maclean said, was sourcing the personal protective equipment needed for Louisbourg’s 400 to 500 workers.
“That was the biggest challenge we had because we were also competing with the health-care sector for the same equipment,” said Maclean.
“We really struggled to find personal protective equipment.”
It took a co-operative effort among processors in Nova Scotia to ensure every company had a supply to start the season.
Maclean noted they are only now receiving equipment from orders placed in early March, but Louisbourg Seafoods was fortunate to get enough equipment to start.
“And if we ran short, someone else would supply us for a week or so until we got another (shipment), and vice versa.”
Personal protective equipment was also high on OCI’S list of to-do's as it prepared for processing in a pandemic, said Sullivan.
Strong business connections to China, where most PPE was manufactured, gave them a bit of an edge.
The early heads up from sales reps there in January allowed the company to get in early orders for face masks and protective glasses.
“We were very aggressive on the procurement side to ensure we had adequate supplies because we have a lot of people to look after,” said Sullivan.
COVID COSTS
Protecting hundreds of people on an assembly line during a global pandemic has meant extra costs, in time as well as money.
Maclean said that leading up to the opening of the processing season, he and other managers spent entire days on the phone trying to track protective equipment. There were also many hours in conference calls with provincial health and occupational safety officials, formulating plans and protocols and developing best practices.
“I know my colleagues and the other senior managers spent weeks developing policies to make sure our staff are safe.”
Sullivan and Maclean said their respective provincial governments and the offices of the chief medical officers were helpful and supportive as their companies worked on a plan to ensure the health and safety of employees.
“It was a real eye-opener . . . the co-operation that can happen when you work together,” said Sullivan. COVID-19 also means extra operating expenses.
Maclean said Louisbourg Seafoods spent well over $100,000 on personal protective equipment, including masks and respirators, and modifications on production lines at its four facilities.
Some of those costs continue.
Face masks and filters for respirators used by some employees have to be replaced regularly.
“We’re burning through about 1,000 masks a day,” Maclean said.
Sullivan is not sure exactly how much money OCI has spent because of COVID19, but he said it’s in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The company had to take precautions on its four offshore vessels, as well.
“I don’t know what the final numbers are yet regarding COVID cost but I wouldn’t be surprised if it went over $1 million,” he said.
“It’s a big number but we just have to deal with it.”
While the federal government announced $62 million in federal subsidies for processing plants to help them make changes, neither company has received any money.
Maclean said it will probably take time to sort things out.
“We know there will likely be a backlog,” he said.
“We’re OK with that. We’re confident it will come.”
Sullivan added that while some people are under the impression companies like OCI got millions to prepare for COVID-19, the reality is different.
“Sixty-two million sounds like a big number, but when you take the whole processing sector across the country, B.C., Nunavut, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces, and all the different companies, it’s not a lot of money per business owner when it comes right down to it.”
FUTURE NORMAL
There was no playbook, no standard list of instructions for food processing companies to follow to prepare to operate during a pandemic.
It’s been a “learn as you go” time for many, said Maclean.
“This has been a gamechanger, for sure.”
This new norm of operations in fish processing facilities may be the standard for years to come. Maclean is certain some of the measures in place for the 2020 season — like daily health and temperature checks — are here to stay.
“Even Plexiglas barriers that we put in place, there’s no real reason after this is all over to take them down.
“Maybe in the future, we can avoid all the sniffles and colds and flus that seem to spread by just maintaining the practices that we have put in place for COVID-19.” Sullivan agrees. “There’s no doubt a lot of this will continue,” he said, adding that OCI has already seen the unexpected benefit of a healthier workplace because of the new measures.
Sullivan said that with all the new measures in place, one fishing captain told them that this season there’s been hardly any illnesses on board.
“The skipper . . . told us that normally every winter you get the colds, coughs, sniffles and flu going through the boat but this year we haven’t had a sniffle.
“So I think there’s some positive that can come out of it.
“It does increase the cost of doing business, but sometimes you have to do that to have a healthier, safer working environment. I’m sure this will have long-lasting impacts.”