LAS VEGAS – Day three of the 2017 NFCA Convention is in the books as four new members entered the prestigious Hall of Fame. Additionally, speakers filled the day and the Softball Summit presented by USA Softball introduced the membership to softball dignitaries, recognized two members for their selflessness and perseverance and announced the grand prize winner of the ONE DRIVE.

In the signature event, Sheilah Gulas, OC Batbusters’ Gary Haning, Carson-Newman’s Vickee Kazee-Hollifield and UConn’s Karen Mullins were enshrined into the NFCA Hall of Fame. The Association also announced its class of 2018 of Salisbury’s Margie Knight, North Davidson High School’s Mike Lambros (posthumously) and Tennessee’s Karen Weekly.

Following the banquet, attendees had the opportunity to attend Legacy Event Management’s After Party at Beer Park on Paris’ rooftop.

For the second straight day, Jen Williams of MIT led a “Slots” of Fun workout circuit, while other attendees had the opportunity to stretch and relax in a yoga session. At the conclusion of JT Gasso’s (Oklahoma) Technology’s Role in Building Elite Hitters” presented by Diamond Kinetics presentation, Dabecka Kirk of La Monte High School, Villa Grove Elite’s Floyd Fisher and Mount San Antonio College head coach Ruby Rojas were announced as the 2017 winners of the inaugural Diamond Kinetics/NFCA Technology Scholarship.

The Summit kicked off with past president Rhonda Revelle and executive director Carol Bruggeman drawing the ONE DRIVE winner. This year’s recipient was Denison head coach Tiffany Ozbun. She has the opportunity to select from several great prizes, including two Women’s College World Series ticket, a lifetime NFCA membership and an all-expenses paid trip to the 2018 Convention in Chicago. Softball dignitaries USA Softball Executive Director Craig Cress, USA Baseball assistant coach Jenny Dalton-Hill and NPF commissioner Cheri Kempf provided overviews for the those in attendance, while Meg Aronowitz, coordinating producer at ESPN and SEC Network, showed the growth of softball on national television. Additionally, NCAA Secretary-Rules Editor Vickie Van Kleeck went over the newly implemented rules for 2018, while new Coordinator of Umpires Craig Hyde discussed umpire education and went over a few rules as well.

The Summit capped off with the recognition of NFCA Humanitarian Award winner Mark Larriba of Flower Mound High School and Donna Newberry “Perseverance” Award recipient, Indianapolis head coach Melissa Frost.

The sold-out exhibit show closed on Friday with the annual silent auction, where attendees bid on donated exhibitor products and take them home for a fraction of the cost.

The day also featured seven featured speakers along with four panels featuring a variety of coaches from emeriti to 2017 national champions as well as USSSA Pride players.

The convention concludes on Saturday with Drills, Drills, Drills, the Champions Brunch, Chalk Talks and two speakers- UMSL’s Lauren Lappin and Mike Stith of STC and OC Batbusters.

A prestigious private school where a student was allegedly sexually assaulted did not report the incident to the Toronto police, a spokeswoman for the force said Thursday, adding that a criminal investigation was launched only after officers were contacted by the media.

Police did not release any details about the incident, which allegedly took place at St. Michael’s College School, an all-boys Catholic institution that teaches grades 7 through 12.

In an email to parents, the school’s principal said they had been made aware of “two very serious incidents” that were in clear violation of the student code of conduct.

“The administration was informed about these incidents on Monday of this week and immediately began an internal investigation that included informing police and meeting individually with the students involved and their parents,” Greg Reeves wrote in the note sent Wednesday afternoon.

“Our concern is first and foremost with the safety and well-being of our students and we are shocked and heartbroken that such incidents have taken place at our school,” he said.

Const. Caroline de Kloet said the school had contacted police on Monday to seek advice on how to deal with an incident that was not the alleged sex assault.

“Advice was provided to the school and no further action was taken or received,” de Kloet said.

She said the force began investigating on Wednesday after receiving media inquiries about an alleged sex assault.

The school said in a statement Wednesday that “swift and decisive disciplinary action” had taken place, including expulsions, but it didn’t say how many.

