Nova Scotia has a long tradition of being among the world leaders in fish processing. The industry remains as one of the mainstays of the coastal economy in the province. Some historical highlights include

• early strength in the salt fish business in the 18th and 19th Centuries which continues today,
• first in shipping fresh filleted products directly to market,
• early leaders in portion control products for the institutional and restaurant market,
• the world’s largest fish plant in the mid-1960s and
• a trendsetter in re-freshing frozen headed and gutted imported fish for further processing.

The Nova Scotian fish processing sector runs the full gamut of types and sizes of fish plants. The range is from very small plants owned by individual fishermen who process their own fish often as wet salt fish or whole round to large integrated seafood companies with numerous locations. With the variety of species of seafood also being large, a wide variety of seafood products are handled across the province. There are presently 268 fish processors licenced by the Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. For a list of licenced processors see the NS Fish Plants Listing (MS-Excel).

The types of fish processing operations presently active in Nova Scotia are described in the information that follows. A significant number of plants are involved in more than one operation and some have many operations at the same plant. Some plants run continuously throughout the year with seasonal variations in volumes and species, some move machinery or processing tables in and out of the plant according to the species of fish available and some are strictly seasonal operations that work only when their species is available. Descriptions of specific types of processing operations are:

• salt fish plants – These plants take whole fish or headed and gutted (H+G) fish, head and gut the whole fish, split the fish so it can lie flat and salt the fish in brine. Some also dry the fish when fully slated to sell in consumer packages or for export. There are one or two dedicated drying and marketing operations that purchase wet salt from local and foreign suppliers for sale to specialized markets.
• fresh/frozen fish plants – These are common fish plants that dot the shore around the province using local supplies of groundfish or importing foreign raw material. They take whole fish or H+G fish, head and gut the whole fish, fillet the fish, package the fish in different sizes, freeze it or sell it fresh. Some are purely hand operations employing cutters using knives to perform all steps in the process, some use machines for part of all of the operation including heading and gutting, filleting and even packaging.
• value added operations – Some of the fresh/frozen plants process their fillets or other pieces further toward consumer packaging by breading, adding sauces or marinades, portion controlling fillets, putting up individually quick frozen packages for restaurant use or minced fish products such as fingers or sticks, and more.
• surimi plants – a few plants process silver hake for specific markets. One product is surimi which is produced by dressing and then grinding or extruding the flesh for re-making into other imitation products such as crab legs.

• Storage/holding facilities - most lobsters are stored for days, weeks or months in tanks before being sold, some are stored in specialized “condominium” style drip facilities to ensure shell hardness. Lobsters are shipped directly to markets around the world from these facilities.
• Processing plants – some, especially smaller lobsters are cooked and frozen whole in water, or the cooked meat is removed canned or packaged and frozen, specialty products are also prepared including frozen uncooked claws and/or tails.

• Shrimp and crab are often processed in groundfish plants that have been re-designed to cook and peel shrimp or freeze whole shrimp for further processing elsewhere. Specialized shrimp plants also exist.
• Scallops arrive from the boats in large bags of meats only, they are cleaned, sorted by size, packaged and sold fresh or frozen.
• Clams from tidal zones often require cleansing before being sold so the plants are specialized for this purpose. Offshore clams harvests are processed on board large vessels.

• Filleting/whole round operations - These plants are most often very mechanized to handle large volumes in short time frames. Fish are sorted and filleted, plant workers mostly feed machines, ensure proper package weights and load/unload plate freezers.
• Herring roe plants – During the late summer and early fall all herring plants turn to popping roe from female herring for the Japanese market. Many other plants including groundfish operations also focus on this process at this time.
• Finished products – most plants also produce herring and mackerel finished products such as Solomon Gundy, other marinade products, or smoked fillets.
• Meal/oil plants – some herring and mackerel processors also operate meal and oil plants in which waste portions of herring and mackerel.

