Debbie Miller Retiring After Two-Plus Decades

One of Mowi Canada West’s top “bean counters” is calling it a career after 22 years in the aquaculture industry.  

Debbie Miller, Saltwater Cost Accountant for the company, has been responsible for the accounting of everything from smolt to harvest, and determines and document all costs associated with all Saltwater activities. That includes the allocation of costs from the numerous sources including the Production Areas, Operations, Wellboat, RONC and each Saltwater Site.  

“This has allowed me to work closely with many great people throughout my years,” she says. “While many might think that job is only month ends, budgets, long-term plan and year ends, the job is often much, much more.”  

Miller started in the industry with Stolt Sea Farm in 1997 as an accountant assistant, moving through several positions before her current post, and has enjoyed her tenure with Mowi.  

One of Debbie’s favourite stories was her first time on a float plane to an Ocean Falls site visit in 2009, with Debbie Ashcroft and then-Freshwater Manager Dean Guest.  

“All was good until we hit the Coal Harbour road, which is a winding road, and both Deb and I are getting motion sickness,” she recalls. “We couldn’t fly out of Coal Harbour because of the low cloud so off we went to Port Hardy to have a coffee and wait for the for the clouds to lift.  

“Debbie had some ginger gravol so we took that, but for me the damage had been done: motion sickness and nerves. The plane arrived, and Deb and I went in the back and off we went. We had Ryan as our pilot who was amazing, and he did a side tour on our way back and took us over Burnett Beach to show us wolf tracks. He came so low that both Deb and I thought the wings were going to touch the sand!” 

 “I experienced other site visits by boat,” she shares. “I had the opportunity to hand feed smolts, be on the harvest boat to watch a harvest, see how the process fish are pumped in and out of the water for site/pen transfers, watch a RONC boat cleaning the nets and have a tour of a couple of our processing plants.  

“You really get an appreciation for site workers when you see the elements of nature they have to work with compared to sitting behind a desk in an office.”  

Debbie adds that “Mowi is a company that looks after their employees and gives them the opportunity to grow within the company. I will miss my work, but mostly I will miss the great people I have had the opportunity to learn from and work with. I am excited to move on to the next chapter which ironically will include taking off in a float plane for fishing and hunting trips.  

“My other interests are golfing, hiking, skiing, gardening,” she says, adding she is also looking forward to “spending more time with family which includes, to date, three grandchildren.”