Cape Broyle Sea Products Ltd. is receiving $30,157 through the provincial government’s Fisheries Technology and New Opportunities Program to help achieve efficiencies and long-term viability of its sea cucumber operation.
“Cape Broyle Sea Productsis committed to advancing the sea cucumber business in the province and we greatly appreciate the provincial government's support,” said senior manager Edgar Coffey. “We believe this project will help us further develop our product line and improve efficiencies as we move forward.”
The funding will allow the company to hire consultants to analyze current technologies and processes. The work will include a market analysis to determine detailed customer product specifications, physiological research and investigation of alternative sea cucumber processing methods to remove the tentacles; productivity evaluation to determine ways to streamline operations; and an investigation of new processing technologies in other jurisdictions.
“Our seafood industry is valued at approximately $1 billion per year and investments we make in improving processing operations for emerging species, such as sea cucumber, help to optimize return on investment for processors and create additional opportunities for harvesters,” said Fisheries Minister Vaughn Granter."
“Sea cucumber is a species that holds tremendous opportunity for our seafood industry on both the harvesting and processing sides,” added Ferryland MHA Keith Hutchings, a former minister of fisheries who now serves as Minister of Municipal Affairs. “This funding will help Cape Broyle Sea Products Ltd. improve their operations and productivity and help them to better identify and meet the demands of the market.”
Improvements to processing technology resulting from this project are expected to be beneficial to all processing operations in the province using the same technology to process sea cucumber, he added.
