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Article FROM THE WORKING WATERFRONT

Truckin’ with lobsters

by Sandra Dinsmore

The problem of moving live lobster from Atlantic to Western Canada or the Western United States so it arrives as fresh as it was when it came out of the water prompted Antigonish, Nova Scotia fisherman and self-taught engineer Joe Boudreau to buy into a holding system for live animals developed in the mid-nineties. "I got heavily involved around 2000," Boudreau recalled.

He redesigned and re-engineered the original prototype trailer to deliver living product and eventually became the major shareholder in the business. He calls his company BioNovations, Inc. Asked where he, a commercial fisherman, got his engineering experience, Boudreau replied, "I'm not an engineer, but I've been around. If you've been aboard a boat when you're a young fella, you have to be able to change the engine and do the hydraulics, do the electrical." Noting that a lot of fishermen learn their way around these systems, he said, "You have to be knacky around a boat if you're going to survive in the fishing industry".

Those who fish different species have to be able to build a lot of different gear for the different fisheries. He said he had been involved in a live holding system with his own co-op, had always been interested in holding systems, and had been involved in a heating business. BioNovations manufactures and sells its live holding equipment and is gearing up to manufacture and sell trailers to carry live shellfish and other fresh food so it arrives at its destination in the same condition as it left its point of departure.

The holding system uses computerized moisture, oxygen, and temperature controls to keep the lobster or other live animals or vegetables or fruit at the same quality as when packed. These systems work for live lobster, crab, mussels, clams, and oysters.

Boudreau has also developed a modular food-grade plastic stacking tray system to keep the lobster from being able to cannibalize each other, yet the trays are so light: 40 pounds when loaded, he stated, "One person can handle the trays or totes, they go on a plastic pallet and are fork-lifted in and out of the trailer. It takes only two people to unload the trailer."

This innovative method of shipping live product will allow supermarket and restaurant chains to receive consistent quality wherever delivered once or twice a week. The trailer will reduce transportations costs and is more environmentally friendly than the method now used.

One of Boudreau's most enthusiastic advocates and customers, Grapevine, Texas wholesale lobster dealer Darrell Brodrick, ships product directly to the end user from his operation, Lobster Harvest, Inc., in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Airport. He has been in the lobster business for 32 years and started using Boudreau's holding systems ten years ago.

He used the term "virgin plastic" to describe the food-grade quality of the plastic tubs Boudreau uses in his holding systems. Brodrick went on saying, "Another thing I like [about the tubs] is, they're insulated, so they pretty much keep the water temperature constant. Fiberglass has a tendency to create heat. So they're better than fiberglass plus they're virgin plastic so they don't leak toxins into the water like fiberglass does." He likened Boudreau's totes to an ice chest in that they keep the water consistently cold. "I went for the systems," he said; "I thought they were a smart move."

Brodrick started with a 7,000 to 10,000-pound system, built it up to a 30,000-pound one, and is just as or even more enthusiastic about having his product packed back east and shipped directly to him via one of Boudreau's specially designed trailers rather than shipping by air.

"We're dependent solely on the airlines," Brodrick explained, citing problems with flight availability and the movement of freight. "It seems like freight is the stepchild in the industry," he said. He had just unloaded a 2,000-pound air shipment of lobster. It took him two hours. Boudreau's trailer carries 30,000 pounds and takes two people four hours to unload. "I could receive ten to eleven times more product in about the same amount of time," Brodrick said, "because it would come already packed and pre-graded in the totes." He added, "The neat thing about the truck is it would be solely your product, your truck. It would be you and the boats; there would be no one else but the two drivers."

Brodrick thinks so and believes in the system fervently. He has had Boudreau give a presentation on his products to a major buyer, hoping the buyer will change from flying lobster all over the country to driving it in one of Boudreau's rigs. Boudreau expects to begin manufacturing his trailers in July.

For more information, go to: www.bionovations.ca

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Atlantic Canadians blow through windy city 
Heather MacAdam, heathermacadam@thecasket.ca

     

A group of close to 60 companies and technology organizations from Atlantic Canada have taken part in a trade mission to Chicago, Illinois, including two representatives from the Antigonish area. 


