ItB次元官网网址檚 a summer Wednesday at Ucluelet Harbour Seafoods.

The stink of fish wafts through the air as the sound of an industrial ice machine hammers on and a cheery rotation of line workers clad in gumboots and Hi-Vis coveralls take repose on the concrete boat dock for lunch.

UclueletB次元官网网址檚 major fish processing plant is livelier than usual. Humpdays are for weekly shift crossovers, plus the 60-or-so employees are in a notably chipper mood thanks to the au gratis char-grilled burgers theyB次元官网网址檙e getting served.

Who doesnB次元官网网址檛 like getting a free meal, especially when itB次元官网网址檚 the boss whoB次元官网网址檚 cooking it?

Dave Dawson, general manager of Canadian fleet operations for Ucluelet Harbour Seafoods parent company, Pacific Seafoods, is based out of Nanaimo. But he regularly makes the trek to Ucluelet for meetings, and to man the grill for the crews.

Who's hungry? GM Dave Dawson supplies UHS plant workers Kevin Elliott and Herb Mountain with a meaty lunch at a staff appreciation barbecue in July.

B次元官网网址淲e have a program on both shifts [night and day] that if the crews meet their output target we buy them lunch,B次元官网网址� Dawson said. B次元官网网址淟etB次元官网网址檚 have a celebration and have a barbecue and show them that we appreciate them. We are doing a lot of adjustments to make the people like this as a great place to work. We want them to feel healthy and happy, we want them to feel like they are part of the family and part of a team.B次元官网网址�

Fish processing is an essential pillar to the small Vancouver Island townB次元官网网址檚 economy, but one facing some hearty labour force challenges.

At a $14 an hour starting wage for a 12-hour slog shift, recruiting and retaining staff is constantly an issue. Even more, busing workers in from Port Alberni has become the norm thanks to a lack of accommodation in the tourist town.

Frozen fish sticks for China

According to information amassed by the Ucluelet Chamber of Commerce from the 2016 Canadian Census, manufacturing is the communityB次元官网网址檚 second largest employer, providing 180 jobs. About 85 per cent of those are in fish processing. The B次元官网网址渟eafood preparation and packagingB次元官网网址� industry within the manufacturing sector is about 100 times as concentrated locally, while fishing jobs are 37 times the B.C. average, notes Chamber of Commerce report.

UHS processes roughly 500,000 pounds of hake per day. At the plant, the hake is machine headed, gutted, and tailed. It is then frozen and packaged into either 10-20 kilogram blocks or Individually Quick Frozen. The majority of the product is then trucked or barged to Vancouver for shipment to foreign markets.

China has emerged as the dominant export market, according to the Offshore Pacific Hake in Canada Economic Impacts report compiled for the Canadian Groundfish Research and Conservation Society in June 2018. China reprocesses the blocks into fillets.

Eastern Europe and South Africa join China as important markets for the export of Pacific Hake from Canada, according to the BC Ministry of Agriculture.

The Ucluelet site owns four company boats and contracts seven private vessels, employing about 35 full-time fishers including the skippers. They have two processing facilities in Ucluelet: UHS, which employs between 65-70 people per shift, and the Barkley Plant, which staffs an additional 45 to 50 when itB次元官网网址檚 running.

Factory workers on the night shift are projected to process 90,000 tonnes of finished product per shift while day shift staff aims for 125,000 tonnes of finished product.

In 2016, UHS was awarded the Diamond Award from Oregon-based Pacific as its best-performing division. Pacific Seafood operates more than 38 processing and distribution facilities from Alaska to Texas.

No home by the sea

Despite the plantB次元官网网址檚 Pacific Rim location, the majority of its workforce comes from Port Alberni, more than 90 minutes by bus.

For day shift workers like Kyuquot First Nations Joe Jules, that means leaving Port around 6 a.m. and departing Ucluelet at 8 p.m.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 quite a journey,B次元官网网址� said Jules who has been with UHS for more than a decade. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 like a three-hour commute. It makes for a long day, but you get used to it after a while.B次元官网网址�

Long-time UHS employee Joe Jules.

Fellow Port Alberni resident and UHS staffer Alison Mcgee agreed.

B次元官网网址淚t makes for a long day, but a lot of people in Ontario do it,B次元官网网址� she notes.

Before signing on with UHS to help with administration and scheduling, Mcgee said she used to drive herself to Parksville for work.

B次元官网网址淚 was spending $400 on gas and parking. Now, you donB次元官网网址檛 have to have a vehicle to work here. You donB次元官网网址檛 have to drive. You donB次元官网网址檛 have to have gas money squirreled away,B次元官网网址� said Mcgee.

The Port Bus is one incentive to recruiting employees, points out Ucluelet team member manager Sam Sattar, while pointing out how the bus costs quite a bit of money to operate.

