Canadian seafood-processing company McGraw Seafood partnered with Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.-based seafood processing manufacturer Carsoe to build a new, automated processing redfish line to aid automatic plate freezing in its New Brunswick facility.
McGraw Seafood said in a release that the new processing line for redfish was created to diversify production, protect product integrity, and reduce manual handling while also reducing the firm's carbon footprint. Carsoe uses double-contact plate freezing and coherent downstream automation technology.
“The consultation and initial support for the project were quick and greatly appreciated. The weekly follow-up meetings, especially as the installation approached, allow for effective monitoring and open and constructive exchanges”, McGraw Project Manager Nicolas Forget said.
Carsoe engineers installed the processing line alongside McGraw technicians.
“The Carsoe team was competent, respectful, and motivated. Their involvement demonstrated a genuine desire to succeed,” McGraw Construction Supervisor Bertin Losier said.
Installing modernized seafood processing equipment is important, according to Carsoe, because it improves productivity, reduces waste, promotes quality assurance, meets food safety standards, and is energy-efficient.
Canadian redfish is returning to healthy levels after plummeting in the early 1990s. In 1995, Canada closed the nation’s redfish fishery, and it remained closed for 30 years.
In recent years, the nation opened an experimental fishery to analyze the stock, and in 2024, Canada finally opened a Unit 1 commercial redfish fishery, providing quotas to fishers in the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Quebec to resume their redfish harvest after the three-decade hiatus.
Last year, Canada announced a 60,000-metric-ton total allowable catch for its second commercial redfish season.
“These allocations took into consideration views shared by industry stakeholders, Indigenous communities and organizations, and provincial partners and others, alongside socioeconomic factors, and provides harvesting opportunities while respecting conservation,” Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans said in a press release when last year’s season was announced. “Information gathered from the first two years of this fishery will support the long-term development of a sustainable redfish fishery, and the government will continue to adjust fishing management measures as required and in consultation with stakeholders.”