‘Deeply saddened’: Basilian Fathers spokesman

St. Michael’s is run by the Basilian Fathers with roots dating back to the Congregation of St. Basil in France that is a “fully independent, Catholic high school,” according to its website.

“We are deeply saddened by the events that have come to light over the past days,” said Rev. Thomas Rosica, a spokesman for the Basilian Fathers. “Our primary concern in all of this situation is the protection of students, young people and vulnerable persons.”

Rosica said the organization is working with school officials and authorities to establish a timeline of events.

Two police sources said the incident the school discussed with officers on Monday involved members of the basketball team bullying a student and soaking him with water. Those sources say there was another incident involving the football team where a group of boys held down another student and allegedly sexually assaulted him with a broom handle. Both incidents were captured on video and circulated among the students at the school.

Video qualifies as child pornography

In a rare move, police released a statement Wednesday night saying investigators had determined the video of the alleged sexual assault met the definition of child pornography.

“Anyone who has this video is in possession of child pornography,” police said. “The video must be deleted immediately and cannot be shared with anyone.”

Det. Sgt. Paul Krawczyk, who runs the child exploitation section within the sex crimes division at Toronto police, said they decided to act proactively and warn both parents and students about the severity of possessing and sharing the video.

“It shows the alleged sexual assault of a child,” he said in an interview.

Krawczyk said getting the video removed from the internet will be almost impossible, and in some cases police are worried about losing evidence.

“But we have the evidence we want,” he said. “I’d rather lose potential evidence and save a victim from having this sent around more. It’s trying to stop that little hole of water from becoming a burst dam.”

Krawczyk said he wants both parents and students in general to be aware of the perils of sharing sexually explicit videos.

“There are charges at play, like non consensual distribution of intimate images,” he said.

St. Michael’s is known for its athletic programs, and alumni include hockey greats Frank Mahovlich, Dave Keon and Tim Horton. Other alumni include Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk.

The school is run by the Basilian Fathers with roots dating back to the Congregation of St. Basil in France that is a “fully independent, Catholic high school,” according to its website.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Holly Speers of Kent State and UCLA’s Rachel Garcia were named Louisville/Slugger NFCA Division I National Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for games played April 16-22.

Speers powered her way to this week’s honor, recording six extra base hits, including four home runs, and 11 RBI. The senior infielder also doubled twice, scored five times, drew two walks and registered a monstrous 3.151 OPS (2.333 SLG/.818 OBP). Speers hit a pinch-hit grand slam against Pitt and was 3-for-3 with two long balls, three RBI and two runs in game two versus Buffalo. She capped off the Mid-American Conference series with a double, home run and four RBI in a sweep of the Bulls.

Garcia racked up her second straight and third NFCA honor of 2018 after a dominating performance over the weekend against then-No. 1 Washington. The red-shirt sophomore tossed 13 shutout innings and fanned 18 as she went 2-0 with a save, helping the Bruins sweep the Huskies and ascend to No. 1 this week in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll. She limited UW to four hits, a .093 batting average and two walks.

In game one, Garcia twirled a three-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts and a walk. She tossed 4 1/3 innings of one-hit relief with six puchouts in the walk-off game-two victory. Garcia slammed the door shut in the finale, retiring the final five batters, including two by strikeout, to earn the save.

Player & Pitcher of the Week
April 24 – Holly Speers, Kent State | Rachel Garcia, UCLA
April 17 – Kayla Wedl, UIC | Rachel Garcia, UCLA
April 10 – Sydney Sherrill, Florida State | Miranda Elish, Oregon
April 3 – Marisa Stankiewicz, Arizona State | Emily Watson, Tulsa
March 27 – Jocelyn Alo, Oklahoma | G Juarez, Arizona State
March 20 – Madison Gott, Columbia | Jacquelyn Sertic, North Dakota State
March 13 – Lexi Rouse, Belmont | Alexis Osorio, Alabama / Carley Hoover, LSU
March 6 – Faith Canfield, Michigan | Gabbie Plain, Washington
Feb. 27 – Rachel Garcia, UCLA | Kelly Barnhill, Florida
Feb. 20 – Tori Vidales, Texas A&M | Kylee Hanson, Florida State
Feb. 13 – Vanessa Shippy, Oklahoma State | Missy Zoch, DePaul