The companies participated in a Team Canada Atlantic (TCA) trade mission, which wrapped up on Nov. 20. This is one of the largest delegations to participate in a TCA trade mission to date, and the third visit to Chicago for TCA.


Central Nova MP Peter MacKay and Antigonish MLA Angus MacIsaac were among the government officials who took part in the trip.  During their time in Chicago, the TCA companies and technology organizations met face-to-face with potential agents, brokers, distributors and strategic partners. 


Delegates will have the opportunity to secure business deals and expand their export markets to the U.S. mid-west. In addition, mission participants also focused on developing partnership and ommercialization opportunities for their leading-edge technologies. MacKay said the trip was a great experience for those involved. 


“That was a tremendous opportunity to meet with influential builders and shippers in the Midwest.”
Representatives from all four Atlantic Provinces were in attendance for the mission. “We were able to create a forum that will allow for Atlantic Canada business to make necessary connections that will help grow our economy,” MacKay said. 


They were also able to have representatives from various industries, such as seafood and technology.
“There was a high proportion of representatives from high-tech industry. There were a lot of young entrepreneurs that were there.”


 MacKay said people in the Midwest are surprised to hear about Atlantic Canada’s deep ice-free ports, rail service, etc. “This opens to the door to enormous growth.” MacIsaac said the relationship with Chicago makes sense because of our close proximity, similar key trade sectors, and cultural likeness.


"I was pleased to be part of the Team Canada Atlantic trade mission to Chicago and to support Nova Scotia companies in both establishing and strengthening relationships in the Chicago market." Joe Boudreau of Bionovations Inc. took part in the mission. He said he first heard about the event from his wife, Rose. 


“We thought it would be a great opportunity to get into the U.S.,” he said. “It’s one of the areas that we, really, don’t have too much equipment in or know too much about. We know that it’s a huge transportation hub and a big population area.”
Bionovations builds live holding equipment for the seafood industry, as well as some plastic fabrication work.
“Plus we’ve developed a new technology which is a live transportation system, and that’s what we wanted to introduce in the United States. Our system will give people in the Chicago area the ability to take product directly from Atlantic Canada to Chicago or to L.A. or anywhere on the Western Coast.”
Currently, seafood from Atlantic Canada has to be trucked to New York or Boston, he said, then flown to West Coast. 


“You can’t truck live product anymore than 12 hours or it won’t survive. With our system, you can go anywhere in North America.” Not only did Boudreau get to meet people from the Chicago area, but it was a great way to meet some other people from Atlantic Canada. “There was some seafood companies along,” he said. 


A group in Chicago had arranged meeting for all the various industries coming this region, Boudreau said, as well as meet and greets with businesses in Chicago. “It was well organized,” he said. “Just about everyone that went said they got along very well – even with the downturn in the (economy). There were some very interesting compa-nies.”


Local musician Ray Mattie of POGEY was also part of the recent mission. Mattie said he became involved through a Halifax entertainment company, Velocity, which is trying to expand their business beyond the borders of Nova Scotia. “Since I tour in more and more markets in America, and I’ve been meeting more and more buyers, they thought I would be a good person to represent their company.”


Mattie is currently working on his masters in public administration, he has a background in government structure and how they interlink.  “It just all linked together and made sense.” Mattie said the initial networking was already done for them when they arrived in Chicago, which made doing business much easier. “We met with various cultural organizations there, various major companies there to help provide everything from shows to convention services.”


The musician said he will be going on another mission trip to Atlanta in February of next year. “These kind of missions are really pivotal to expanding business beyond our borders, because our market is only so big.”


 This is the third TCA mission to Chicago. Two previous trade missions to Chicago (April and October 2005) helped 75 Atlantic Canadian entrepre-neurs meet face-to-face with U.S. buyers, agents, distributors, and strategic partners, resulting in export sales of more than $5.4 million.


Team Canada Atlantic is a partnership of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, Industry Canada, and the four Atlantic Provinces.

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Lobster marked up 34% after it leaves fishermen

Published Wednesday March 11th, 2009

Bill Trotter, Bangor daily news

 

ELLSWORTH, Maine - There were many different aspects about Maine's lobster industry that were brought up Tuesday afternoon when a state-sanctioned task force met at a local hotel to discuss the industry's long-term viability.

