Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Petersburg’s testing program aims to keep COVID-19 out of seafood plants

August 28, 2020 — Hundreds of seafood processing workers come to Petersburg every year, creating a high-risk scenario for COVID transmission. Workers at the town’s two processing giants – OBI Seafoods and Trident Seafoods – live on a closed campus. But there are also Petersburg residents who work at the plants. So the local COVID testing program aims to identify and isolate positive cases before they can transmit from town into one of the plants.

At the beginning of the summer, seafood companies went to great lengths to safely fly the seasonal workforce to Alaskan towns like Petersburg. It took careful planning and millions of dollars to test and quarantine the workers.

“It could decimate the economy of the community and also impact the fisheries. We saw that in meat packing situations down south,” said Liz Bacom, manager of infection prevention at the Petersburg Medical Center. “And so they were very aggressive with getting a plan where they tested their seasonal workforce in Seattle before they came up here, and they were automatically quarantined for 14 days.”

As a result, two positive cases – one worker for Trident and one with Ocean Beauty Icicle Seafoods – were detected and isolated this summer.

Read the full story at KTOO

Rapid Virus Tests Headed for Alaska’s Fishing Industry

July 24, 2020 — Alaska will receive rapid testing machines and kits to help test for Covid-19 the thousands of workers who travel to the state each summer to work in the fishing industry, according to the General Services Administration website.

The Department of Health and Human Services aAlaska will receive rapid testing machines and kits to help test for Covid-19 the thousands of workers who travel to the state each summer to work in the fishing industrywarded Cepheid Inc. a $1.68 million contract to provide these machines and kits. The Cepheid machines are used for point-of-care tests—typically done in hospitals and urgent care clinics at the bedside of patients—and provide results in 45 minutes. The tests don’t require samples to be sent to a lab.

There have been some fishing-related outbreaks in Alaska, with 85 crew members aboard a fishing ship testing positive, 96 workers at an OBI Seafoods processing plant, and 9 cases linked to an Alaska Glacier Seafoods processing plant, all in July. There were also outbreaks at two other OBI Seafoods plants with 12 and three workers testing positive.

Read the full story at Bloomberg Law

Sockeye ex-vessel prices in Bristol Bay, Alaska drop nearly 50 percent

July 24, 2020 — Major processors in Bristol Bay, Alaska, began posting base prices at USD 0.70 (EUR 0.60) per pound, just over half of last season’s price of USD 1.35 (EUR 1.16). Bristol Bay’s KDLG radio station reported that Peter Pan Seafoods, Trident Seafoods, Red Salmon/North Pacific Seafoods, and OBI Seafoods had all announced their price, with processing giant Silver Bay Seafoods yet to post.

Once one of the major processors in Bristol Bay announces the base price, the others typically follow suit. If a processor announces a lower price than a competitor, they risk angering their fleet and losing boats to other companies.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Ocean Beauty Seafoods and Icicle Seafoods Announce Merger

May 29, 2020 — The following was released by Ocean Beauty Seafoods and Icicle Seafoods:

Two of Alaska’s oldest and largest seafood companies, Ocean Beauty Seafoods LLC and Icicle Seafoods, Inc., announced today that they are merging their wild salmon and Gulf of Alaska groundfish operations. The new company will be named OBI Seafoods LLC.

“The Alaska salmon business is experiencing significant market and resource fluctuations. In order to flourish in this rapidly changing environment, we need to develop flexible and efficient business models and form innovative partnerships,” said Mark Palmer, President and CEO of Ocean Beauty Seafoods, who will serve as CEO of the newly merged company. “The merger will enable more focus on selling seafood products in the global marketplace by leveraging both strong sales teams. Increased sales will bring additional investment to support growth and jobs,” he added.

The agreement will allow the new partnership to make strategic investments to enhance its ability to compete in the world seafood market. Initial plans include modernizing processing facilities and combining marketing and value-added product expertise. The changes are designed to grow the value of the Alaska seafood resource in a way that benefits the company’s customers, employees, and fisherman partners.

Included in the merger are all five Icicle shoreside plants and all five Ocean Beauty shoreside plants in Alaska. Ocean Beauty Seafoods’ smoked salmon and distribution operations will remain under its current ownership and will operate under the name OBS Smoked & Distribution, LLC. The Ocean Beauty and Icicle Seafoods Gulf of Alaska groundfish operations and all salmon operations will operate under the newly formed OBI. Icicle Seafoods’ processing operations on the P/V Gordon Jensen and the permanently moored craft Northern Victor in Dutch Harbor are not included in the merger. These plants will continue to operate in the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Western Gulf of Alaska groundfish fisheries, and will operate under Icicle Seafoods, Inc.

“The two companies’ cultures will blend well,” Palmer said. “We will be combining two very talented workforces that are highly motivated to compete successfully in today’s challenging market. This merger also presents the best opportunity for the new company to optimize our branded value-added seafood and make strategic long-term investments.”

John Woodruff, Chief Operating Officer of Icicle Seafoods, will become Executive Vice President of Alaska Operations for the new company. A respected Alaska fishing industry leader, he has built deep relationships across the state.

According to Mr. Woodruff, “Partnerships can provide employees with additional career growth opportunities in a wider variety of positions and locations.  As a unified team, we are confident we can make improvements to benefit employees, fishermen, customers and vendors. To be more competitive globally, operational efficiencies in processing must be realized, along with continuing strong fleet relationships and placing an added focus on sales, marketing and distribution.”

Founded in 1910, Ocean Beauty Seafoods LLC is owned by the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation and a group of individual owners with experience in the seafood industry. Founded in 1965, Icicle Seafoods, Inc. has been owned by the Cooke family since 2016. Upon close of the merger transaction, Icicle Seafoods, Inc. and Ocean Beauty Seafoods Inc. will each own a 50% stake in the new company. The merger will take effect on June 1, 2020, in line with the 2020 wild Alaska salmon season.