PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

Report to the Record

Profile of the Alaska Seafood 

Processing Industry

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Office of Water (4303T)

1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

Washington, DC 20460

August 2013
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0 BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................................ 1

1.1. History of the Regulation.................................................................................................... 1

1.2. Current Administration of the ELG in Alaska.................................................................... 3

1.3. Reconsideration of the Alaskan Seafood Processing Subcategories................................... 3

1.4. Organization of the Industry Profile ................................................................................... 3

2.0 OVERVIEW OF THE SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY.............................................. 4

2.1. Description of the Industry ................................................................................................. 4

2.2. Significance of the Alaska Fisheries and Seafood Processing Industry in the Global, 

U.S., and Regional Economies ........................................................................................... 4

2.2.1. Fisheries................................................................................................................. 4

2.2.2. Seafood Processing................................................................................................ 6

2.3. Overview of the Seafood Processing Industry in Alaska.................................................... 7

2.4. The Major Alaskan Fisheries and their impact on Seafood Processing Finances............... 8

3.0 ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING FACILITIES AND FIRMS IN THE 

PETITIONING NON-REMOTE PROCESSING LOCATIONS AND ADDITIONAL 

REMOTE PROCESSING LOCATIONS OF INTEREST...................................................... 11

3.1. Overview Of Facilities and Firms..................................................................................... 12

3.1.1. Petitioning Non-Remote Processing Location Facilities..................................... 12

3.1.1.1. Cordova............................................................................................ 13

3.1.1.2. Juneau .............................................................................................. 17

3.1.1.3. Ketchikan.......................................................................................... 17

3.1.1.4. Petersburg........................................................................................ 18

3.1.2. Processing Locations of Interest Currently Classified as Remote ....................... 18

3.1.2.1. Dutch Harbor................................................................................... 19

3.1.2.2. Kenai Peninsula ............................................................................... 19

3.1.2.3. Sitka.................................................................................................. 20

3.2. Firms Owning Facilities in the Petitioning Non-Remote Processing Locations and 

Remote Locations of Interest............................................................................................ 21

3.2.1. Firms Owning Petitioning Processing Location Facilities................................... 24

3.2.2. Other Firms Owning Remote Facilities in Procressing Locations of Interest 

(Dutch Harbor, Kenai Peninsula, Sitka) .............................................................. 25

3.2.2.1. Dutch Harbor................................................................................... 25

3.2.2.2. Kenai Peninsula ............................................................................... 26

3.2.2.3. Sitka.................................................................................................. 27

4.0 CURRENT INDUSTRY PRACTICES FOR MANAGING WASTE..................................... 27

4.1. General Waste Management Practices.............................................................................. 27

4.2. Seafood By-products......................................................................................................... 28

4.2.1. Fishmeal............................................................................................................... 28

4.2.2. Bone Meal............................................................................................................ 28

4.2.3. Fish Oil ................................................................................................................ 29

4.2.4. Hydrolyzed Protein.............................................................................................. 29

4.2.5. Montlake Process................................................................................................. 29

4.2.6. Compost and Crop Nutrient................................................................................. 30

4.2.7. Modified Silage.................................................................................................... 30

4.2.8. Chondroitin Sulfate (CS)..................................................................................... 30

4.2.9. Dried Salmon Fish Heads.................................................................................... 30
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

4.2.10. Chitin ................................................................................................................... 30

4.3. Markets for Seafood Processing By-products................................................................... 30

4.3.1. Fishmeal............................................................................................................... 31

4.3.2. Fish Oil ................................................................................................................ 32

4.3.3. Hydrolysate.......................................................................................................... 33

5.0 ALASKAN BY-PRODUCT MARKET CONSIDERATIONS ................................................ 33

5.1. Number of By-product Processing Facilities.................................................................... 34

5.2. Current By-product Processing in The Petitioning Locations and Additional Locations 

of Interest.......................................................................................................................... 36

5.2.1. Status of By-product Recovery in the Petitioning Locations............................... 36

5.2.1.1. Cordova............................................................................................ 36

5.2.1.2. Juneau .............................................................................................. 36

5.2.1.3. Petersburg........................................................................................ 37

5.2.1.4. Ketchikan.......................................................................................... 37

5.2.2. Status of By-product Recovery in the Locations of Interest................................ 38

5.2.2.1. Dutch Harbor................................................................................... 38

5.2.2.2. Kenai Peninsula ............................................................................... 38

5.2.2.3. Sitka.................................................................................................. 38

5.3. Total Waste Available in Petition Processing Locations.................................................. 39

5.4. Waste utilization estimates ............................................................................................... 41

6.0 COMPARING POTENTIAL ALASKAN AND GLOBAL QUANTITIES OF BYPRODUCTS ................................................................................................................................. 42

7.0 OTHER FACTORS AFFECTING PROCESSORS IN NON-REMOTE PROCESSING 

LOCATIONS ............................................................................................................................... 43

8.0 REFERENCES............................................................................................................................. 49
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. 2008 Fish Production and Processing Overview ............................................................................5

Table 2. Alaska Seafood Processing in the Context of Its Region and the U.S. Seafood Processing 

Industry .........................................................................................................................................................7

Table 3. Facility Overview by Petitioning Locations and Locations of Interest........................................14

Table 4. Firms with Potentially Affected Petitioning Alaskan Processing Facilities and Those with 

Facilities in the Locations of Interest..........................................................................................................21

Table 5. Facilities Producing Fishmeal and Fish Oil..................................................................................35

Table 6. ADFG Regions Corresponding to Petitioning Locations..............................................................39

Table 7. Estimated Seafood Waste from Regions Surrounding Petitioning Processing Locations in 2008 