But lobstermen who were invited to speak to the task force zeroed in primarily on one topic.They said their main concern was the price they get for their catch. No matter how high their expenses might be, they said, they essentially have no choice but to accept what dealers tell them they are willing to pay.

Frank Gotwals, president of the Stonington Lobster Co-op, said the price he got last fall was probably one the lowest prices he's gotten for his catch since he started fishing in 1976.

Diesel and bait prices soared last year to all-time highs, but the price lobstermen got for their catch last fall, when they usually are at their busiest, sank to around $2 per pound after it had averaged more than $4 per pound for each of the past several years.

The last time the average annual price of lobster in Maine was within 10 cents of $2 per pound was in 1981, according to statistics compiled by Maine Department of Marine Resources.

"We're at the bottom," Gotwals said of the industry's ability to make a profit. "We can't really go [fishing] for what we're getting now."

Bar Harbor fisherman Jon Carter said lobstermen historically have not made a lot of money, but that the economic pressures of fishing for a living have become more intense in recent years.

Fishermen are the only ones involved in the supply chain of lobsters who cannot mark up their price to cover their expenses, he said.

Carter said an official with Darden's Restaurants, which owns and operates the Red Lobster chain, told him their mark-up is 34 per cent."There's a huge mark-up after it leaves us," Carter said. "Huge."The task force, officially called the Governor's Task Force on the Economic Sustainability of Maine's Lobster Industry, was created last fall.

Its purpose is look into ways that the economics of the industry might be made more stable, so that the wild divergence between expenses and profits that the industry saw last year can be avoided.

The task force, which last month hired Moseley Group to consult and assist on the project, is supposed to compile a report on its recommendations and to give it to Gov. John Baldacci by April 15.

Besides the fishermen, the task force also heard from from researchers, other fishing community representatives and a seafood distribution equipment businessman from Nova Scotia.

Joe Boudreau of BioNovations in Antogonish, N.S., told the panel he has developed a delivery and storage system that allows lobster to be transported long distances but has only a 0.5 percent mortality rate.

Maine lobster, much of which is caught with soft shells, often is not suited for being shipped to distant markets."The probelm is not the volume of lobster that you're catching," said Boudreau, who said he still is a licensed commercial fisherman."The problem is getting it to market."

The task force also has been looking into the possibility of getting some sort of sustainable fishery certification for the industry, which could help garner a higher price for Maine lobster.

Officials of all types at the meeting agreed that Maine's lobster resource is healthy and shows no signs of being depleted Gouldsboro lobster dealer Dana Rice urged caution with pursuing such certification, however.

He said that if the industry relies on an outside group to get certified, such a designation could end up hurting the industry if the group decides Maine's lobster fishery is not so sustainable after all.

According to Deirdre Gilbert of DMR, the task force likely will meet with Moseley Group consultant Kristen Bailey to determine if it needs to hold another public forum before it compiles its report by April 15.

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The value lies in the live shellfish (English Translation)

 

Lobster fisherman behind Canadian Holding- and Transport System

We are here for one reason – money, Canadian Joe Boudreau started out when he met Saturday morning with approximately 25 interested Crab fishermen at West Jutlanders in Hvide Sande.

But even though he was in Denmark as a manufacturer of Holding and Transport systems for live shellfish, he emphasized that it was just as much to help the fishermen make money.  “We will show you how you can earn money on seafood.  I am a lobster fisher myself and I have seen how great the difficulties are to get the lobsters to the market live.  The value lies in the fact that the lobsters are live”,  he pointed out.

This became the start of the company, BioNovations, in Antigonish, in Eastern Canada. Joe Boudreau explained to the audience about his holding systems, which can be used onboard fishing vessels, for holding live shellfish on land, and for transporting to the consumers demanding live products.

It is a system which uses identical trays on the vessels, for storing on land and for the transportation. “Crabs are robust animals when they are handled correctly. But if you throw them around, you can damage their organs. Furthermore, it is less labour intensive with only one single handling of the crabs”, Joe Boudreau said. He also described how the fishermen in Northeast Canada have long distance to market areas in the USA where they can get the most for their catch.