Selected Top Performances
Alexas Romero, Syracuse – 3-0, 0.70 ERA, 41 K, 7 BB, .063 opp BA; Hayley Norton, Saint Francis (Pa.)– .333, 7 H, 5 HR, 14 RBI, 6 R, 2 SB, 1.048 SLG, .417 OBP; Megan Kleist, Oregon– 2-0, 0.00 ERA, 12 K, 1 BB, SHO v No. 2 Oklahoma; Maddie Westmoreland, Indiana– .636, 7 H, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 3 R, 1.182 SLG, .692 OBP; Jilee Schanda, Boston University– .643, 9 H, 2 2B, 3 3B, 7 RBI, 6 R, 2 SB, 1.214 SLG; Mary Wilson Avant, Georgia– 3-0, 0.39 ERA, 1 R, SHO, 2 CG, 12 K; Morgan Tolle, James Madison– .545, 6 H, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 4 R; Sarah Cornell, Hofstra– 4-0, 3 SHO, 1.31 ERA, 29 K; Megan Dejter, Towson, 3-0, 0.78 ERA, 14 K, 4 H, 18 IP; Tara Trainer, Indiana – 3-1, 0.82 ERA, 2 ER, 21 K, .093 opp BA, 17 IP; Kendyl Scott, Towson– .600, 9 H, 2B, 3B, HR, 9 RBI, 1.000 SLG; Julia DeMartino, Liberty– 3-0, SV, 0.00 ERA, SHO, 23 K, 2 BB, 17.2 IP, .175 opp BA;  Jacquelyn Sertic, North Dakota State– 2-0, 0.00 ERA, 22 K, 3 BB, 7 H, .135 opp BA; Ali DuBois, Boston University– 4-0, 0.88 ERA, 26 K, 4 BB, .141 opp BA; Brielle Pietrafesa, Hofstra– .500, 10 H, 3 2B, 3B, HR, 10 RBI, 7 R, .545 OBP; Gia Rodoni, Baylor– 3-0, 1 R, 21 K, SHO, 20.1 IP, .189 opp BA; Amber Fiser, Minnesota– 3-0, 0.43 ERA, 15 K, 16.1 IP; Amanda Lorenz, Florida– .636, 7 H, 3B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 7 R; Kiara Oliver, UMass– 2-0, 0.79 ERA, 22 K, 17.2 IP; Maddy Vermejan, Southern Illinois– .556, 3 HR, 10 RBI; Nicole Newman, Drake– 3-0, 3 SHO, 23 K, 1 BB.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Essex’s (Vt.) Sarah Knickerbocker, South Park’s (Pa.) Jess Dean, Warhill’s (Williamsburg, Va.) Keely Rochard and Madisonville-North Hopkins’ (Ky.) Kaylee Tow were selected MaxPreps/NFCA National High School Player of the Week winners for their outstanding play during the week of June 5-11.

East Region
In two games last week, Knickerbocker was 4-for-7 (.571) with a pair of home runs, four RBI and three runs scored. Leaving the yard in each contest, Knickerbocker went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored during a 3-2 win over Bellows Free Academy and 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs in a one-run defeat to Mount Anthony.

North Region
In victories over Titusville and Lincoln, Dean hit .833 and slugged 1.833 with a double, triple, home run, five RBI and four runs scored. She opened the week going 3-for-3 at the plate with a triple, three RBI and two runs. Against Lincoln, Dean doubled, homered drove in two run and scored twice.

South Region
Rochard capped off a stellar season with an epic 18-inning shutout to win the Group 3A softball state title, In the title rematch against rival Brookville, Rochard went toe-to-toe with Jordan Dail, before a two-out walk-off hit won it for the Lions. Rochard scattered 10 hits, struck out 16 and walked five, while recording one of Warhill’s eight hits. A day earlier in the semifinals, she twirled a one-hit shutout in a 2-0 victory over Patrick County. Rochard fanned 11, did not walk a batter and also drove in a run with a double.

