Wonderful Washington

In July 2016, the WSDA recommended to the USDA that Dr. Ganjyal receive a $229,733 competitive WDSA-Specialty Crop Block Grant to develop food safety training specifically for small producers and food processors. Final approval is expected by the end of September 2016.

“If we are awarded this grant, the funds will be used to offer highly subsidized trainings on FSMA-PCHF, the FSMA Produce Rule, Sanitation Basics, and current Good Manufacturing Practices,” Dr. Ganjyal says. “Along with the trainings, we will be developing fact sheets and model food safety plans for a few select foods, which we will make available to download on our extension website. This will be another strong collaborative effort between WSU, WSDA, industry, and other stakeholders in Washington.”

Seafood
Washington’s centuries-old fishing and seafood industry currently generates nearly $15 billion in direct and indirect annual revenues and about 148,000 jobs, according to a 2013 Washington State Maritime Cluster Economic Impact Study.

Declining catches, competitive markets, constantly changing practices, and the challenge of finding new employees make smart business practices essential to sustaining Washington’s fishing industry, says Pete Granger, MBA, a seafood industry specialist with Washington Sea Grant (WSG).

Established in 1968 and based at the University of Washington College of the Environment, WSG is part of a national network of 33 Sea Grant programs that is administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and funded through federal-university partnerships. WSG provides safety training, technical guidance, and research to Washington’s fishing and seafood communities.

“WSG promulgates sustainable fishing practices in the state through many forums,” Granger relates. “It co-produces the annual Wild Seafood Exchange, a forum for fishermen seeking to undertake direct marketing. Working with the Makah Tribe and Coastal Trollers Association, it hosts the prestigious Lark Lunch, presenting Washington’s distinctive, formerly depreciated marbled salmon to seafood buyers and better positioning Washington fishermen to compete with Alaskans in the wild salmon market. And working with WSU, WSG also launched in 2013 an Access to Capital workshop, bringing nontraditional lending sources to fishermen and farmers.”

Fish and shellfish are central to the economies and cultures of Western Washington’s tribal communities, Granger emphasizes. “Today, however, tribal harvesters face limited markets and stiff competition,” he says. “Unfortunately, traditional fish handling practices often fail to ensure the quality demanded by today’s markets, depressing sales and prices.”

To help with these issues, WSG has built a close working relationship with regional tribal communities, supporting their efforts to enhance fishery sales and profitability, Granger points out. “For more than six years, WSG has provided training and technical advice on business operations, retail and wholesale marketing, and seafood quality and handling to such tribes as the Nisqually, Lummi, and Makah. WSG staff help tribal fishermen upgrade the quality of their catches, develop value-added products, and market their catches directly to capture a larger share of profits,” he elaborates.

Consumers often wonder if the fish they buy is healthy, high-quality, and sustainably caught, Granger notes. To help seafood workers respond to customer inquiries regarding these concerns, under Granger’s leadership, WSG designed and launched in 2008 a 12-hour course in seafood retail for apprentice meatcutters, offered in conjunction with the meatcutter apprenticeship programs of South Seattle Community College and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.

“Trainees learn about seafood product origin, sensory evaluation, quality maintenance, safety, sanitation, marketing, and promotion,” Granger relates. “Each trainee receives a comprehensive manual with waterproof pages for counter use. Afterward they are evaluated on their retention of seafood information and surveyed about customer knowledge and training impacts.”

About 25 students complete the apprenticeship annually, Granger reports.

“Having a better informed person behind the seafood counter means customers get better information about the quality and safety of the seafood they are buying,” Granger says about benefits of the program. “Likewise, better-trained retail seafood managers can sell more seafood and that benefits those companies and fishermen who supply them with product.”