Revision of the Shellfish Code of Practice to be Standardized to an Operating Procedures Evaluation System

Final Report
New Brunswick Shellfish Growers Association (NBSGA)
AIMAP 2012-G10

Summary/Abstract

The project was intended to provide members of the New Brunswick Shellfish Growers Association (NBSGA) with a new reference manual to assist them in following current regulations, developing or integrating "Standard Operating Procedures" (SOPs) related to shellfish culture, including practices tested for the Atlantic climate, model logs for compiling field data and reports for evaluating the results of analysis and business progress.

The NBSGA's aim was to have a management tool to help in meeting expectations related to sustainable development and its members' eligibility for "Standard Operating Procedures' certification promoting better food safety for shellfish products, openness to insurance and new financing.

The project was developed under the AIMAP program, assigned number AIMAP-2012-G10 and undertaken by Services Terriosol under the supervision of NBSGA president Micheline Després, with advice from DFO and DAAF officials.

The primary conclusions or results available at this stage are that the proposed format offers a more pragmatic focus on what the shellfish industry needs to comply with and partially adapt to so that it becomes both socially acceptable and viable. It has been determined that clearly informing shellfish growers of (1) the likely risks faced by their business, (2) the proven or recommended directives to follow in order to reduce the negative impacts of these risks and (3) the management tools available to them, will enable them to better control their business (efficiency, profitability and viability).

The Implementation Guide of SOPs for Shellfish Culture in New Brunswick (Guide) was designed to assist novices and experienced shellfish growers alike in collecting and processing field data for reports aimed at better analysis of the results, risks and profitability of the shellfish culture business. The ultimate goal is to foster better business decision-making. This document could ultimately become a guide for bankers, insurers and others.

To ensure a smooth integration of the Implementation Guide of SOPs for Shellfish Culture in New Brunswick  with shellfish growers, it was recommended that workshops on each fact sheet be launched, to demonstrate the ease of use of field logs and the scope of the reports they can generate.

The Implementation Guide of SOPs for Shellfish Culture in New Brunswickprovides an excellent starting point for achieving all of the NBSGA's objectives: providing good representation of the shellfish growing industry, strengthening its status, rallying producers and offering members good management tools to ensure the industry's viability and development. Note that the Implementation Guide of SOPs for Shellfish Culture in New Brunswick is dynamic with new fact sheets being able to be added as needed.

Introduction

Background

Since the early 2000s, there has been strong interest in the healthy development of New Brunswick's shellfish culture industry. Over the years, many informative documents have been developed, drafted and submitted to the shellfish growing industry without truly addressing growers themselves on the steps or guidelines to follow to ensure good management of their business. And the reason is simple. The science of shellfish culture is still young, legislation remains a delicate matter and no one as yet has the miracle recipe guaranteeing success. 

Our departments do their best to appropriately direct and advise our producers, but they must also comply with best management practices to succeed. Currently only management based on risk reduction can achieve viability and open a path to profitability over the medium term.

It was only after the pilot project to implement the shellfish culture SOPs proposed by the Global Trust Group that the NBSGA realized the need for an Implementation Guide of SOPs for Shellfish Culture in New Brunswick based on reducing risk to facilitate the integration of SOPs by its members.

Objectives

The project objectives:

1. Develop a Guidewith measures to reduce the risks in a shellfish growing business, more specifically an oyster breeding business.
2. Provide a simple, brief and practical format.
3. Provide content that includes current regulations on mollusc production, the procedures recommended to reduce risks and those practices recognized for achieving this.
4. Provide management tools such as logs for collecting field data and reports for analyzing results year over year, to build a history of operations.
5. Offer indicators of success to help shellfish growers assess their own efforts and management systems.

Scope

The report will discuss obstacles encountered in achieving the goals set and reasons for choosing the final format for the Guide. It will deal more with the practical aspect rather than theoretical because the science is still evolving and tools are constantly being redeveloped.

Development Methodology

1. Develop a community of support and advisors/partners:
   • Sylvio Doiron, DAAF biologist from Shippagan;
   • Marie-Josée Maillet, DAAF biologist from Bouctouche;
   • Léon Lanteigne, M.Sc. biology and oyster breeder from Lamèque;
   • Victorin Mallet, oyster breeder from Shippagan;
   • Cassidy Weisbord, M.Sc, Grad. Dip. (Aquaculture), General Manager, Little Shemogue Oyster Farm at Port Elgin.
2. Develop model formats and content and choose the format to be used;
3. Develop drafts of four or five fact sheets in line with the project vision;
4. Have the format and content of five fact sheets from the Implementation Guide of SOPs for Shellfish Culture in new Brunswickvalidated by a group of five shellfish growers:
   • Mario Noël of The Acadian Oyster Ltd. in St. Simon's Bay;
   • Donat Robichaud of Monroe Island Oysters in St. Simon's Bay;
   • Fernand Breault of Fernand Breault Aquaculture in Neguac Bay;
   • Armand King of King Aquaculture Ltd. in Richibucto Village;
   • Wayne William of Atlantic Oyster & Company in Cocagne Bay.
5. Popularize and distribute the written materials:
   • The manual's notice of publication will be presented at the 2013 AGA.
   • A printer will be contracted to do the lay-out and produce the manuals.
   • The NBSGA will handle distribution to members and interested organizations.
   • The NBSGA will upload the Implementation Guide of SOPs for Shellfish Culture in New Brunswick to its website, exclusively for its members.