South Central Region
Tow keyed Madisonville-North Hopkins to its first state championship. Over a three-day, six-game stretch, Tow hit .600 with two home runs, five RBI and seven runs scored. She drew five walks, which contributed to her .680 on-base percentage. She was 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs in the tournament opener against Pikeville. Tow homered against Mercy and in the first of three games against Male (2-for-2, 2B, HR, 3 R). In the title game against the same Bulldogs, she went 1-for-2 with a double.

The 2016-17 MaxPreps/NFCA High School Players of the Week are announced on NFCA.org every Monday during the spring season, with one representative chosen from each of the five regions. During the fall campaign, one player is selected each week.

Please note, in order for a school to have multiple player(s) recognized during the course of a season, a coach from that institution must be an NFCA member. To become an NFCA member, please click HERE or call 502-409-4600.

MaxPreps is a free stat tool that is available to high school coaches across the country and is one of the most recognized and respected high school athletics websites on the internet. Coaches who enter their team’s stats on Max Preps will not only be nominating their players for this award, but they will be getting their team’s information out to thousands of high school sports fans, as well as college coaches across the country.

To obtain a coach’s login, please contact: [email protected] or call (800) 329-7324 x1. To enter a team’s stats on the MaxPreps website, please click here.

2016-17 Max Preps/NFCA Players of the Week

6/13

Sarah Knickerbocker | Essex (Vt.) HS (East)

Jess Dean | South Park (Pa.) HS (North)

Keely Rochard | Warhill (Va.) HS (South)

Kaylee Tow | Madisonville-North Hopkins (Ky.) HS (South Central)

6/6

Mia Faieta | Cedar Grove (N.J.) HS (East)

Mackenzie Bryan | Elwood (Ind.) HS (North)

Keely Rochard | Warhill (Va.) HS (South)

Alyssa Franklin | Letcher County Central (Ky.) HS (South Central)

Brooke Yanez | Buena (Calif.) HS (West)

5/29

Kelly Nelson | Norton (Mass.) HS (East)

Macy Montgomery | Bellmont (Ind.) HS (North)

Meredith Slaw | Rappahannock (Va.) HS (South)

Michaela Stapp | Butler (Ky.) HS (South Central)

Tristin Achenbach | Russell (Mont.) HS (West)

5/22

Becca Johnson | Seymour (Conn.) HS (East)

Jordy Frank | Dubois Central Catholic (Pa.) (North)

Madison Morgan | King George (Va.) HS (South)

Lakyn Largent |McCracken County (Ky.) HS (South Central)

Cindy Robles | San Pedro (Calif.) HS (West)

5/15

Cassie McGrath | Tuckahoe (N.Y.) HS (East)

Morgan Bienkowski | Holy Redeemer (Pa.) HS (North)

Addie Robinson | Handley (Ala.) HS (South)

Montana Fouts | East Carter (Ky.) HS (Southeast)

Hailey Dolcini | Fortuna (Calif.) HS (West)

5/8

Briana Marcelino | Joel Barlow (Conn.) HS (East)

Ashley Davis | Erie (Ill.)-Prophetstown HS (North)

Lane Neumann | Huntsville (Ala.) HS (South)

Sydni Hawkins | Southeast (Kan.) HS (Southeast)

Brielle Stephens | Durham (Calif.) HS (West)

5/1

Jayda Kearney | Donovan Catholic (N.J.) (East)

Tori Wells | Lakeview (Ohio) HS (North)

Aspen Wesley |Neshoba Central (Miss.) HS (South)

Brittney Beck | Elllinwood (Kan.) HS (South Central)

Kristina Warford | Juanita (Wash.) HS (West)

4/25

Beca Findley | Seymour (Conn.) HS (East)

Carlee Selle | Reese (Mich.) HS (North)

Kaitlin Beasley-Polko | Leonardtown (Md.) HS (South)

Lyndie Swanson | St. John XXIII (Texas) (South Central)

Mikayla Rojas | Heritage (Ariz.) Academy (West)

4/17

Catherine Higgins | Medway (Mass.) HS (East)

Sidney Beier | Edinburgh (Ind.) HS (North)

