A local fish processing plant could soon be a reality for northern Saskatchewan commercial fishers.
The recently-formed Ile a la Crosse Fish Company is planning to construct a fish processing plant within the local community at a cost of just over $2 million.
The purpose of the facility would be to process northern fish locally rather than shipping it all the way to Manitoba to the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation.
“Through fish processing and marketing, the financial and employment impact is immediate,” said Larry Gardiner, chair of the local Big Island Fishers Co-operative. “We have a vibrant commercial fishing industry here. It’s important to our people.”
Northern Saskatchewan is the second largest supplier of freshwater fish in the country.
For years, northern commercial fishers tried convincing the provincial and federal governments to help fund a fish processing plant in Prince Albert — but the necessary funding never arrived and the plan was eventually shelved.
At least one local leader is showing his support for the processing plant in Ile a la Crosse.
“The idea of continually shipping away a large portion of the value of the product does not make sense to us,” said Ile a la Crosse mayor Duane Favel. “That’s why we must fillet and package fish and other fish products locally for export to markets anywhere in the world, if need be.”
Northern fishers no longer have to sell their fish to the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation after opting out of the monopoly almost three years ago.
Celine Favreau, the director for economic development for the Sakitawak Development Corporation, says Ile a la Crosse has built upon a local model for northern fishing operations over the past couple years.
“Local fishers are the true entrepreneurs behind the success of the freshwater fish industry in northern Saskatchewan,” said Favreau. “It’s those local fishers who run those businesses that have been pulling in the production that has been created in northern Saskatchewan today.”
Favreau says it is time to support fishers locally because she says they do not get the support from outside corporations.
“We have built a system in Ile a la Crosse where we truly support the fishers at a local level,” she said. “So we have increased production to this delivery point by 25 per cent in the last two years that we have operated.”
Favreau says the new fish processing plant could be built within the next year.
She says once the funding gets approval, they will immediately begin the building process.