Company History

Keltic Seafoods Limited was formerly the Port Hardy division of Seafood Products Limited.  The plant was constructed in 1966 by five partners headed by Don Cruickshank.  Seafood Products Company Limited was a buyer processor and marketer of Salmon, Herring and Halibut. The plant was also a cannery and during the summer, the plant had over 200 employees processing and canning salmon as well as off loading and shipping other products. 

The marketing of the fresh and canned products was done by Carol Cameron, who worked at the head office and Vancouver fish plant, located at 2727 Commissioner Street in Vancouver.  The Vancouver plant was managed by Peter Briscoe, another owner and also the company accountant.

During the herring season, over 300 people worked at the Port Hardy plant processing herring roe for the Japanese markets.  The owners were very innovative and constructed one of the first immersion freezers for herring on the coast.  The plant was well know for the high quality of products it produced and is a tradition carried on by the current work force, many of whom were with Seafood Products.

In 1988 the owners sold the company to Clear Water Foods and over time it changed hands several times finally ended up in the control of Maple Leaf Foods International. Maple Leaf Foods closed the plant in 1999 and a group of former employees and a group of local business people, purchased the plant in 2000 and started custom processing fish.

The plant now employees, on average, 84 people and is a large contributor to the local economy.