9420.pdf

Plant 1: Roe herring, salmon (both for the frozen market, and canning), and
groundfish processing;
Plant 2: Roe herring and salmon (fresh and frozen) processing;
Plant 3: Salmon (fresh and frozen) and groundfish processing.
Of the three plants, only Plant 1 operated each month in 1993, however, the amount of
processing varied tremendously in all three plants. The fact that groundfish was
processed (which generally can be processed year-round, depending on fisheries
openings) did not result in a more steady production than occurred with salmon canning
and roe herring processing plants.
7.2.4 Labour Costs
Labour costs are a substantial contributing factor to the overall production cost. At least
one process modification in fresh/frozen salmon processing which has been implemented
in a number of B.C. processing facilities to reduce Iabour costs has resulted in a
substantial decrease in water consumption and may also be used to improve the quality
of the generated wastewater. The process modification involves the installation of vacuum
lines for cleaning salmon following manual gutting, as described in Section 4.3.1. These
systems cost between $70,000 and $140,000, depending on the configuration selected.
According to observations made in a processing plant, the system increased the
throughput from 300 to 385 pounds of fish ,per worker to 520 to 630 pounds per worker.
In addition, the system used less water. Transporting the entrails and collected blood
directly to an offal hopper rather than discharging this waste stream into the wastewater
collection system would also improve the quality of the process water, as contaminants
would be prevented from mixing and solubilizing in water. In order to use these systems,
the fish being processed must be of relatively uniform size. Manual butchering and
cleaning may still be necessary for fish which do not meet this requirement.
7.2.5 Water Rates
Water usage can result in large costs to processing plants. Even plants which pay a
nominal fee for the water they consume are expected to benefit from a reduction in water
consumption, as this would be associated with a reduction in discharge permit fees.
Declining-block rate structures in place in a number of jurisdictions do not promote water
94