Brookings gets innovative seafood processing plant
BC Fisheries owner Mike Manning cut the ribbon Aug. 19 on a $9.6 million seafood processing facility that will benefit southern Oregon coast crabbers and shrimpers. The facility will create 30 new jobs, eliminate the need for long-distance shipping of locally-caught seafood for processing, and is the first of its kind to use cool steam technology on the West Coast. Established in 2007, BC Fisheries is a family-owned company that ships cold-water pink shrimp and crab worldwide, offloading about 1.5 million pounds per month. It was unable to process shrimp locally though, leading to high transportation costs. A $6.3 million loan from Craft3, a nonprofit that makes loans for business development, allowed BC Fisheries to build an insulated processing building next to the docks at the Port of Brookings Harbor, purchase equipment, and have adequate working capital. The new facility will be able to process up to 2.4 million pounds of shrimp per month. Read the story here 20:37
Leave a Reply