Jackie Westfall | Woodside (Va.) HS (South)

Hannah Criswell | Kennett (Mo.) HS (South Central)

JaSha Roberts | Jurupa Hills (Calif.) HS (West)

4/10

Kelly Nelson | Norton (Mass.) HS (East)

Maria Reisinger | Victory Christian (Ind.) Academy (North)

Mia Davidson | Orange (N.C.) HS (South)

Montana Fouts | East Carter (Ky.) HS (South Central)

Makaiya Gomez | Copper Hills (Utah) HS (West)

4/3

Jessica Berger | Tuckahoe (N.Y.) HS (East)

Melanie Lint | Conemaugh Valley (Pa.) HS (North)

Kamdyn Kvistad | Columbia (Fla.) HS (South)

Jessica Olivarez | Dodge City (Kan.) HS (South Central)

Isabel Womack | Glencoe (Ore.) HS (West)

3/27

Yanique Spencer | Baldwin (N.Y.) HS (East)

Erin Coffel | Bremen (Ind.) HS (North)

Hailee Cutts | J.F. Webb (N.C.) HS (South)

Ariana Valles | Chapin (Texas) HS (South Central)

Kyllie Sappington | Lowry (Nev.) HS (West)

3/20

Julia Bomhardt | Indian River (Del.) HS (East)

Jenna Alfeldt | New Athens (Ill.) HS (North)

Claire Powell | Collegiate (Va.) HS (South)

Madi Pierce | Bald Knob (Ark.) HS (South Central)

Hannah La Gabed | Western Serra Collegiate (Calif.) Academy (West)

3/13

Lindsay Ward | Kirtland (Ohio) HS (North)

Haley Walker | Holtville (Ala.) HS (South)

Bailey Buffington | Bauxite (Ark.) HS (South Central)

Linnay Wilson | Coalinga (Calif.) HS (West)

3/6

Olivia Lackie | Holden (La.) HS (South)

Faith Jimenez | West Texas HS (South Central)

Kennedy Wyllie | Boulder Creek (Ariz.) HS (West)

2/27

Abbey Latham | Demopolis (Ala.) HS (South)

Taylar Mullen | Grapeland (Texas) HS (South Central)

Casey Overfield | San Ramon Valley (Calif.) HS (West)

Fall
10/24 – Madison Preston | Centralia (Mo.) HS

10/17 – Rylyan Nelson | Sterling (Colo.) HS

10/10 – Ainsley Tolson | Trenton (Mo.) HS

10/3 – Rylie Unzicker | Millard South (Neb.) HS

9/26 – Kayla Poynter | Walnut Grove (Ga.) HS

9/19 – Jordyn Hays | Grand Junction (Colo.) Central HS

9/12 – Olivia Douglas | Hastings (Neb.) HS

9/6 – Kerrigan Gamm | Osage (Mo.) HS

8/29 – Lindsey Malkin | Broomfield (Colo.) HS

8/22 – Madison McPherson | Marion County (Ga.) HS

It was in 2017 when Hana Nelson, eight months pregnant and covered in fish slime and scales, was reminded her company definitely needed a new filleting machine. Nelson, an entrepreneur with a background in sustainable development, knew starting and operating her Halifax seafood business Afishionado Fishmongers would be an uphill battle. But looking back, she had no idea how badly even a tiny company like hers would depend on automation to survive.

Even now, as she drops her toddler off at daycare and heads to work — sorting through piles of paperwork, lugging dozens of boxes of largely regionally caught seafood out of a refrigeration unit for weekly deliveries, and occasionally helping her oyster-growing husband land his precious harvest — she encounters the same question: why does even a boutique business like hers need to invest in pricey technology to stay in the seafood game?

In global fisheries, automation frequently takes the form of intricately engineered stainless steel machines, costing from thousands to millions of dollars, designed to replace dangerous, time-consuming and repetitive tasks. From the ability to distinguish premium product to processing scraps into dog food, automation has grown far beyond the earliest inventions for canning tuna and cutting fish.

