28 B u s i n e s s p l a n | F i s h m e a l a n d f i s h o i l p r o d u c t i o n Product ion PRODUCTION Fishmeal production consists from two stages: fishing and fish processing. Location of the plant in Louisiana is beneficial for both of them. For fishing – because of presence of the Menhaden main population at the coast of Louisiana, decreasing the total cost of landing. For the production – because cost of gas and electricity in Louisiana is lower than on the average over the USA (see Table 7). Table 7. Advantages of Louisiana FISHING TECHNOLOGY PURSE SEINING Menhaden are harvested with the help of purse seines. A purse seine is a large wall of netting deployed around an entire area or school of fish (see Figure 20). The seine has floats along the top line with a lead line threaded through rings along the bottom. Once a school of fish is located, a skiff encircles the school with the net. The lead line is then pulled in, «pursing» the net closed on the bottom, preventing fish from escaping by swimming downward. The catch is harvested by either hauling the net aboard or bringing it alongside the vessel. Purse seines can reach more than 2,000 m in length and 200 m in depth, varying in size according to the vessel, mesh size, and target species. Figure 24. A purse seining Finding a school of fish is one of the most difficult steps of this fishing technique and include: • Natural cues such as a congregation of seabirds, ruffling of surface water and/or fast moving groups of dolphins, • Airplanes scanning the water for natural cues from the air to direct boats toward schooling fish, and • Using radar fish finders to help identify the exact location and size of a school. Louisiana U.S. Average Natural Gas $ 3.22 /thousand cu ft. $ 4.40 /thousand cu ft. Electricity 5.23 cents/kWh 6.98 cents/kWh
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