Tag: seafood

Port Moller Harvesters Sign on to Deliver Sockeyes to Silver Bay Seafoods
14Aug By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Port Moller Harvesters Sign on to Deliver Sockeyes to Silver Bay Seafoods

Commercial fishermen on the North Alaska Peninsula have signed on to deliver to Silver Bay Seafoods, and spokesperson Bob Murphy says they’re optimistic about the future. In an exclusive interview with Fishermen’s News on Aug. 12, Murphy said that they’re looking at Silver Bay as the future owner of the Port Moller seafood processing facility, but are still very concerned about an upcoming Peter Pan Seafood receivership hearing later this week, should another firm submit the winning bid on the plant. Murphy said that Silver Bay stepped up quickly after Peter Pan Seafoods and Trident Seafoods announced closure plans, bringing in more tenders, travel lifts, mechanics and welders, plus a store with an abundance of groceries and boat supplies. “It was a big help,” he said. Beyond ...
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$22M in USDA Seafood Purchases Win Kudos From Seafood Processors
24Jul By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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$22M in USDA Seafood Purchases Win Kudos From Seafood Processors

Officials with the West Coast Seafood Processors Association (WCSPA) say recent U.S. Department of Agriculture purchases of $22 million in Pacific rockfish fillets and Pacific hake fillets are helping mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Continuing this partnership in 2024 will maintain this trend,” WCSPA Executive Director Lori Steele said in a July 16 statement. The purchase benefits the USDA, the domestic seafood industry and the public, she said. What with the current global and domestic seafood markets in disarray, the USDA's commitment to purchasing rockfish and whiting from the West Coast will help keep fishermen on the water, allow processors to retain employees and communities to thrive, Midwater Trawlers Cooperative Executive Director Heather Mann sai...
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Blocking Seafood Imports Produced By Forced Labor Gets Prioritized
17Jul By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Blocking Seafood Imports Produced By Forced Labor Gets Prioritized

Homeland Security officials have declared efforts to block seafood produced by forced labor overseas from entering the United States a top priority, in part by requiring better documentation from seafood supply chains. The July 9 announcement from the Department of Homeland Security added seafood to its list of high-priority sectors in the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). That legislation directs the agency's Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force to block import into the United States from Chinese forced labor in the Republic of China, especially from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, or Xinjiang. The statement came amid extensive reports of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and forced labor by Chinese-flagged vessels and in Chinese-based seafood pro...
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Salmon Harvest Opens from Bristol Bay to Kodiak and Beyond
3Jul By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Salmon Harvest Opens from Bristol Bay to Kodiak and Beyond

Harvesters in the Copper River, Bristol Bay, the Kenai Peninsula, Kodiak and the Alaska Peninsula are all competing now, as the Alaska commercial salmon fisheries open in full for the 2024 season with 3.7 million fish already delivered to processors. As of June 24, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game estimated the catch at 2.6 million sockeyes, 1.2 million chums, 240,000 pink and 36,000 Chinook salmon. In the central region of Alaska alone, Fish & Game estimated the total catch at 1.8 million fish, including 1.2 million sockeyes, 549,000 chums, 6,000 Chinook and 1,000 pink salmon, most of it from Prince William Sound. In Bristol Bay, where a huge surge of the world's largest sockeye salmon fishery normally returns during the week of July 1, over 181,000 red salmon were already ...
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2 Seafood Companies Fined By Oregon Environmental Quality Agency
3Jul By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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2 Seafood Companies Fined By Oregon Environmental Quality Agency

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) said July 1 that it has issued wastewater penalties of $150,000 to Da Yang Seafoods and $22,800 to Astoria Pacific Seafoods, both headquartered in Astoria, and both for wastewater issues. According to DEQ, the penalties were issued to a total of 12 companies, including municipal facilities, for everything from failure to submit complete greenhouse gas emissions data reports to discharging of wastewater to the Columbia River without a permit. Each company must either pay the fines to the state treasury or file an appeal within 20 days of receiving notice of the penalty. State officials said they may be able to offset a portion of the penalty by funding a supplemental environmental project that improves Oregon's environment. P...
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Silver Bay Acquires Trident Seafood’s False Pass Processing Facilities
12Jun By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Silver Bay Acquires Trident Seafood’s False Pass Processing Facilities

Trident Seafoods and Silver Bay Seafoods on June 7 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 C...
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Northline Seafoods Barge Heads for Bristol Bay
5Jun By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Northline Seafoods Barge Heads for Bristol Bay

Northline Seafoods’ new vertically integrated barge, equipped to buy, freeze, ship, store and distribute wild Alaska salmon, is expected to make its debut this summer in the Bristol Bay wild salmon fishery, with a capacity to hold more than 10 million pounds of fresh fish. The barge would be located at Clarks Point in the Nushagak district to buy fish from all Bristol Bay fishing districts. The Hannah’s departure on May 25 from Fairhaven Shipyard in Bellingham, Wash. marks the completion of a more than three-year project, including 15 months of construction. Seeing the Hannah depart for the Bristol Bay fishery “is a dream come true,” Northline Seafoods CEO Ben Blakey said in a May 28 statement, confirming the maiden voyage of the barge. Blakey said that the successful compl...
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Trident Seafoods’ Kodiak Plant to Operate Through ‘B’ Season as Sale Negotiations Continue
5Jun By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Trident Seafoods’ Kodiak Plant to Operate Through ‘B’ Season as Sale Negotiations Continue

Trident Seafoods plans to keep its Kodiak processing facility operating through the groundfish “B” season, as negotiations continue with prospective buyers for that property and another facility at False Pass. Trident CEO Joe 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 len...
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ASMI, Holland America Partner on Seafood Education
15May By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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ASMI, Holland America Partner on Seafood Education

The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) has formed a partnership with Holland America Line to educate the cruise line’s employees on the species, benefits and responsible fishing practices of the Alaska fishing industry. Through the partnership, which was announced May 7, ASMI is offering the cruise line’s dining and galley staff a short online digital course on Alaska seafood species, health benefits, fishing methods and the state’s overall sustainability practices. The “Seafood U” training for Holland America Line’s culinary teams began earlier this year in advance of the cruise line’s 2024 Alaska season. Some 2,500 shipboard team members working on six ships are to undergo the training, according to ASMI. “With this new step, Holland America Line has committed to not ...
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Peter Pan Seafoods’ Financial Woes Mounting: Wells Fargo Seeks Receivership
1May By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Peter Pan Seafoods’ Financial Woes Mounting: Wells Fargo Seeks Receivership

The financial woes of Peter Pan Seafoods continue to grow. King County Superior Court in Washington state has granted a petition by Wells Fargo Bank to put the seafood processor into receivership, with Los Angeles-based Stapleton Group to manage Peter Pan’s financial affairs. The petition filed last week by Wells Fargo Managing Director Gary Harrigian asked the court to appoint Stapleton Group as controller of Peter Pan’s assets. In his petition, Harrigian said that appointing a receiver was necessary “to protect, preserve and maximize the value of the business and assets, including, without limitation, the collateral, and its revenue-producing potential to avoid further loss, injury and impairment.” Stapleton Group declined any initial comment on the receivership. According to ...
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