According to some observers, the scale to which automation has spread across the industry has barely scratched the surface: one Brookfield Institute report maintains that 62 per cent of current activities in resource-sector jobs, including in fishing, could be automated. (“Can a robot do your job?” — an online tool by the Financial Times and powered by findings from the McKinsey Global Institute — comes to roughly the same conclusion.)

From small businesses like Nelson’s to multi-million-dollar global behemoths like New Brunswick’s Cooke Aquaculture, most Atlantic seafood companies simply can’t make ends meet without automated technology and robots. Seafood buyers demand cheap fish and shellfish. This requires huge volumes of fish processed and distributed as quickly, and at as low of a cost as possible, while still maintaining shelf life.

The profits can be enormous — exports of Canadian seafood hit $6.6 billion in 2016 — but so are the risks and potential pitfalls. Global competition, increasingly hard-to-find human labour, and the need to increase volume and cut margins are increasingly pinching seafood buyers and processors from every side.

On the other side of the coin are tiny fishing communities where this state-of-the-art technology is being introduced; communities that are rapidly losing schools and hospitals as populations decamp for urban centers. Fear of losing jobs to automation is real, according to the Brookfield report, although there remains the promise that other better-paying, more-skilled jobs could rise to fill the gap.

“It’s so hard to find skilled workers who already know how to fillet fish and get a good yield,” says Nelson, who started her company in 2015 to supply and distribute local and sustainable seafood throughout the Maritimes. “When you have automation it’s a lot easier to find people, because you can train them in a day.”

A scarier threat to fisheries employment than automation, she says, is industry consolidation and the resulting flow of jobs overseas. If a business like hers can’t compete on volume and consistency — something she says automated machinery can help with — it won’t be able to stay afloat.

Because of an early 1990s moratorium on new groundfish processing licenses in Nova Scotia, Afishionado can’t buy or process lucrative wild-caught groundfish like haddock and halibut. Instead, the company relies on the processing and sale of farmed fish like salmon, trout and arctic char to make ends meet. Wholesale customers, like restaurants, and larger buyers are particularly valuable because they place large orders more frequently than home cooks. But, Nelson says, keeping up with the volume can be demanding.

Unfortunately, the automated filleting and pin-boning machines Afishionado took over from the warehouse’s previous tenant, a closed-containment salmon farming operation called Sustainable Blue, are old and constantly breaking down.

Filleting by hand requires smooth, accurate cutting along a fish’s spine; past tough, rubbery skin; close enough to not waste meat; done one side at a time. Pin-boning — the pulling of tiny, sharp ribcage bones, or pin bones, from salmon sides — is notoriously finicky and laborious and particularly so when done one-by-one with tweezers.

Candace Nickerson, Afishionado’s new plant manager, still can’t believe how often their machines are on the fritz: because they’re a small operation, she struggles to even get the mechanic responsible for fixing them to return her calls.

Sitting behind the long desk and paperwork that lines the walls of her office, she groans that their filleting machine just broke yet again. “This week, we filleted, maybe, 120 fish,” says Nickerson. “It took one of my workers all day yesterday and all day the day before, so a straight two days of work just filleting by hand, nonstop.”

All this drove Nelson, her newborn in tow, to Boston last March. She went for networking and meetings, but also to track down a new automated filleting machine. Walking the lightly padded blue carpet of Seafood Expo North America, known as the Boston Seafood Show, she scoured rows of rhinoceros-sized gleaming stainless steel contraptions, searching for the right setup. She settled on a $100,000 machine produced by Michigan-based Pisces Fish Machinery.

“One of the reasons we’re looking at it, is that it can automatically calibrate between species,” she says. “You can set it for rainbow trout, or Arctic char, or even bigger salmon or smaller salmon.”

But even though Nelson and her team desperately need the machine, they can’t afford it: at least, not on their own. Instead, they’re counting on the federal government’s new Atlantic Fisheries Fund to help finance and fund the technology. Worth $400 million and set to be distributed over seven years, the fund was announced last year and aimed at supporting innovation, infrastructure development, and partnerships between academia and industry.

Putting so much emphasis on automation comes with a cost, according to Yale University ethicist Wendell Wallach, author of “A Dangerous Master: How To Keep Technology From Slipping Beyond Our Control.”

