Ocean Choice closing P.E.I. lobster processing plant, eliminating 300 jobs

<p>SOURIS, P.E.I. – Ocean Choice International is shutting down its lobster processing facility in Souris, P.E.I., throwing about 300 people out of work.</p> <p>Chief operating officer Blaine Sullivan issued a statement Monday, saying the company’s board for directors decided to sell the plant, seven years after it was purchased from the now-defunct Polar Foods International.</p> <p>Ocean Choice invested about $20 million in the plant over the years, but it had to be closed because the company is headed in a different direction, he said.</p> <p>Some administrative staff will be kept on to set up and operate a new purchasing and distribution operation.</p> <p>”I regret that we have had to make this decision,” Sullivan said. “We have tried very hard to make the plant work to its maximum capacity , and invested millions in design changes and new equipment to make the plant as technologically advanced as possible.”</p> <p>Sullivan says the company will continue to buy lobster from other processors on the Island and elsewhere.</p> <p>The company is hoping to find a buyer for the plant within the year.</p> <p>”Ideally we would have made this announcement earlier, but we have been exploring every avenue and option we could find in an effort to keep production in the plant,” Sullivan said. </p> <p>”We are mindful of the staff and production jobs that will be lost , and the economic impact our decision will have on Souris and the surrounding area. We had to make a business decision. It did not come easy.”</p>