• many plants buy or broker fresh tuna and swordfish in the summer months for cleaning and packing as whole fresh fish. Swordfish is mostly sold into the US and tuna in Japan.
• shark is often treated the same of swordfish or sometimes processed in steaks before being sold. Some boats freeze a H+G shark for sale to markets in Europe in that form.

• marine plants processors – a few factories are licences to harvest , dry and process marine plants such as seaweed to produce food ingredients, fertilizers and other specialized products.
• oil/extract operations – one or two very specialized plants focus on removing valuable oils and/or extracts from various fish and other marine products for the health or food ingredient market. http://www.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca/hrib/hrp-prh/ssd-des/english/industryprofiles/biofish/index.shtml
• retail operations – a few plants have direct to consumer retail operations to sell their product as well as offer many other products typically found in seafood stores.

The most typical jobs in fish plants are described under the FishJobs.ca career information link. The main part of these jobs involves the cutting or handling live or fresh fish or boxes/packages containing fish. The conditions are most always wet and cool which are the conditions fish require in order to ensure a quality final product. Clothing requirements include rubber boots, warm undergarments, smocks or aprons, gloves and hair nets. All processing is regulated according to a government approved Quality Management Program so strict guidelines are set on the condition, cleanliness and sanitary practices in the plant.

As an example of what work occurs in fish plants, a typical fresh/frozen fish operation would involve the following processes:

Fish are kept chilled using ice and cold water, mostly in large 1,000 pound or so gray vats. These vats are how fish are often transported to the plant from the boats. The vats are iced very well in order to keep the fish fresh during transportation and at the plant until each vat is processed. The vat is loaded into a hopper of some type from which the fish is fed via a sluice or conveyor system to the processing area. Depending upon the level of dressing and cleaning the fish has undergone on the boat or at other plants prior to coming to the processing plant, the fish is either ready to be filleted or is headed, gutted and cleaned before it is filleted. Fish ready to be filleted are often stored in smaller tubs weighing 25 to 100 pounds after being sorted. Processing takes place on tables that stretch out along the conveyors. Some tables are lit from below. After filleting the processed fish continues down a conveyor in tubs or loose to the packing area where it is separated by size and placed in the appropriate package. The package is then frozen or placed in a tight plastic bin for direct shipping to market fresh.

Workers handle the fish at every stage as cutters or filleters. Others are tasked with moving the fish from station to station in small bins or large vats using forklifts in plants that don’t have conveyors or sluices. A number of tasks common to all manufacturing/processing operations also occur in fish plants, such as transportation using forklifts and trucks, machinery and plant maintenance, office and administration functions. These tasks vary little from other types of processing operations except that transportation and maintenance functions remain in the chilly wet conditions typical of fish plants.

Trends in the type and location of fish plants generally follows the availability of fish to process. In other words, there are more plants dedicated to handling shellfish in areas where shellfish are primarily landed than there used to be. Plus, there are fewer plants handling groundfish and many of those that remain are processing fewer fish. Some of these groundfish plants have opted to import frozen whole round fish or headed and gutted fish from Norway, Russia, Alaska, China or elsewhere in order to retain sufficient raw material to process and to keep their markets. Nevertheless, there are fewer job opportunities now than in previous decades due to a continued low level of groundfish available for local processing but the decline has been stopped. Many fish plants now face a shortage of experienced workers because of the attrition of people from the industry over the past while. In certain areas there remains a severe shortage of experienced fish plant workers during the active processing season.

Statistical Information on Fish Plant Workers

A branch of Human Resources Development Canada produces information based on census and other data to characterize fish plants and their employees. This information is prepared for all of Canada, not Nova Scotia alone, but gives a good overview of the general situation on fish plants and their workers. It shows

• fish plants size by number of employees,
• average income and hours worked in fish plants
• part-time vs. full-time job ratios
• turnover in fish plants
• gender and age distribution of fish plant workers,
• education and previous experience of fish plant workers, and
• describes other key human resource issues in the fish processing sector.