“We’re dealing with a double-edged sword,” he says. “Automation can remove us from the drudgery of work, or at least boring, repetitive tasks. But on the other hand you have the challenge that increasing automation can drive down wages and eliminate jobs. Over the breadth of an economy that can be quite destructive.”

‘Always in hiring mode’

On a summer day in the rural New Brunswick community of St. George, Letsie Blackmore, director of value-added processing at Cooke Aquaculture, walked the processing floor of the company’s state-of-the-art farmed salmon processing line. The Canadian-owned firm is one of the world’s largest multinational seafood companies, with global sales around $2 billion.

Wearing a white lab coat and earplugs, Blackmore greeted employees, some by name, gesturing towards the noisy, stainless steel machines. This plant’s two filleting lines — each of which can cut the sides off 22 salmon every minute — cost $4 million combined.

Fish plant work is hard, she says, which is something she knows firsthand. Born in Newfoundland, Blackmore spent her late 20s working at a British Columbia plant gutting, bleeding and washing fish. She gestures at one machine, manned by a single female plant worker who lines up salmon as it cuts off their heads, one at a time, which fall heavily into a bin below. Blood and scales flow in a thick, soupy river towards a grate in the floor.

“Head-cutting by hand is really hard,” she says. “You’re cutting right behind the collarbone, and you’re really having to apply pressure to get that done. If you’re doing that for 12 hours a day, your shoulder is not going to last. We took that job from eight people to one person plus a machine, and took that risk to the employee out.”

Then, she says, there’s the problem of finding labour. The company is “always in hiring mode,” she says, and relies on influxes of temporary foreign workers, which they’ve brought in for a decade, to keep jobs filled. Even her own teen daughter worked at the plant during high school.

“She hated it,” says Blackmore. “Every day, she was like, ‘I know what I’m not doing when I get out of school.'”

That’s a familiar world view for Afishionado’s Nickerson, although she sees it differently. Both her grandfathers were fishermen, and everyone in her family except her and one of her brothers has worked on a boat.

“Mom was like, ‘Wow, I dropped out of school in Grade 8 to work at a fish plant. You went to school for six years to work at a fish plant,'” says Nickerson. “Coming from the fishing industry, my parents wanted me to be able to work somewhere where I could dress nice every day,” she says. “They know how hard their bodies are at their age, so they really don’t want me working here, to be honest.”

Nickerson says she’s trying to help her community hold onto jobs and a historic way of life, both disappearing as large companies like Cooke use economies of scale and cheaper prices to swallow local demand for seafood. If staying afloat means introducing automation so Afishionado can process and sell more fish sourced from and sold near her community, she’s all for it.

These days, Blackmore worries about a lot, but particularly about Cooke’s plant in Hermitage, N.L., where many plant workers are 55 years old and older. With two people currently working to stack and palletize boxes weighing 65 to 70 pounds each, she’s increasingly concerned about risk to those employees. So they’re looking at automating that step as well.

Automation must be a huge part of their growing business, she says, “because you’re just not getting people into the workforce to do this job anymore.”

Now 33 years old, Nelson just ordered a $5,500 handheld pin-boning gadget from the United States; if it works out they’ll order a second. And she’s still waiting to hear back on her fisheries fund application. That pricey American machine is what Afishionado needs to grow, she says, and automation equals survival.

“Fundamentally, if another, [more sustainable fisheries] model is going to emerge, it’s also going to require some scale,” she says. “You need to be able to scale. Maybe some people might have issues with that, but I don’t.”

^{This story is a part of HuffPost Canada’s The Nature of Work series, which looks at the impact of automation on Canada’s natural resources sector and what it may mean for the Canadian identity.}

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Florida State’s Sydney Sherrill and Oregon’s Miranda Elish were named Louisville/Slugger NFCA Division I National Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for games played April 2-8.

Elish was nearly unhittable in her three outings last week, helping Oregon rise to No. 3 in the latest USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll. The sophomore righty twirled a perfect game against Portland State and followed that with a three-hit gem of then-No. 9 Arizona. Against the Vikings, Elish fanned 16 of 21 batters to become the first Duck in program history to toss a seven-inning perfecto.

