Ucluelet Harbour Seafoods (UHS) based on Vancouver Island has been fined $25,000 for failing to comply with BC Ministry of Environment and Parks standards.
According to two reports, the BC Government issued their penalty notice on March 13th of this year, detailing one fine for $19,000 and another for $6,000.
This stems from an inspection report on November 22nd, 2024, in which the ministry found UHS to be out of compliance with a number of requirements.
According to the final determination report, the fine was issued due to a failure to comply with key legal conditions tied to water discharge permits and incident reporting.
In this case, the seafood company was allegedly dumping an unauthorized amount of effluent (liquid waste or sewage) into Barkley Sound from a fish processing plant.
By going over the authorized limit, a significant impact or very serious threat to the environment or to human health becomes a real possibility, and can result in serious penalties.
Once the exceedances were made clear, it’s said that UHS made efforts to determine the cause and attributed the problem to an ammonia cleaning agent, insufficient cleaning schedule, warm temperatures, a hose leak and others.
The fine stems from 33 separate infractions (28 of which were over 50% above permitted levels) during a 15‑month period ending in August 2024. The penalty was reduced by 20% after the company installed improved treatment equipment and protocols.
According to the report, their efforts for updated equipment installation and proper maintenance are ongoing.
This will include installing and maintaining a flow measuring device and recording the effluent volume discharged over a 24-hour period. Records must be retained for inspection.
Of note, UHS changed their company name to PAC Seafood – Ucluelet Harbour Holding Ltd. in October 2024. For the purpose of the government’s assessment, they’re still referred to as UHS.
The family-run company, headquartered in Oregon, operates more than 40 processing facilities across the United States, Canada, and Chile.
In addition to the fine in BC, the company is also facing major penalties south of the border.
In June 2024, the Washington State Department of Ecology fined Pacific Seafood over $100,000 for multiple wastewater violations at its Westport, Washington facility.
Inspectors found the plant repeatedly exceeded limits for oil and grease, chlorine, and pH, with one discharge showing over 14 times the permitted level of oil and grease. The facility also failed to adequately report and monitor its discharges, breaching permit conditions.
