Wok Box entry corrected

In my November 3, 2009 post about the opening of Wok Box in Mariner Square, beside Save-On Foods, I mentioned that the decor would include “cedar booths”.

Anyone who has treated themselves to lunch or dinner at Wok Box will see that the booths are not “cedar” but rather a combination of  two sizes ranging from “four seater” to “six seater”. I heard “cedar” instead of “seater”!

Apologies to Carla Campbell and her staff for the error. Keep up the good work.

Annual awards bring together aquaculture friends

The aquaculture industry gathered in Campbell River on Saturday night to honour its own and celebrate the industry at the eleventh annual awards gala sponsored by Positive Aquaculture Awareness.

Aquaculture Business of the Year went to Walcan Seafood, the largest employer on Quadra Island. The other two finalists in this category were AKVA Group North America and Aztec Freight.

German Campos of Mainstream Canada, Grant McCreathe of Creative Salmon and Marine Harvest’s Ryan Gregoire were the finalists for the Leadership Award. The award, sponsored by JLH Consulting,  went to Ryan Gregoire.

Creative Salmon’s Morris Meikle was recognized as Outstanding Employee. Jean-Luc Williams from Grieg Seafood and Melissa St. Louis from Mainstream Canada were also in the running.

The Environmental Award is sponsored by the BC Centre for Aquatic Health Sciences and was presented by Paula Galloway. She congratulated Skretting Canada on its win.

Outstanding Performance by an Area Manager is always a hotly contested category. This year’s nominees were Brock Thomson from Mainstream Canada, John Mills from Grieg Seafood, and Marine Harvest’s Kelly Osborne. The award went to Brock Thomson.

The Long Term Recognition Award is an opportunity to honour an individual who has contributed to the development of the aquaculture industry over an extended period. This year, Dave McKirgan from Aquametrix Research, was recognized. Dave began his career in the industry in 1994. Peter Gibson from Grieg Seafood and Scott Garside from Sea Roamer Marine Services rounded out the three finalists. Special mention was made of Peter’s upcoming retirement and his contributions to aquaculture since joining the industry in 1997.

The Rookie of the Year category recognizes an individual who has been in the aquaculture industry for less than five years. This year, Nick Schoenfelder from Marine Harvest, Ray Anderosov from Mainstream Canada, and Lauren Edgar, also from Marine Harvest, were the three finalists. Lauren Edgar came away with this award.

The top quality dinner was again provided by Rose’s Country Catering and featured both farmed salmon and black cod. The cod, donated by Sablefish Canada, was prepared with a maple syrup and sake glaze. It melted in your mouth.

The ever popular and entertaining Heads and Tails fundraiser was again a hit. Dustin from Sea Roamer Marine Services won first prize – $2,000 in travel from The Travel Place. Melissa St. Louis from Mainstream took second prize – $600 in travel, also donated by The Travel Place. Proceeds went towards the PAA donations to the Campbell River Salmon Foundation and the BC Centre for Aquatic Health Sciences in conjunction with Quinsam Hatchery.

A variety of silent auction items were donated by industry, including pottery, clothing, tool kits, and gift certificates. It raised about $1,700.

Entertainment was again provided by Fish Farmer Overdrive, a band made up of industry members from a variety of companies including Grieg Seafood, Walcan Seafood, and Power Serve. This year’s members were Ian Roberts, Blair Billard, Clare Backman, Wayne Jacob, Tom Skillman, and Stefan Schendler.

Thanks to Cory Percevault, Leanne Brunt, and Ian Roberts for their huge volunteer efforts in putting together such an enjoyable evening.

Positive Aquaculture Awareness was created in 1998. Its mission is to promote positive awareness of the aquaculture industry through public education and community involvement.

Shoe shopping temporarily halted with Quest’s renos

My heart skipped a beat yesterday and it wasn’t because of post-Valentine’s Day romance. No – I looked in the display window of Quest Shoes on Shopper’s Row and was greeted by – nothing but blank space. Ack! I thought. The demise of my favorite shoe emporium is not a good way to start the week.

But fellow shoe fiends take heart.  Quest Shoes is simply undergoing a freshning up and will be open for business again at the end of the month. Whew. I can breathe again.

City survey seeks input

In advance of annual budget deliberations scheduled for later this month, the City wants to know not only which services are  particularly valuable to you and your family but where you think  cuts could be made. 

With this in mind, a survey is available on-line at http://www.campbellriver.ca (look on the left side of the home page,  click on What’s New and then scroll down to “Tell us what you think - Campbell River Community Services Survey”).  A paper version was  in the newspaper last Friday, February 5.

The survey took me 10 minutes. Do your part and make time for it  before the deadline at noon on Friday, February 19.

Campbell River Business Buzz

The brown paper has been removed from the windows and employees are busy stocking shelves in the new Dollar Giant in Discovery Harbour. The doors should be open to customers soon.

Peter Gibson, Managing Director of Grieg Seafood BC Ltd., is retiring this spring. The hunt is on for his successor.

Homey white shutters have gone up in the windows of the former Plaza Bakery/Christie’s Place location on 10th Ave. No clue as to what will be “opening soon”.

Starting March 1, Trends and Friends (formerly Jan’s, A Fashion House) on Shopper’s Row will be open Mondays.

The doors closed recently at La Cabana De Marcos in the Pier Street area.

Akva Group promotes from within

Come this May, Wade Kaskiw, current CFO of the Canadian operations for AKVA, will step up to position of General Manager, replacing current GM Patrick Dempster.