“One of our problems in Nova Scotia is to get our products to the markets in all of North America. Air freight is very expensive, so we had to find a way for transporting the lobsters over land”, he explained and presented a photo of a special engineered truck. “We have designed a 53foot trailer for holding approximately ten ton of lobster. Using this, we can bring lobsters from Nova Scotia all the way to Florida and to Texas. The noticeable difference about our system is that we are not transporting large amounts of water. Instead, we spray the lobsters in the trays they are stored in with water. It takes three to five days to drive the longest distances in North America.

We have tested and found that the water sprayed lobsters can be stored perfectly up to 21 days”, Joe Boudreau said.He also mentioned another challenge for the lobster fishermen in Canada which the holding systems are designed to solve. “The largest amounts of lobsters are caught during the last week of November and the first two weeks of December and that brings in low prices. When the fishermen can store the lobster for longer periods, they can be brought to the market in January-February-March, when not so many are being caught.  With our systems, we are able to hold the lobsters live for up to six months”, he emphasized.

Installations from BioNovations

The holding systems for live fish and shellfish from the Canadian company BioNovations consists of standard modules, assembled in installations of different sizes. Small installations can be supplied to retailers and restaurants, but also available are holding systems capable of holding tons of live lobsters, crabs or fish. The modular systems consist of storage trays, tanks, biological filters, rotating drums, chilling or heating systems, protein skimmers, reservoir tanks and testing kits.  They can be combined similar to the same principle as “Lego” (“lego bricks”).  When an installation is ordered, it will be delivered assembled and only needs to be connected to electricity and water.

More information can be found on www.bionovations.ca

 

Crabs must survive all the way to the consumers

 Full house at crab meeting in Hvide Sande

                                                              

Fishermen and organization representatives from Hvide Sande, Thorsminde, Thyborøn as well as from Thorup Strand, arrived Saturday morning invited for a “crab meeting” in Hvide Sande. The occasion was a visit from a Canadian company  producing holding and transport systems for live shellfish.  The meeting demonstrated simultaneously the fact that there is a considerable interest for the crab fishery which until now has been operated to a very limited extent by Danish fishermen.

During this year a handful of fishermen have started crab fishing from Hvide Sande and Thorsminde, men still with some beginner’s troubles. “It is not a problem to land the crabs live. But it is of no use to hold the crabs live if our customers do not, so that they die before reaching the consumers”, said Kurt Madsen, Chairman of Thorsminde Fisheries Association.

The meeting demonstrated extensive interest in how large an investment would be needed for procuring a holding system produced by the Canadian company, BioNovations. But they were also asked about the possibilities for purchasing a trailer with a holding system, so that the landings of live crabs could be transported to the attractive markets in Southern Europe when there is a full load. 

An idea was then brought up that a customer in Southern Europe could purchase a holding system in order for the storage to be located there. “It will be a problem if a customer in Southern Europe dictates the price”, sounded the warning from several present. The Canadian guest, Joe Boudreau agreed to their point of view, that it must be the fishermen with the holding system storing the crabs in order to secure customers steady supplies. “Danish fishermen must learn to be merchants”, concluded solicitor Mogens Jepsen, Chairman of Hvide Sande Fishermens Future and host for Saturday’s meeting.

Several present at the meeting asked how to proceed with the tasks and Kurt Madsen pointed out that it must be through the local fisheries associations. “The buyers are not interested because there is not much money in crabs. The only way to proceed will be through a fishermen owned enterprise”, suggested Ole Toft, Chairman of Thyborøn Fisheries Association. “For now, those we are selling the crabs to have no interest otherwise they would have been present at the meeting today”, sounded a comment from the audience.

Thorsminde needs Holding system

Canadian visit in several west-coast harbours

“There is a need for holding 10 – 15 tonnes of live crabs in Thorsminde harbour, and there has to be sales for the landings. Therefore Thorsminde Fisheries Association and Thorsminde Auction together want to investigate the possibility for setting up a holding system”, says Kurt Madsen, Chairman of the Fisheries Association.

After the meeting Saturday morning in Hvide Sande, Thorsminde had a visit from the Canadian company, Bionovations, in order for them to see the harbour, the auction hall and other facilities. The result of this visit was to calculate what it will cost to install an installation for holding up to 15 tonnes of crabs.

