Trident Seafoods’ Selling One Facility, to Operate Another Through ‘B’ Season

Trident Seafoods’ processing facilities at False Pass, Alaska, which are being acquired by Silver Bay Seafoods.

Trident Seafoods and Silver Bay Seafoods on June 7 jointly announced that they’ve reached an agreement for Silver Bay to acquire one of Trident’s processing facilities and fuel business.

Trident’s False Pass operation, located in the community of False Pass, a remote southwest Alaska fishing community on Unimak Island located between the tip of the Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands, is dedicated entirely to processing salmon.

The facility’s located next to Silver Bay’s False Pass processing facility, which opened in 2019.

“The acquisition of the False Pass operations will create efficiencies between the two neighboring processing plants and includes a fuel facility that provides critical fuel services to the community and fishing fleet,” Silver Bay Seafoods President and CEO Cora Campbell said. “This acquisition will allow us to provide better services and more opportunity to our fishermen.”

“We are pleased to close the transaction and bring security to the peninsula salmon fleet in time for the 2024 season,” Trident Seafoods CEO Joe Bundrant said. “I’m confident that Silver Bay will take great care of the fishermen and communities who depend on the False Pass plant and support services, and we wish them every success.”

Bundrant added that his company is “deeply committed” to Alaska’s communities and the seafood sector, and that salmon would always be part of Trident’s identity.

“The strategic restructuring decisions have been some of the most difficult of my career,” he said. “However, focusing our operations is essential so we can continue investing in and modernizing our footprint across Alaska to drive value back into these fisheries.”

In other news, Trident Seafoods plans to keep its Kodiak processing facility operating through the groundfish “B” season, as negotiations continue with prospective buyers for that property.

Bundrant said May 30 that the company is currently in the midst of sale negotiations for the Kodiak facility, a process covered by a non-disclosure agreement.

“While we aren’t able to disclose more details at this time, we’re confident about the plant’s future and we’re looking forward to sharing more details as soon as possible,” he said.

The Kodiak plant is the largest and most complex of Trident’s shoreside facilities, with year-round operations supporting multiple species. The details of the Kodiak plant’s operations makes the sale of that plant a lengthier due diligence process, company officials said.

Trident remains the operator of the Kodiak facility while negotiations continue.

“We know how important the Kodiak Plant is to the community and the surrounding fisheries,” Jeff Welbourn, senior vice president of Trident’s Alaska operations, said. “The decision to continue operations through “B” season is tied directly to our commitment to ensuring the plant remains an important economic contributor to Kodiak and the surrounding community now and into the future.”

Trident announced last year that it was seeking buyers for four of its Alaska shoreside plants as part of a comprehensive, strategic restructuring and modernization initiative.

In April the company announced the sale of its Petersburg, Alaska plant to fish processor E.C. Phillips & Son and the purchase of its Ketchikan, Alaska plant by Silver Bay Seafoods.