Omega Protein

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Omega Protein Corporation
Type Public (NYSE: OME)
Industry Fish products
Founded 1998
Headquarters Houston, Texas
Revenue $177 million USD
Employees 653
Website www.omegaproteininc.com

Omega Protein Corporation (NYSE: OME) is a producer of omega-3 fish oil and North America's largest manufacturer of protein-rich specialty fishmeal and organic fish solubles.

History

Menhaden fishing is one of America's older commercial industries, dating back to the 1800s. In the early years of American history, menhaden fishing and processing was a very common sight along the Atlantic coast line. In 1850, D.D. Wells & Son started the very first fish factory for catching and processing menhaden.[1] In fact, by the 1950s there were 112 fishing vessels being used to catch menhaden.

In 1878 John and Thomas Haynie began a primitive fish processing operation on their family property in Reedville, Virginia. The brothers would sell the processed menhaden fish oil which was used as a standard fuel source and manufacturing purposes. During the 1920s the oil shifted markets due to the emergence of kerosene and petroleum as the dominant fuel sources. By 1947 the company began using spotter pilots to identify schools of fish. Approximately 10 years later the company introduces hydraulic power blocks onto ship vessels. Today product is now advertised as a source of improved health for plants, animals and humans.[2] The historical development of the menhaden fishing industry has been documented in John Frye's work The Men All Singing: The Story of Menhaden Fishing.[3] On March 26, 2002, Omega Protein's 2001 results included a $66,000 increase in net income resulting from a restatement of the Company's financial results for the quarters ended June 30, 2001 and September 30, 2001.[4]

Expansion

  • 1903- John A. Haynie Company becomes Haynie, Snow and Company
  • 1913- Haynie, Snow and Company becomes Reedville Oil & Guano Company
  • 1966- Expansion into the Gulf o fMexico with the opening of processing facilities in LA & MS
  • 1968- Reedville Oil & Guano Company renames to Haynie Products, Inc.
  • 1970- Haynie Products, Inc. becomes Zapata Haynie Corporation after merger with Zapata Oil
  • 1994- Zapata Haynie Corporation renames to Zapata Protein
  • 1997- Zapata Protein goes public
  • 2002- Zapata Protein renames to Omega Protein[5]
  • 2010- Omega Protein acquires Cyvex Nutrition, Inc., a dietary supplement supplier[6]
  • 2011- Omega Protein acquires InCon Processing, L.L.C., a processor that uses molecular distillation technology[7]

Operations

Headquarters- Houston, Texas
Warehouses- Avondale, LA; Guntersville, AL; East Dubuque, IL; St. Louis, MO
Processing- Cameron, LA; Abbeville, LA; Moss Point, MS; Reedville, VA; Batavia, IL
Research- Omega Protein Health & Science Center in Reedville, VA and OmegaPure Technology and Innovation Center (OPTIC) in Houston, TX

Harvesting

Technique

  1. Spotter Planes- fly along the coast to identify schools of menhaden. Then the plane radios findings to the factory ship.
  2. Factory Ship- voyages over to the school of fish spotted by the plane. Launches two smaller vessels to collect the catch.
  3. Fishing vessels- the two smaller ships begin encircling the school of fish while dragging a purse seine.
  4. The factory Ship approaches the two vessels with the collected purse seine and begins taking on board all the fish within the net.
  5. The vessels return to the dock where the caught fish are unloaded for processing.
  6. A Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) has been installed on 43 vessels in 4 different locations to monitor, survey and transmit data from vessels to shore.

Atlantic

The Atlantic menhaden are harvested along the coast of Virginia and parts of North Carolina. The menhaden reduction fishery is the largest fishery on the East Coast. The menhaden are managed by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), which is an interstate agreement with the 15 Atlantic Coast states.

Gulf

The Gulf menhaden are harvested along the coast of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and parts of Florida. The Gulf menhaden have a shorter life span than their Atlantic counterparts. The menhaden are managed by the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission (GSMFC), which is a compact between the five Gulf states.

Product

Fish Meal

  • Special Select
  • Natural Nautic
  • SeaLac

Fish Oil

  • Virginia Prime
  • OmegaEquis
  • SeaCide
  • OmegaPure
  • Crude Oil

Fish Soluble

  • OmegaGrow
  • OmegaGrow Plus
  • Neptune

Environmental Record

Awards

In 2008 Omega Protein receives certification from Friend of the Sea a non-profit, non-government organization that aims at conserving marine habitat.[8] The certification provided by the organization is conducted through an onsite monitoring project to approve sustainability in fisheries and aquaculture.[9] In 2009 Omega Protein received the Friend of the Sea Award for sustainability. The award is given to those whose target stocks cannot be considered overexploited, the company's fishing methods must not impact the seabed, and the company's fishing methods must not discard more than 8% in weight of their catch.[10]

Issues

BP Oil Spill

The oil slick had an adverse effect on the Company’s ability to operate in the fishing grounds east of the Mississippi River Delta, near its Moss Point, Mississippi facility. Regulators closed areas to commercial fishing. The Company developed additional contingency response plans to move its vessels from Morgan City, Louisiana farther west to its Abbeville and Cameron facilities should regulators close a greater portion of the fishing grounds. On October 20, 2010 OMega Protein announced that it has to date received a total of $18.7 million in payments, net of fees, from the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (“GCCF”). The GCCF is administering funds paid by BP in connection with reimbursements for claims caused by the Deepwater Horizon disaster. .[11]

2011 Collision and Sinking

Omega Protein reported that late in the evening on May 18, 2011, an Omega Protein vessel, the F/V SANDY POINT, was involved in a collision with a commercial cargo vessel, the EURUS LONDON, in Mississippi waters approximately eight miles south of Gulfport, Mississippi near Ship Island. As a result of the collision, the F/V SANDY POINT took on water and sank.At the time of the collision, 16crew members were aboard Omega Protein’s vessel. Authorities have accounted for 13 of Omega Protein’s crew members. A search and rescue effort was immediately deployed for the remaining 3 crew members. Mr. Joe von Rosenberg, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at the time of the incident, stated “We are assisting the U.S. Coast Guard and the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources in the search for our remaining crew members. Our main concern at this time is for our missing 3 crew members and their families.”[12]

References

  1. "The Menhadne Fishery Off Long Island". The New York Times. February 12, 1874. Retrieved October 12, 2011. 
  2. "The History". Retrieved September 29, 2011. 
  3. John Frye (1978). The Men All Singing: The Story of Menhaden Fishing (1st ed.). Donning. 
  4. "Omega Protein Records $3.9 Million Profit for 2001". 
  5. "The History". Retrieved September 29, 2011. 
  6. , "Cyvex acquisition", September 29, 2011
  7. , "InCon acquisition", September 29, 2011
  8. , "Friend of the Sea", September 29, 2011
  9. , "Friend of the Sea Certification", September 29, 2011
  10. , "Friend of the Sea Award", September 29, 2011
  11. Omega Protein files for reimbursement from BP, MSNBC News, July 16, 2010

External links

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