On July 3, MHC’s Port Hardy processing plant earned BAP certification, joining the company’s BAP-certified salmon farms and the Skretting Canada feed mill from which it sources feed. The first five Marine Harvest Canada salmon farm sites earned BAP certification in 2012, the same year that Skretting Canada’s two feed mills in British Columbia and New Brunswick attained the distinction.
“Since the third-party audited BAP seafood processing plant standards meet Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) requirements, MHC customers are assured that product meets high food safety and quality standards,” said Clare Backman, MHC’s sustainability programs director. “And because all BAP standards encompass social and environmental aspects, customers know that the salmon they receive is produced in a responsible and sustainable manner.”
Located on the northern tip of Vancouver Island, MHC’s Port Hardy facility processes more than 35,000 tons of Atlantic salmon annually. Built in 2003, the facility employs about 80 people.
MHC said it plans to pursue certification of its Kitasoo processing plant in Klemtu, British Columbia. The company also said it plans to seek four-star status once the BAP salmon hatchery standards are completed.