9420.pdf

8 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Fish processing is a major industry in British Columbia, employing more than 4,000
people, with an estimated wholesale value of processed seafood in 1993 of $750)000,000.
The environmental performance of the industry as a whole was reviewed and generally
found to be equivalent to or better to that reported in the literature with respect to water
consumption and amount of contaminants discharged. However, a comparison of the
industry with some advanced operations in northern Europe showed that there is still
considerable room for improvement in these areas. This is further confirmed by results
of audits conducted at selected B.C. plants in the past years.
The industry makes good use of the offal generated during processing, with an estimated
80- 85% of all offal being used for value-added products. Three processing plants
located in remote areas and discharging into well-flushed environments are permitted to
grind and discharge offal. Ocean dumping as a means of disposal of fish offal does not
take place in British Columbia.
A review of Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks discharge permits revealed that
most fish processing facilities licensed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
are connected to regional or municipal sewers (78%. However, some of the largest
plants in British Columbia discharge their effluent directly into the environment. These
plants also process the majority of all landed fish, accounting for an estimated 68% of the
contaminant discharge from all fish processing. The industry’s wastewater treatment
standard is screening, typically using 600 ~m screens, with finer screens employed by
some large facilities. Coarser screens are used by only a few, small facilities,
The contaminant contribution to local sewer systems and receiving waters can be high,
particularly during the peak processing months. On an annual basis, the contaminant
load discharged from processing plants, estimated to have a population equivalent of
50,000 people, is believed to be minor compared to the discharge of municipal sewage
in British Columbia.
The limited data available with respect to toxicity of fish processing plant effluent suggest
that effluents may fail toxicity tests because of elevated ammonia concentrations and/or
BOD. Of the treatment options discussed in this report, only biological treatment can
remove ammonia and lower the BOD sufficiently to allow fish processing wastewater to
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