ItB次元官网网址檚 a necessary investment though to a lack of Ucluelet-based workers. The reason is simple: the townB次元官网网址檚 affordable housing crisis means they have no place to live.

B次元官网网址淭here used to be a pretty steady supply of staff that lived in Ucluelet. But then when the US dollar strengthened as it did, Ucluelet became a target for US ownership, for summer housing and sport fishing. Who doesnB次元官网网址檛 want to spend some time here and paddle in a kayak or go walk the trails? It just took the price of housing in Ucluelet and put it out of reach for most people,B次元官网网址� Dawson said.

According to Sattar building its own staff accommodations will be a number one win. UHS is in the process of applying to the District for a temporary use permit to build low-cost, temporary housing on a piece of land they own close to the Ucluelet factory.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 going to solve a lot of our employee issues,B次元官网网址� he said.

B次元官网网址淥ur thoughts are maybe put some ATCO trailers, but we have to work with the [District] and probably make them a little more West Coast,B次元官网网址� said Dawson, adding that he is in the process of hiring an engineer to flesh out their application to municipality.

The problem isnB次元官网网址檛 limited to fish processing. Many employers in the area linked housing shortages (among numerous other root causes) to attraction and retention issues, reports Joey Rotenberg, a local facilitator with the Ucluelet Business and Employment Retention and Expansion (UBERE) program. Since the initiative launched in Jan., 82 businesses have participated in interviews.

Preliminary data shows that 46 per cent of employers report attraction issues, 56 per cent of employers report retention issues, and 46 per cent of employers noted that attracting qualified employees is a barrier to the growth or successful operation of their company.

B次元官网网址淪ome employers provide staff housing and others sidestep the issue by marketing jobs to jobseekers that have secured local housing,B次元官网网址� Rotenberg said in an email.

And some look further asea.

Fishing for talent in foreign waters

South Pacific Islander Roy Prasad switched over from Fiji time to Vancouver Island time about five years ago. With a talent for filleting fish, Prasad applied for a UHS recruitment ad he saw posted in the local Fijian newspaper.

B次元官网网址淸Ucluelet] is beautiful. ItB次元官网网址檚 a change, like winter, right. Fiji the weather is mostly warm, but itB次元官网网址檚 good to be here,B次元官网网址� Prasad said at the appreciation barbecue.

He didnB次元官网网址檛 do the journey to Canada alone; UHS employs about 15 Fijians.

B次元官网网址淲e came here to filet fish,B次元官网网址� said Prasad. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a good company to stay. They look after us very well. You work good for them and they are good to you.B次元官网网址�

Fijians Fili,left, Jonagani, Sevuloni, and Roy live and work in Ucluelet.

Some Lower Mainland plants rely on temporary help agencies to supply workers, states the Hake in Canada report.

General manager of Ucluelet operations Ben Beens has been working in the fish industry for 24 years. Even with the current roster of 45-50 workers per shift, he thinks more people are needed to maximize production.

B次元官网网址淲e hold some of our boats back from fishing because we donB次元官网网址檛 have enough man-power to process all the fish. And weB次元官网网址檙e not the only ones,B次元官网网址� said Beens.

B次元官网网址淲hether itB次元官网网址檚 the food industry or hospitality, weB次元官网网址檙e all short staffed. Local accommodations would help, but at the end of the day there are just not enough workers in the labour market to meet the demand.B次元官网网址�

An (CFIB), states an estimated 397,400 jobs have sat vacant for at least four months. The vacancy rate is the highest ever observed by the CFIBB次元官网网址檚 Help Wanted report since its inception in 2014.

B.C ranked the second highest with a at 3.4 per cent job vacancy rate or 62,200 unfilled jobs, while Quebec climbed to the top spot with 3.9 per cent or 109,600 unfilled jobs.

According to the Hake in Canada Economic Impacts report, the Canadian offshore Pacific hake seafood industry holds 562 jobs in full time equivalents, $33.5 million in Wages and Benefits, and the industry directly generates $85.4 million in CDN revenues. First Nations individuals comprise 20 per cent of the total employment base.

Even though there is B次元官网网址渞ampant turnoverB次元官网网址� in some plants, according to the Hake in Canada report, Jewel Verkaik has been with UHS for the past eight years.

B次元官网网址淭he pay is good,B次元官网网址� she said B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 rewarding when you get in the swing of things. I enjoy the job thatB次元官网网址檚 why I havenB次元官网网址檛 left.B次元官网网址�

Sattar acknowledges that the Ucluelet plant does get a lot of turnover. The job is physically exhausting and requires a lot of standing, after all.

B次元官网网址淏ut we have a darn good core team here and they will not give up on this place. They love it. They love the culture, the fishing industry culture. They have their heart and soul in it,B次元官网网址� he said.