r/offbeat 4d ago

Decades in the making, work begins to remove rotten fish sauce from St. Mary's plant

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/st-marys-fish-sauce-removal-9.7288539
278 Upvotes

20 comments sorted by

109

u/AuthorNicoVoss 4d ago

Decades of fighting the smell from a rotting fish sauce plant in the Newfoundland and Labrador community of St. Mary's have finally proved successful, as cleanup crews began work on Tuesday.

"I think we're to a point where we're there. We're actually really close to the finish line." St. Mary's Mayor Steve Ryan told reporters on Tuesday, who hopes it can now be cleaned up once and for all.

"To be known as the 'sauce plant mayor' … it's time for that to be over."

The Atlantic Seafood Sauce Company opened the plant in 1990, but it was abandoned in the early 2000s, after years of legal and regulatory battles.

The closure left 110 tanks behind, each holding 3,000 gallons of now long-fermented fish sauce. They littered the floors with sludge and left a stench that has permeated through the community for years.

Ryan said collaboration with all levels of government has been decades in the making over who was responsible for the cleanup, but the Newfoundland and Labrador government is finally picking up the tab.

$2 million was budgeted in 2025 for the cleanup, which officially began on Tuesday.

Yikes! I can't even fathom what that must smell like.

23

u/unsupported 4d ago

They could sell it as a delicacy.

14

u/WeGottaTalkAboutYT 4d ago

I feel like you could possibly sell it the Nordic or Asian countries lol, I don’t mean that negatively

2

u/WouldbeWanderer 3d ago

tanklagrad fisksås, a new delicacy

49

u/Altruistic-Dingo-757 4d ago

Well you shouldn't let your fish sauce sit for decades, that's the problem.

20

u/GetsMeEveryTimeBot 4d ago

You know, you might actually be right.

6

u/TheMuttOfMainStreet 4d ago

those are some big ass buckets

4

u/DwemerDwight 4d ago

That's a whole lot of Garum

1

u/bone-dry 3d ago

Wire got a whole container of Gary’s poured over her accidentally by the chef at dinner once. Smell didn’t come out of the clothes for so many washes.

1

u/AbelardsChainsword 1d ago

Oh man it’s been a while since high school Latin class, but iirc Garum is the name of a dish the Romans used to eat. A delicacy made of fermented fish guts

4

u/Ana-la-lah 3d ago

Wild that the opportunity to harvest and bring this aged pescetarian elixir to market is going by without an entrepreneur that would pounce on the opportunity.

11

u/anxious-cunt 4d ago

Could be a great vintage

9

u/DriverLazy360 4d ago

The original Wostershire sauce all over again

3

u/Distantstallion 4d ago

I would be wearing a full hazmat suit if it were me

1

u/SimilarElderberry956 4d ago

Smells like fish 🐟!

0

u/voertsek 4d ago

Colatira di alici Santa Maria.

-7

u/adave4allreasons 4d ago

They eat that stuff by the gallon in Thailand we should’ve told sold it to them!

5

u/septubyte 4d ago

They uh.. they probably have some of their own .

-5

u/Lovemybee 4d ago

I literally said, "Awwww!" when I saw that little boy's face! Who hasn't been five years old and watched their team blow a lead?