“I’m looking forward to continuing to build the AKVA Group as a leader in providing technology solutions which benefit the aquaculture industry.  We have a great team here in Canada and I have complete faith in our ability to service our customers.  It will be a big job filling Patrick Dempster’s shoes when he returns with his family to Chile later this year and he will be missed,” said Kaskiw.

Prior to joining AKVA in September 2007, Kaskiw was Controller with Marine Harvest Canada. Wade and his wife have lived in Campbell River for six and a half years.

AKVA group is the leading provider of technology to the global fish farming industry. Their products include software systems, operational equipment and sensor systems, feed systems, cage systems, net cleaning systems, light systems and recirculation aquaculture systems.

Reach Akva’s Canadian operations in Campbell River at 250-286-8802 or visit them on the web at www.akvagroup.com.

Mainstream reaches pinnacle of ISO certification

Mainstream Canada, with its Canadian head office in Campbell River and the second large aquaculture company in BC, rounded out 2009 with a company-wide Christmas gift. 

It received certification in ISO 9001 Quality  Management System (QMS) and the OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Management System Standards (OHSAS), making it the first Canadian aquaculture company to reach full certification in ISO 9001 QMS, ISO 14001 EMS and OHSAS 18001 for all its operations.

“This emphasis on continual improvement is consistent with internationally recognized ISO Standards such as the ISO 9000 Quality Management Standards, and ISO 14000 Environmental Management Standards certification that was obtained by Mainstream Canada in 2008 and 2009″, said Laurie Jensen, Environmental, Licences and Community Relations Manager.

The certification process started in 2008 with a full internal and external audit of all  company operations. Any operational gaps were identified, systems were developed, the operational manuals “Best Management Practices” (BMPs) and “Standard Operating Procedures” (SOPs) were updated and the resulting “Environmental Management System” (EMS) certification was obtained in fall 2008.

“Sustainability is a goal that relies on balancing environmental, social and economic impacts, with a long-term commitment for continual improvement,” added Jensen.

ISO (International Standards Organization) is a third party world wide certification standard. 

Mainstream operates in the Campbell River, Tofino and Broughton areas with three hatcheries, 24 sea sites and two processing plants, one of which is contracted.

Campbell River’s premier wooden building hosts Forest Minister

A sold-out crowd of Chamber members packed the Maritime Heritage Centre over the noon hour yesterday to hear Pat Bell speak. He is the Minister of Forests and Range and believes opportunities within the forest industry still exist.

 Prior to the Minister taking centre stage, Mayor Charlie Cornfield announced the creation of a Wood First policy by council last week. The policy is aimed at the use of wood in all new buildings funded by the City of Campbell River.

It’s important to support a wood culture in Campbell River His Worship said.

Minister Bell began his address to Chamber members by stating the Campbell River is a fork in the road. It’s time for decisions to be made about our future - do we want to continue to be a resource-based community or move towards a new way that could include tourism and various other opportunites. The challenge of how to create value for ourselves is ours to decide.

He provided some suggestions about where Campbell River could look for opportunities within the forest sector. Here are a couple:

* The creation of a bio-energy industry through using logging residues (more commonly known as slash to most people) to create wood-based pellets that would replace coal as a fuel source. Between 2.5 and 3 million cubic metres of slash existed in 2009 according to the Minister, providing significant economic potential for North Vancouver Island communities.

* Advanced and intensive silviculture. “We grow the best trees in BC here on Vancouver Island,” said Bell.

* The development of the Chinese marketplace. BC shipped 300 million board feet of lumber to China in 2007 – the equivalent of one mill’s entire annual production. The following year, that number had grown to 720 million board feet. As of the end of November 2009, more than a billion board feet of hemlock and cedar had made its way to China.

“If you send it, they’ll (the Chinese)  figure out something to do with it,” said Bell.

Don’t focus on the revival of the US market, he said. Look instead to China. That country could feasibly becoming BC’s number one customer by 2013, when our softwood lumber agreement with the US expires.

Bell predicted more mills will be open at the end of 2010 than were operating at the beginning.

During the question and answer period, Minister Bell was asked about the reopening of the Catalyst mill. It’s a “local decision” he said, adding that the government is involved but only “peripherally” since the issue isn’t within the province’s jurisdiction.

Employees from Corilar, Pallan Timber, and the City of Campbell River won door prizes.

Perogy pickup and bread pickup rise to occasion

Of note around town these days:

Discovery Harbour Mall will soon be home to Dollar Giant. This is good news for me since I can’t help but stop by whenever I pass one. The brown paper on the windows of the former liquor store, below the Marine Harvest sign,  leads me to believe that work is underway to make the space bargain-friendly. I’m running low on burner liners for my stove!

And as Discovery Harbour gets ready to welcome a new tenant, 10th Ave. has said goodbye to baked goods and Ukrainian food. That’s the not so good news. The positive side of things is that you can still buy what was sold at Christie’s Place and Plaza Bakery preclosure.

For bread and other goodies, give the Plaza Bakery gang a call at 250-286-1916 and put in your order for next day service. Pick up your freshly baked things from the side parking lot, between the lane and Koto. They’ll make sure you have clear directions on where to find them. 

Check out http://danylchuksperogies.com for menu options and prices, including not only perogies but borscht, cabbage rolls, and pyrizhky as well.  Pick up is at 167 Rockland Road. Call either 250-923-0852 or 250-860-4292 to order. Special orders are always welcome.

Wok Box wokking up fresh choices

Looking for a brand new restaurant choice to help usher in the new year? There’s now a fresh option in town – Wok Box in Mariner Square, beside Save On. It’s open daily from 10am to 10pm – suitable for breaky, lunch or dinner.

Owner Carla Campbell enthusiastically reports that early response has been terrific.

See you there.