“The exporters claim they cannot sell small amounts landed on one single day, and therefore, there is a need for holding the crabs for a longer period of time. This is something which we want locally and we have to have a project prepared and find out how it can be financed”, says Kurt Madsen. He also emphasised that holding of the crabs in Thorsminde is not the only issue. “It won’t do that we can hold the crabs live here, if we cannot control the transport for Europe. So this must be solved before we can proceed with anything”, he says.

At the moment, there are two Thorsminde vessels rigged for crab fishing, but Kurt Madsen expects there will be more when sales are in place. “This could be a niche for some “vessel quota share” fishermen for part of the year if they have nothing else to catch”, he concluded.

During Sunday, the BioNovations guests also arrived at Thyborøn for a visit to the Fish Auction Centre, where Chairman of the Fisheries Association, Ole Toft showed them around. But there is not the same interest for crab holding in Thyborøn as in Thorsminde.

“The interest for crabs is great among the fishermen. There are many waiting behind the scenes because they want to make sure the crabs can be sold before they start. But it could be something they could supplement their “vessel quota share” quantity with”, Ole Toft says.

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Fishermen and industry must focus on unexploited fish species (English Translation)

Saturday 18th August the earlybirds can join an exciting inspiration-meeting about edible crab fisheries.

The fisheries are in these years under pressure and transformation. A possible way out of the crisis can, for some of the actors in this business, be exploitation of new fish resources.

This is claimed by the organisation “Fishermens Future in White Sands”. The chairman, solicitor Mogens Jepsen, is now trying to draw the attention to the possibilities related to the edible crab fisheries. This (attention) will take place at an information meeting in White Sands 18th August.

”We are aware that others successfully operate this coast-near fishing and globally large amounts are being sold. We will now try to focus on these possibilities and we will be happy to share our know-how to a broader circle within the fisheries – not only in our local area, but everyone from afar are welcome to our arrangement.”

”It is our hope”, continues Mogens Jepsen, that not only the fishermen are inclined to listen to an exciting presentation. The fishermen’s advisors, the banking sector and representatives from the industry are more than welcome to join our meeting”.

 “Fishermens Future in White Sands” has established contact to Bionovations Inc. from Nova Scotia, Canada, a company specialised in production of holding- and transport-systems for live seafood. Representatives from this company will present the audience for the possibilities and challenges related to this kind of fishery.

Following the presentation there will be an opportunity for asking questions and talk to the speakers, who, themselves, have long term experience within fisheries.

The meeting will take place Saturday 18th August 08.00 am at HAU NYLON A/S (Frydendahl), Numitvej 27, White Sands.

It is free to participate. “Fishermens Future in White Sands” is pleased to invite everyone for coffee and rolls, and pre-registration will not be necessary.

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Lobster longhaul New cargo system allows lobster to be shipped long distances by truck

 

By Adam Ledlow

ANTIGONISH, N.S. – The gratification that comes from sitting down to a succulent lobster dinner is a well-earned pleasure. Not just because the meal itself is such a satisfying treat – at least for those of us living beyond the borders of lobster-rich Atlantic Canada – but the process of transporting live seafood from ocean to dinner plate can be such a delicate, arduous task that it demands a certain level of appreciation.

The major struggle for transporters of live lobster is fairly predictable: making sure the product remains alive until the destination is reached. But ensuring the product’s survival is a difficult task with several factors contributing to the problem. For seafood companies in Nova Scotia – the Maritime Mecca for
the lobster industry – geography and population are the two main factors hindering the success of their businesses.

In most major urban centres, the chief method for transporting live seafood is through a chartered air system, one of the speediest ways to get a perishable product from Point A to Point B. But since Nova Scotia’s population is too small to support a charter system on a large scale, the majority of local product must be shipped through commercial flight – a major problem according to Joe Boudreau, president and general manager of BioNovations, a Nova-Scotia-based manufacturer of live holding systems for retail, restaurant and wholesale operations.

