That statement surprised and shocked Kodiak fishermen, said Rebecca Skinner, executive director of Alaska Whitefish Trawlers Association. Trident said it plans to significantly scale back the winter season in Kodiak. “They are highly efficient, multispecies plants, and we are working diligently to find a new owner to support the fleet and the Kodiak community.” “Our Kodiak operations are integral to the Gulf of Alaska fisheries,” said Welbourn. In Kodiak, the company will look for a buyer for its operations that run nearly year-round, handling species that include primarily pollock, salmon, Pacific cod and crab, the company said. Construction will likely begin again after the restructuring plans in Alaska are completed, the statement said. ![]() In August, Trident announced it would delay its three-year plan to build a processing plant at Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands to replace an aging facility in nearby Akutan. “This will allow us to continue supporting as many fleets and communities as possible across Alaska for the long term.” “We are modernizing and retooling the remaining Alaska plants to be more efficient, effective, and sustainable operations,” said Jeff Welbourn, Trident’s senior vice president of Alaska operations. Trident intends to remain competitive by focusing on wild Alaska seafood - while also aggressively reducing costs and improving productivity, the company’s statement said. “So the processing sector is reacting to that,” she said. The delegation said an executive order issued by President Joe Biden last year only banned the import of unaltered seafood from Russia.īonney said tariffs and other trade sanctions, along with increasing costs for packaging, are additional factors hurting the industry. The Alaska congressional delegation in June introduced legislation they say will ban Russian seafood that has been substantially processed in another country before it comes to the U.S., unless Russia opens its market to American fishermen and processors. “Every fishery in the state of Alaska is facing huge challenges, in terms of the ability to move product into the marketplace.”īonney said she believes part of the problem is competition from Russian seafood entering the U.S. “It demonstrates how bad the market is for all Alaska seafood,” she said. Low prices across a variety of species are hurting fishermen, she said. Julie Bonney, head of Alaska Groundfish Data Bank in Kodiak, said Trident’s moves are a sign of the difficulties in the Alaska seafood industry right now. Privately owned Trident employs 9,000 people in six countries and partners with more than 5,400 independent fishermen and crewmembers. The company’s overhaul includes trimming back its support functions at its Seattle headquarters, leading to a 10% reduction in that workforce, the statement said. “Many of our foreign competitors operate with minimal regulatory costs and oversight, inexpensive infrastructure, and exploitive labor practices.” ![]() “We are competing against producers in other countries that do not share our commitment to or investments in environmental sustainability, social responsibility, and product quality,” said Trident chief executive Joe Bundrant. producers from established markets, the statement said. Declining demand, excess supply and foreign competition have pushed down prices, squeezed profits and displaced U.S. producers face headwinds on the world market, the company said. The changes are part of a major restructuring in Alaska that will allow Trident to focus on remaining assets as it and other U.S. The company is the largest seafood processor in the state, with plants in 11 communities. The company will also be “retiring or seeking buyers” for other assets, including the historic South Naknek Diamond NN cannery facility in the Bristol Bay region, and facilities in Chignik on the Alaska Peninsula. ![]() Seattle-based Trident Seafoods will look for buyers for four shoreside plants in Alaska, including for its nearly year-round operations in Kodiak and three seasonal plants in Ketchikan and Petersburg in Southeast Alaska and False Pass in the eastern Aleutian Islands, according to a prepared statement from the company. announced this week that it’s looking to sell several of its facilities in Alaska. (Loren Holmes / ADN archives)Ĭiting a difficult global market, the largest seafood company in the U.S. Workers sort headed and gutted salmon at the Trident seafood processing plant in Naknek in Bristol Bay in July 2202. Updated: DecemPublished: December 13, 2023
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