Maritime fish plants recruiting students, looking to automation
Fish plant owners are trying to address chronic shortage of workers to avoid sending seafood offshore
Seafood processors in New Brunswick say they are taking steps to deal with the chronic shortage of workers, which is being made worse by changes to the temporary foreign workers program.
Finding workers has been a problem since 2006, when lobster landings began increasing dramatically, said Amirault.
"I'm talking about going from 150 million pounds landed to 330 million pounds landed and so what they tried to do was get labour wherever they could and programs, such as foreign workers."
But under new federal rules, fish plants have to reduce their percentage of foreign workers from as high as 65 per cent of their workforce to 10 per cent by June 2016.
Amirault says business owners are looking for new ways to attract local workers.
"We hire 12 months of the year and there are jobs available for Canadians," he said.
If we can't handle their product being landed, then it affects another big segment of rural communities — that's the fishing community.- Jerry Amirault, Lobster Processors Association of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia
"They're posted, they're on most doors of most of the plants and you know the obvious question is, why aren't Canadians coming out to work?"
Amirault says his group is also working with the federal government, looking for ways to get anyone in the area who is receiving Employment Insurance to at least consider available positions.
"Can you have these people specifically show up so that they'll at least come to the job interview? At least they'll have to have consideration for the job."
He says the other problem is the way fish plant jobs are listed on the Services Canada job bank.
"When you go on the job bank description, it does not list the job in a way that you'd even consider it."
"You have to tick off under environment that it's a smelly environment, that it's wet, that it's cold. I mean, that's just the environment in the fish plant."
Higher wages needed
Amirault says fish plants pay between $11 and $13.75 per hour in southeastern New Brunswick and many are adding performance bonuses as an incentive.
"High school kids could make $800 or $900 per week and they're not interested so we recruit in every possible area. We get foreign students from universities who … their work ethic is totally different. They just seem to accept jobs more willingly."
On Tuesday afternoon, many Shediac residents said it will take higher wages to attract locals.
Roger Boudreau suspects the only reason people would go to work in a processing plant would be "probably to make their stamps."
"Why don't you pay your guys the salary they deserve? They're working hard, it's hard, hard work at a fish plant."
Amirault says a task force is currently looking at ways to automate fish processing, which could lead to better paying jobs.
In the meantime, he says unless enough workers are found, lobster will have to be sent offshore for processing, which is the last thing processors want.
"If we can't handle their product being landed, then it affects another big segment of rural communities — that's the fishing community."
"Our people are from these villages, some of them are fourth generation, the owners of the companies. I can threaten that we're going to leave, but nobody wants to leave these commuinities."