“With lobsters, you’ve got to handle them carefully or just the handling will kill them,” Boudreau says.“There’s nobody in the airline industry that’s really taking care of people’s product. They treat it as another commodity.” Though frequent flyers may gripe during their pre-flight manhandling by airport security, the process doesn’t usually leave them dead – an all-too-common outcome for lobsters that fly commercial.

Boudreau estimates that anywhere from 10 to 15 different groups of people will handle the lobster as it moves along the supply chain, and the greater number of times a lobster is handled and subjected to unpredictable temperature changes, the greater the chances that it will kick the lobster bucket. In addition to over-handling, airport delays can increase the chances of lobster mortality.

Recent crackdowns on undersized lobsters being brought into the US have further intensified both the handling and delays that contribute to the problem. In order to sidestep some of these aviation issues, seafood companies in Nova Scotia are being forced to truck their product to major hubs like Boston, New York, Toronto, or Montreal in order to get their product out to the rest of Canada and the US.

Though the method allows these companies to broaden the reach of their corporate arm, adding an extra stop means adding more time and expense to an already lengthy trip. “It takes a tremendous amount of time and labour to get (the product) moving three or four times; moving from truck to plane and so on and so forth. The logistics of hauling our product in Canada is a huge problem,” Boudreau says.

As the world’s largest producer of live lobster, Atlantic Canada can’t afford to be bogged down by these logistical problems, Boudreau says, which is why BioNovations is offering a solution for the trucking industry. In addition to the company’s live holding systems, BioNovations has been developing a unique transportation system for use in truck trailers.

The traditional method of moving lobster by truck requires packing the product into Styrofoam boxes. A standard 30-lb box has a cover with holes in it and dry sheet of paper placed on the bottom of the box. The live product goes on top of the sheet (usually about 25 lobsters per box) and gel packs are placed on top. The Styrofoam box then goes inside a cardboard box and is ready to be shipped.

Besides being a crowded and unnatural environment for the lobster, the “box” method can also be expensive, costing an average of 25 cents per pound in materials. BioNovations is looking to replace this conventional method with a product that is essentially a mobile version of its live holding systems. The trailer system would allow the user to take the lobster occupied trays from a live holding system, place them on a plastic pallet and drive them directly into the trailer.

Once in place, water sprays down into the trays and circulates back up to the filtration and refrigeration unit at the front of the trailer. Because moisture and temperature are controlled in the trailer, the lobster can enjoy a much more natural environment compared to a Styrofoam box.

“It’s not the same as being in the sea, but it’s as close as we can get,” Boudreau says. In addition to being less stressful for the lobster, Boudreau says customers can expect less stress on their wallets because of lowered costs from reduced materials, handling and labour.

“(The system) is going to change the industry…by giving wholesalers greater control over their product and the ability to move freight much more cheaply,” he says.“(Wholesalers) will also enjoy better quality because of the system’s controlled environment because mortality rates should drop substantially.”

Boudreau also says truck drivers should find the system easy to use, with maintenance limited to the odd filter cleaning (think oversized fish tank). BioNovations has been developing the trailer system since 2006, shortly after it acquired the assets of a company which manufactured live holding systems.

Boudreau says BioNovations has made vast improvements since it devised the system’s original prototype, having re-engineered numerous components to make the unit lighter and allow the trailer to hold more payload. The improved system will now be able to hold between 25,000 to 30,000 lbs of live product, making it a one-of-a-kind product in the marketplace, he says.

“As far as we know we’re the only company in the world that has an insulated, moulded container that holds live lobsters at the size that we have,” Boudreau says. “It’s the only system of its type: it’s portable, transportable, and you can take it down and set it up again in a different area like a Lego set.” Word of the BioNovations transportation system has already spread as far as Europe, where a company is trying to come up with a system similar to BioNovations’ to transport fish in tanks of water.

At the moment, BioNovations is prepping its new facility for the upcoming launch of the product. Boudreau says he expects “explosive growth” in seafood transportation because of the possibilities the trailer system presents for the industry.

“The industry has to change because the airline industry is such a hectic thing,” Boudreau says. “It’s extremely hard to move live product by air and to do it by (truck) transport, it’s almost impossible unless you come up with a system like ours. I think once that door opens up, you’ll see everybody move along these routes.” For more information on BioNovations and its products, visit www.bionovations.ca
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