Our processing plants

Poisson Salé Gaspésien

A family history
Three families; Nicolas, Dubé and Méthot, from a small coastal village on the Gaspé Peninsula are owners of this company, which was founded in Grande-Rivière in 1974. The Nicolas family has been processing fish for several generations.

Salted and dried cod is one of the company’s most valued assets. This premium product symbolizes Gaspé’s unique quality and authenticity throughout the world. Poisson Salé Gaspésien Ltd. benefits from an environment that is innovation friendly, while offering an expertise that has been acquired over decades.

Since 2009, management at Poisson Salé Gaspésien Ltd. has taken up the challenge of diversifying operations by engaging in lobster processing, while at the same time maintaining its production of other salted, dried and frozen fish. Three years after the launch of the new frozen lobster line, the company managed to triple sales and expand into the USA, Chinese and European markets.

Products :
Live and frozen lobster (whole cooked and raw) frozen lobster tails (cooked and raw), lobster meat, Greenland and Atlantic halibut, herring, mackerel, cod, smoked herring, dried and salted cod.

Current markets: Canada, USA, Japan, China, Caribbean, France, Italy, Spain
Certifications: QMP, HACCP, C-TPAT (SQF in process).

Lelièvre, Lelièvre et Lemoignan

From fishing villages dotting the coast to the rugged shoreline framed by high cliffs, the scenic Gaspé Peninsula, which juts out on Québec’s most easternmost point at the Gulf of St-Lawrence River, is home to Lelièvre, Lelièvre et Lemoignan, a name synonymous with a tradition of excellence and quality of production under our renowned brand name Gaspé Cured™.

Founded in 1968, the company specialized originally in the processing of salted and dried codfish, was then bought out by the three sons of the original founders: Roch Lelièvre, Luc Lelièvre and Marc Lemoignan. The three shareholders then joined together with other fishing plants to form Gaspé Cured™, following a centuries-old fishing tradition – dating back to 1755 – of experience handed down over the years.

Following in our tradition of innovation, we are officially launching our new line of frozen lobster products for the 2012 season. Our 175 skilled workers aim to achieve our highest standards of our Quality Management Program which is constantly refined to ensure that only the products of highest quality are delivered to consumers around the world.

Products:
Live and frozen lobster (whole cooked or raw) frozen lobster tails (cooked or raw), frozen lobster meat and claws, Nordic shrimp (Pandalus Borealis). Salted/Dried cod, Greenland and Atlantic Halibut, Ocean Perch (redfish), Smoked Herring,
Other products include: herring roe, mackerel, bluefin tuna, plaice, and monkfish.
Current markets: Canada, USA, Japan, China, Caribbean, Italy, France, Spain
Certifications : QMP, HACCP, C-TPAT (SQF in process)

Les Pêcheries Gaspésiennes

Proud of its past and future-oriented, family-owned Les Pêcheries Gaspésiennes is dedicated to the diversification of its products and training the next generation to maintain its leading position in the industry. At the forefront of technology, Les Pêcheries Gaspésiennes has evolved over time to meet the growing needs of its valued customers by offering a wide range of fish and seafood products.

A quarter of a century has passed since Mr.Benoit Reeves and his associates, brothers and Ovila and Gaston Cloutier, founded the business with the opening of a groundfish processing plant in 1983. Modest facilities at the time allow the production of fresh fillets to markets in Quebec and Montreal. Ten employees participate in the birth of the company.

A division of Les Pêcheries Gaspésiennes is built in Petit-Cap village the following year to begin the drying of Gaspe Cured cod. Diversification of the business therefore begins by adding this new production of salted and dried fish. Equipped with modern kilns for drying inside these facilities create ten jobs. The same year, the company obtains an operating license for frozen products.

In 1986, the fish market opens its doors to retail sales on the local market. After first conquering the international market with its Gaspé Cured cod, the company offers at last its products to the local market. The people of Rivière-au-Renard village and surroundings are now lining up to make sure to get their hands on fresh, quality products from the sea directly to their plates, without an intermediary. The late 80s is fruitful for Les Pêcheries Gaspésiennes sees its number of employees increase from 30 to 60.

The company then lives through their most crucial period with declaration from the Canadian government of a moratorium on cod and groundfish in 1993. The company, through the Gaspé Cured consortium, must then turn for supplies in raw material outside the country to meet the demand of its customers. Thus, the fish always processed locally, now comes from Russia and Alaska. During this difficult time for the entire fishing industry, the company managed to keep its head above water by continuing to diversify its activities and finding solutions to the challenges ahead.

“Despite a reduced volume of at least 50% due to the moratorium, we kept the number of jobs to nearly 60, confirms Benoit Reeves. The diversification of our activities has allowed the company to remain competitive. ‘

In 1995, les Pêcheries Gaspésiennes obtains federal turbot fishing permits in the waters of Labrador. Two years later, the Cloutier brothers retire after a successful career. Diversification continues further in the late 90s when the company starts to purchase lobster for sales on the domestic market. An agreement with E. Gagnon et Fils plant allows Les Pêcheries Gaspésiennes to land 500,000 pounds of crab in the first year Today, the agreement continues with annual landings of 1.5 million pounds of crab. During the same period, the company also noted a sharp increase in landings of turbot.

Finally the 2000 season starts smoking the products already processed at the plant. This new string to the bow of the company allows Les Pêcheries Gaspésiennes to offer its customers value-added products. In 2007, the company builds a new modern smokehouse, completely automated, increasing its smoking capacity to triple the volume. “This is the most modern smokehouse in the province of Quebec, says Luke Reeves, director”. The equipment allows hot-smoking of fish to provide customers with ready-to-eat products. All these efforts prove that diversification is key in an ever changing industry. In the near future, Les Pêcheries Gaspésiennes will continue its momentum by focusing on the presentation and marketing of their fish & seafood products.

Les Fumoirs Gaspé Cured

The Gaspé Cured smokehouses, built in 2001, are an example of integrated development. In 1995, two of the Consortium Gaspé Cured plants (Poisson Salé Gaspésien Ltée and Lelièvre Lelièvre & Lemoignan Ltée) invested close to 1.5 million dollars in order to start processing herring, with egg extrusion for the Japanese market and herring freezing for bait. Split herring was then sold to New Brunswick smokehouses for smoking. In 2000, Gaspé Cured shareholders, with the help of the Quebec government, invested close to 2 million dollars in the construction of Gaspé Cured smokehouses in order to diversify production in Gaspé and to therefore create local jobs. As a result, 60 jobs were created within the first 10 months.

Today, the smokehouse has increased their workforce to 80 skilled workers. The annual export volume of smoked herring for 2012 was approximately 300 000 lb. In 2013, the owners plan on building three new smokehouses to respond to the increasing demand on the global market.