In her dominant game-two performance against the Wildcats, Elish held Arizona’s offense scoreless and faced just two batters over the minimum in the six-inning shutout. The Crown Point, Ind. native did not issue a free pass nor allow a runner past second base. In three appearances, Elish was 2-0 with 31 strikeouts and zero runs allowed over 14 innings of work. The Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week added a pinch-hit RBI triple versus Portland State.

Sherrill, a freshman from Moore, Okla., hit .579 (11-for-19) with six doubles, two home runs, nine RBI and three runs scored. She recorded multiple hits in all five contests and slugged 1.211. In a doubleheader sweep of then-No. 19 Louisiana, Sherrill doubled in each game and homered with three RBI in the nightcap.

Sherrill was 7-for-12 with four doubles a home run and six RBI in the three-game series against ACC-foe Pitt. The rookie utility player homered and drove in four in the series-clinching finale. She doubled twice in games one and two, which included a walk-off two-run, two bagger in the 2-1 series-opening victory.

Player & Pitcher of the Week
April 10 – Sydney Sherrill, Florida State | Miranda Elish, Oregon
April 3 – Marisa Stankiewicz, Arizona State | Emily Watson, Tulsa
March 27 – Jocelyn Alo, Oklahoma | G Juarez, Arizona State
March 20 – Madison Gott, Columbia | Jacquelyn Sertic, North Dakota State
March 13 – Lexi Rouse, Belmont | Alexis Osorio, Alabama / Carley Hoover, LSU
March 6 – Faith Canfield, Michigan | Gabbie Plain, Washington
Feb. 27 – Rachel Garcia, UCLA | Kelly Barnhill, Florida
Feb. 20 – Tori Vidales, Texas A&M | Kylee Hanson, Florida State
Feb. 13 – Vanessa Shippy, Oklahoma State | Missy Zoch, DePaul

Selected Top Performances
Lilli Piper, Ohio State – .667, 6 H, 2B, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 1.778 SLG, .750 OBP; Kelsey Horton, New Mexico State – .750, 8 H, 2B, 3 HR, 7 R, 8 RBI, 3 BB, 2.375 SLG, .846 OBP; Allie Walljasper, LSU – 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 9 K, 7 H, .108 opp BA, 19 inn. CG vs. Ole Miss; Megan Hensley, Louisville – .615, 8 H, 3 2B, 2 HR, 13 RBI, 5 R, 1.167 SLG; Kylee Hanson, Florida State – 3-0, 0.00 ERA, 19 K, 2 BB, 5 H, .102 opp BA; Gabbie Plain, Washington – 1-0, 5 K, 0 BB, perfect game vs. Utah; Paige Parker, Oklahoma – 1-0, SV, 0.78 ERA, 14 K, 3 BB, 4 H, .133 opp BA; Aliison Doocy, Iowa- 2-0, 1.50 ERA, 2 CG, 18 K, 14 IP; Kate Gordon, James Madison– 9-for-9, 4 2B, HR, 8 R, 3 RBI, BB, 1.000 OBP, 1.778 SLG; Kendyl Scott, Towson – .650, 13 H, 3 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 7 R; Nicole Newman, Drake– 1-0, 0.00 ERA, SV, 22 K, 9.1 IP, no-hitter vs. Southern Illinois (17 K); Laura Delgado, St. John’s – .556, 5 H, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 5 R, 1.222 SLG; Celina Matthias, Sacramento State – 2-0, SV, 0.44 ERA, 19 K, 6 H, 1 R, 16 IP, .115 opp BA; Libby Sugg, BYU – .600, 6 H, 2 2B, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 5 R; Erica Piancastelli, McNeese State – .667, 6 H, 2 2B, 3B, HR, 6 RBI, 4 R, 1.444 SLG, .692 OBP; Courtney Scarpato, Hofstra – .571, 4 H, 2 2B, HR, 7 RBI, 4 R, 4 BB, 1.286 SLG, .727 OBP; Jennifer Brann, Penn – 2-0, 0.90 ERA, 5 K, 6 H, .182 opp BA, 10 IP.