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Site Visit Report 

Alaska Seafood Processing Industry Petition Response 

Lindsay Guzzo 

Environmental Engineer 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

Region 10 Permits Division 

guzzo.lindsay@epa.gov

206-553-0268 

 Betsy Bicknell 

 Senior Environmental Engineer 

 Eastern Research Group, Inc. (ERG) 

 betsy.bicknell@erg.com

 703-633-1612 

Plant Name Trident Seafoods Corporation 

Plant Address 1705 Tongass Avenue, Ketchikan, Alaska 

NPDES Permit # AK-G52-0132 

Date of Visit Thursday, August 12, 2010 

People Contacted Edwin Acevedo 

Quality Control Manager 

eacevedo@tridentseafoods.com

907-225-6664 

Jenifer White 

General Manager of VA, CW, CI 

jwhite@tridentseafoods.com

206-297-5623

Company Website www.tridentseafoods.com 

Seafood processed All species, predominantly salmon but also 

black cod (sablefish) 

halibut 

rockfish 

geoduck 

sea cucumbers 

Products Frozen whole fish (headed and gutted) 

Fresh whole and filleted fish (h&g) 

Smoked salmon 

Frozen roe skeins (sujiko) 

Range of annual production volume 3.2 to 6.5 million pounds 

Months of operation Year round 

Discharge type Grind and discharge 

Trident’s plant at 1705 Tongass Avenue, Ketchikan was formerly owned by NorQuest Seafood, 

Inc. Trident’s plant on the south side of Ketchikan operates a large salmon cannery line. In 

contrast, this plant produces fresh and frozen whole fish and fillets from a variety of fish. Most of 

the salmon processed is the lower value species (i.e., chum and pink). It also produces a small 

amount of smoked canned salmon. At the time of the visit, this plant was processing about 50,000 

pounds of salmon per day. 

Waste Management. During the 2010 season, Trident/NorQuest stored salmon heads on ice until 

they were trucked to the Trident Cannery also located in Ketchikan, AK. At the cannery, the 

salmon heads were pumped to the Alaska Protein Recovery barge where they were processed into 

salmon oil and protein hydrolysate. 

In 2010, the remaining waste passed through two grinders, Muffin Monsters, and two Vaughn’s 

and was then discharged directly to Tongass Narrows, about 280 feet off shore. 
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If they were required to haul their waste out to sea, rather than discharge it through their outfall, 

Mr. Acevedo and Ms. White suggested that Trident would hire a tender to haul the waste. 

However, Ms. White noted that state wide Alaska was experiencing a tender shortage. Fishermen 

who formerly operated tenders moved elsewhere after the crab rationalization. In this program, 

the government bought back Individual Fishing Quotas (IFQ) in order to reduce the number of 

crab fisherman. Ms. White explained, “This did not allow crabbers to participate in any fisheries 

programs for the duration of their existence. In conjunction the crab rationalization made it 

economically unfeasible for many vessels to operate and thus have chosen to remain tied up so 

they are not operating in the negative, monetarily speaking. Tenders cannot operate on short 

seasons and must have multiple month contracts to make it cost effective to operate; multiple 

month contracts are very scarce (due to the nature of the different fisheries in Alaska). Although 

prices paid to tenders have gone up; due to the shortage, they still cannot make a living with short 

term contracts. One good example is in Bristol Bay area where average tender prices have gone 

from $2,500 to $5,000 per day on a 60 day contract this equals $300,000 pre taxes. Although 

initially this seems like a fair amount of money after tenders pay the crew (wages, food ect), 

insurance, R&M (which is substantial for vessels typically), fuel, fish buying equipment repair, 

slip fees for off times, taxes ect tenders end up loosing money. For this reason many fishermen 

have moved their tenders out of Alaska or have tied up, resulting in a shortage of available 

tenders.” 

 Ms. White hypothesized that this tender shortage could result in increased cost for waste 

disposal. 

Facility Tour. The fish is offloaded from fishing vessels into the plant via totes (see Figure 1). 

The weight and temperature are recorded and each tote receives an identification number. 

Fish are transported into the plant on an automated conveyor (Figure 2) but the seafood at this 

facility is entirely processed by hand. The fish are gutted and the guts drop onto a pocket 

conveyer belt where workers can separate out the roe sacs. The unwanted guts are collected into a 

tote or washed down a 5” hole on that table connected to a pipe that goes directly into the drain in 

the floor. The drains on the floor send any fish waste directly to the grinders. Any material not 

removed from the fish body cavity by hand is removed by a vacuum system. 

Next the fish enter the grading area and are then further processed into frozen headed and gutted 

(H&G) fish, fish fillets, or fresh H&G fish. To produce frozen whole fish, fish are loaded into 

trays and frozen in four flash freezers. After freezing the flash frozen fish are knocked off the 

trays on the “break table” and glazed (to reduce dehydration during storage). Glaze is a mixture 

of water and Lycasin®. H&G frozen fish are packed in totes and loaded into freezer containers 

right outside the facility. When the containers are full, they are sealed, locked, and shipped off 

site. 

To produce fillets, fish must be warmed slightly (above freezing) ensure the processing 

equipment works correctly. The fish are processed in a line that removes fins, tails, and collars. 

Next the fish are sawed into three parts: two fillets and the frame (bones) (Figure 3a). Although 

considerable flesh is still attached to the frame, it is considered waste. Trident (and the industry) 

has and is still investigating markets, product forms and equipment to use frame meat in a cost 

effective manner. The fillets are trimmed by hand (Figure 3) then pass through an automated pin 

bone puller, followed by hand pulling of any remaining pin bones. The fillets are aged to ease the 

removal of the pin bones and allow the flesh to relax and go through rigor. The relaxation process 

can last up to 1 to 2 days until the fish is processed. 
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Finally the fillets are rinsed and the grader removes any fish that have bruises or other 

imperfections. The fillets that pass this last inspection are sent to coolers and vacuum packed 

(Figure 4). The packaged fillets are then sent through a “drag” freezer, which consists of 

containers of trays that are conveyed or dragged through a freezer. Lastly, the frozen fillets are 

boxed. 

Grade 2 fillets are sorted (Figure 5), frozen, then glazed and packed in various product 

configurations such as single frozen portions for bags for retailers or food service. 

Smoker. The smoker operated by Trident/NorQuest Ketchikan uses small scale, hand production, 

to produce a high value product. King salmon is filleted, the fillets are injected with brine, and 

they staged for the smoker. Smoke is produced by burning a blend of hardwood shavings. The 

only flavoring is natural smoke. The smoker adds flavor but doesn’t fully cook the fish. After 

smoking, the fish is canned and then cooked in a mini-retort (Figure 6) 

Figure 1. Totes on Dock 

Figure 2. Automated Conveyor
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Figure 3a. Sawing salmon into fillets. 

Figure 3. Hand Trimming 
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Figure 4. Vacuum Packs 

Figure 5. Freezing prep 
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Figure 6. Canning smoked salmon