Lax Kw'alaams hosted a celebration Thursday to officially re-open of the community's fish plant.

The Coast Tsimshian plant is using state-of-the-art equipment and expects to provide jobs and prosperity in a north coast industry that's been shrinking for decades.

The Lax Kw'alaams community has invested 11 million dollars to date into the plant, including a modern freezing technology so the fish can be packaged and transported across the globe without spoiling.

The Band partnered up with President of the Prince Rupert Port Authority, Don Krusel to ship the processed product around the world.

"This fish plant is a perfect example of how everybody's eyes are to the world and how the fish products that are being processed in this plant will find their way to tables throughout the world, and mainly in Asia."

Another benefit of the plant according to Prince Rupert mayor Jack Mussallem is providing jobs to a Lax Kw'alaams community that already has a trained workforce of fishcutters.

"The opportunity to employ people in an occupation that they're very familiar with and produce a good product for the rest of the world is a great opportunity for all of us."

Right now, it's running one processing line and employing 60 people but numbers are expected to grow in the spring.

The plant will operate 10 months per year, with 80 people employed full time during six of those months, and will have 120 workers on board during the four-month salmon season.