Results

Achievements

Here is a list of achievements made possible through the project's financing:

1. Development of a catalogue of documents related to regulating mollusc breeding operations, models of "Codes of Practice" or guides to better shellfish culture practices, information documents on rearing techniques, equipment, the biology of molluscs, their enemies, etc. The catalogue totals 210 M of memory in 173 files and 25 folders.

2. Subsequently, the project leader attempted to collect pertinent information related to the items outlined initially, i.e. the incomplete 2008 reference model, which included the following items:

1. Species biology
2. Equipment
3. Aquaculture techniques
4. Development methods
5. Technical tips
6. Research and development
7. Sustainable development
8. Risk management
9. Product safety and regulations

A new catalogue of Word documents was developed by copy-pasting information deemed pertinent for the reference material. This second catalogue took up 19.3 M of space and includes 23 files.

3. A review of all documentation collected, the topics to be included and the project's objectives revealed that the approach would require considerable editing and result in a voluminous reference work of more than 150 pages. We now find ourselves at an impasse. The advisory group chose to develop solely the "Risk Management" section, which best corresponded to objectives. Subjects dealt with the management of oyster enemies (marine biofouling, predators, diseases and biotoxins, invasive species, climate and pollution), limiting the amount of content for editing.

4. In the meantime, the NBSGA's administration, assisted by the advisory group, approached printers to develop a new graphic layout for the reference work and negotiated a service agreement for lay-out, translation into English and printing.

5. The project leader returned to work with these new directives. He quickly realized that, even then, it would be difficult to condense the mitigation measures to control oyster enemies as safety regulations had to be considered (183-page manual) and it was important to limit the document to non-lethal interventions, avoid repeating information that was already well covered in other publications and deal with the lack or ambiguity of measures with respect to diseases and predators.

6. The group reviewed everything and proposed a new approach. This approach was presented at the AGA and duly approved by the SOP certification specialist from Global Trust, Cormac O'Sullivan, who stressed the importance of incorporating mitigation measures for six risk areas (operational, environmental, food safety, oyster health, social acceptance and financial). The group paired major themes from the SOP implementation guide and the 2008 shellfish culture code of practices to develop a practical reference work that will better meet objectives.

Once the plan was adopted, the editor and the advisory group developed the following drafts:

• Introduction
• Fact sheet 1: Managing a shellfish culture site
• Fact sheet 2: Environmental monitoring and management
• Fact sheet 3: Managing shellfish culture operations
• Fact sheet 4: Managing the sale of shellfish products
• Fact sheet 5: Risk measurement scale

7. The drafts were sent to Mistral Communications for lay-out and to then have an initial series printed. They were also sent to the advisor/partner group for final review.

8. The Implementation Guide of SOPs for Shellfish Culture in New Brunswick was submitted to Vox Interactif for uploading to the Web.

Subjective Evaluation of the Work

1. The format of the Implementation Guide of SOPs for Shellfish Culture in New Brunswick is innovative with the advantage of being dynamic (potential to add new fact sheets with directives or information) and flexible as appended tools can be modified, adjusted or replaced.
2. The reader will be better able to understand the nature of risks and how to handle them.
3. From the start, tools were created, revised and adapted to better fit the prescribed standard operating procedures and foster the creation of documents and scenarios required for good analysis of situations and enlightened decision-making.
4. Fact sheet 5 of the Implementation Guide of SOPs for Shellfish Culture in New Brunswick offers a means whereby shellfish growers themselves can assess the risks their businesses face, define their priorities and decide how to respond.
5. The Implementation Guide of SOPs for Shellfish Culture in New Brunswick is also an indispensible tool for orienting the development of software for processing field data.

Conclusion

The main conclusion is that the team believes it has developed a highly innovative approach to achieving the objectives set by the NBSGA. Implementing and using this first edition of the Implementation Guide of SOPs for Shellfish Culture in New Brunswick in our pilot group during the 2013 season will reveal its true outreach.

The Implementation Guide of SOPs for Shellfish Culture in New Brunswick could end up becoming a guide for bankers, insurers and others involved in shellfish culture.

Recommendations for Potential Improvements

In light of these conclusions, I recommend setting up a series of training workshops on the initial five fact sheets in the Guide. The workshops will also act as a springboard for publicizing the Guide and the NBSGA's inventory management software which can be used alongside the Guide.

Implementation of the Guide could be made even easier if additional modules are developed for the shellfish management software such as: employee management and input management modules, a risks and alerts self-evaluation module, an internal accounting module, and other types of SOP reporting required for a certification audit.

The more we reduce the time required to compile field data and process and analyze it in reports, the more likely it is shellfish growers will get on board with these guidelines. This will only make the industry stronger.