Saving Seafood

Copper River Seafoods no longer buying Cook Inlet salmon amid declining harvests

March 31, 2022 — Another seafood processor is moving out of Kenai this salmon season. Copper River Seafoods is ending its run in the old Snug Harbor Seafood plant, leaving one major salmon processor in the area but promising the addition of a new company soon.

Processors like Copper River buy catch from commercial fishermen and bring that catch to market. As commercial fishermen have dealt with declining salmon runs and management changes, processors from Kenai to Homer have left, too, leaving fishermen with fewer options.

In a letter, Copper River CEO Scott Blake said those factors were to blame for the company ending its salmon buying on the Kenai Peninsula, as well as increasing production costs.

The letter didn’t call out any particular management changes and a spokesperson for Copper River Seafoods could not be reached before airtime.

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

JOELLE HALL: Alaskans need answers on Copper River Seafoods investigation

March 11, 2021 — As the president of the Alaska AFL-CIO, Alaska’s largest labor organization, my responsibility is to fight for workers’ rights, whether they belong to a union or not.

Protecting workers’ health and safety has been at the forefront of our work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recent media reports have uncovered that Commissioner of Labor Tamika Ledbetter blocked nearly $450,000 in proposed fines against a seafood plant that willfully violated COVID-19 workplace safety standards and was hostile with public health officials from the State of Alaska and the Municipality of Anchorage.

The question is, why?

Were the violations mild and isolated, causing them to fall through the cracks of an overburdened department?

Read the full opinion piece at the Anchorage Daily News

Alaska safety inspectors tried to fine Copper River Seafoods $450,000. Their commissioner blocked it.

March 4, 2021 — Department of Labor commissioner Tamika Ledbetter blocked nearly $450,000 in fines against a seafood plant her own inspectors said willfully violated COVID-19 workplace safety standards, according to internal documents.

Now, state lawmakers are investigating.

House Rep. Zack Fields, an Anchorage Democrat who used to work for the Department of Labor, said he and his Labor & Commerce committee co-chair got a complaint from a whistleblower that Ledbetter was blocking enforcement of state workplace safety standards.

“Alaskans have to work to provide for their families,” Fields said. “When they go to work, they shouldn’t have to risk their lives to put food on the table.”

Fields’ committee is holding a hearing to address questions about a Copper River Seafoods plant in Anchorage and Juneau-based Alaska Glacier Seafoods. Both companies had large COVID-19 outbreaks last year.

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

Number of COVID-19 cases across global seafood industry surpasses 1,000

July 28, 2020 — There are now over 1,000 workers across the global seafood industry who have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to data released by companies and government agencies that IntraFish has been tracking since coronavirus outbreak began.

The largest outbreaks in the past few weeks have been occurring in Alaska, where Bristol Bay and other salmon fisheries have been facing a challenging season. Most recently, over 40 percent of the 134 employees at Copper River Seafoods’ (CRS) Anchorage processing plant have tested positive for COVID-19.

Almost all of the 56 employees who tested positive between July 17-22 are residents of Anchorage, Alaska, according to the city.

“This is a concerning situation for the people of Anchorage,” said Dr. Bruce Chandler, the Anchorage Health Department’s chief medical officer. “With so many workers now testing positive, it is likely that this outbreak has been in progress for some time and that transmission has already occurred among family, friends and others in the community.”

Read the full story at IntraFish

Early salmon prices point to good paydays across Alaska

August 1, 2018 — Salmon prices are starting to trickle in as more sales are firmed up by local buyers, and early signs point to good paydays across the board.

At Bristol Bay last week, Trident, Ocean Beauty and Togiak Seafoods posted a base price of $1.25 a pound for sockeyes, according to KDLG in Dillingham. Trident also was paying a 15 cent bonus for reds that are chilled and bled, and the others may follow suit.

Copper River Seafoods raised its sockeye price from $1.30 to $1.70 for fish that is chilled/bled and sorted.  That company also reportedly is paying 80 cents a pound for coho salmon and 45 cents for chums and pinks.

The average base price last year for Bristol Bay sockeyes was $1.02 a pound, 65 cents for cohos, 30 cents for chums and 18 cents a pound for pinks.
Kodiak advances were reported at $1.60 for sockeyes, 55 cents for chums and 40 cents for pinks. That compares to average prices of $1.38 for sockeyes, 40 cents for chums and 31 cents for Kodiak pinks in 2017.

At Prince William Sound a sockeye base price was reported at $1.95 and chums at 95 cents.

At Norton Sound the single buyer was advancing 80 cents a pound for chums and $1.40 for cohos, same as last year, and 25 cents for pinks, an increase of 22 cents.

Read the full story at National Fisherman