(tons)...........................................................................................................................................................40

Table 8. Annual Salmon Waste Generated by Petitioning Areas and Areas of Interest 2005-2009...........41

Table 9. 2009 Regional Salmon Harvests and Estimated Fishmeal and Oil Production (metric tons).......41

Table 10. Fishmeal and Fish Oil Production Estimates by Petitioning Locations and Additional Locations 

of Interest ....................................................................................................................................................42

Table 11. Comparing Alaskan and Global Quantities of Seafood By-products .........................................42

Table 12. Other Processors Closest to the Processors in Petitioning Locations and Locations of Interest 43

Table 13. Census Characterization of Petitioning Processor Communities from 2000 US Census ...........45

Table 14 Seafood Processing in the Context of Census Employment and Establishments........................46

Table 15. Seafood Canning and Fresh/Frozen Processor Establishments and Employees [a]....................48
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Alaska Fish Production as it Relates to Regional and National Production..................................5

Figure 2. 2008 Fish Landings and Ex-Vessel Values by Alaska Fishery ...................................................10

Figure 3. Map of ADFG Harvest Areas with Seafood Processor Locations..............................................12

Figure 4. Top International Fishmeal Producers 2006-2009 ......................................................................31

Figure 5. Comparing Global and Alaskan Potential Meal and Oil Production...........................................43
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

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1.0 BACKGROUND

1.1. HISTORY OF THE REGULATION 

U.S. EPA is again considering finalizing a response to a petition on a final regulation and 

amending effluent limitations guidelines including numeric discharge limits on effluents from a subset of 

seafood processing facilities located in Alaska. This regulation, an effluent limitations guideline, or ELG, 

was originally promulgated in two phases in 1974 and 1975. In order to understand the regulation, it is 

necessary to know how the regulation defines the various seafood processing entities and the history of 

the regulatory process for this industry.

The two-phase rule (begun in 1974 and completed in 1975) (40 CFR Part 408) covers all seafood 

processors in the United States and has created a number of subcategories within the Seafood Processing 

Category. These subcategories generally relate to a number of factors, including geographic region, the 

type of processing methods employed, and type of fish or shellfish harvested. In this way, the rule was 

designed to take into account the unique characteristics of the seafood processing facilities, their 

locations, and how they process the seafood. Alaska seafood processors are divided into a number of 

subcategories. These subcategories include:1

 Non-remote Alaska Crabmeat Processing

 Remote Alaska Crabmeat Processing

 Non-remote Alaska Whole Crab and Crab Section Processing

 Remote Alaska Whole Crab and Crab Section Processing

 Non-remote Alaska Shrimp Processing

 Remote Alaska Shrimp Processing

 Alaska Hand-butchered Salmon Processing

 Alaska Mechanized Salmon Processing

 Alaska Bottom Fish Processing

 Alaska Scallop Processing

 Alaskan Herring Fillet Processing

Although, at first glance, it would appear that the terms “non-remote” and “remote” have a broad 

geographic definition, in fact, the terms are very specific. Non-remote seafood processors are located only 

in the following non-exclusive list of locations, or “processing locations:”

 Anchorage

 Cordova

 Juneau

 Kodiak

 Ketchikan

 Petersburg.

 

1 The subcategories in which remote and non-remote are not specified in the subcategory title cover remote and nonremote processors grouped together, but with separate requirements.
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

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These six locations were classified in the regulation as non-remote locations generally on the 

basis of having greater economies of scale than those areas classified as “remote.” All areas outside of 

these locations were classified as “remote.” All seafood processors are subject to Best Practicable Control 

Technology Currently Available (BPT) regulations. For non-remote processors, BPT provides massbased numeric limitations on total suspended solids (TSS), oil and grease, and a range for pH. Remote 

seafood processors are only required to meet size limitations on the wastes discharged with their effluent 

(that is, the solids in their wastes must be less than 1⁄2 inch in all dimensions prior to discharge). The 

requirements to meet ELGs covering TSS, oil and grease, and pH are based on screening the wastewater.

Best Conventional Pollutant Control Technology (BCT) and New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) 

are set equal to BPT requirements for both remote and non-remote seafood processors. Best Available 

Technology Economically Achievable (BAT) regulations have been replaced by BCT effluent limitations 

for all of the subcategories.

It must be noted that EPA bases its effluent limitations guidelines and standards on a particular 

technology or set of technologies but does not require adoption of any particular technology to comply 

with ELGs. Once the limitations are established, the individual facilities may use any technology or set of 

technologies to meet the effluent limitations guidelines and standards. In addition, individual facilities can 

consider opportunities to work together and collectively take advantage of economies of scale.

At the time of the original rulemakings in 1974 and 1975, EPA made the distinction between 

remote and non-remote processors on the basis that waste disposal alternatives that might be available in 

some locations would not be available in all areas of Alaska. Furthermore, EPA determined that seafood 

processors that were not near large population centers or were not located near other seafood processors 

might be at an economic disadvantage. 

The implementation of the rule was held up during a court challenge, in which EPA eventually 

prevailed. However, shortly after, in 1980, Pacific Seafood Processors Association; Morpac, Inc; NefcoFidalgo Packing Company; North Pacific Processors; E.C. Phillips and Son, Inc; Washington Fish & 

Oyster Company; and Whitney Fidalgo Seafoods petitioned the EPA to reconsider and modify the ELG. 

All non-remote regions except Kodiak were represented in this petition; processors in Kodiak complied 

with the BPT effluent limitations and thus no Kodiak establishments joined the petition. The petitioners 

claimed that the costs of achieving the BPT effluent limitations were not in proportion to the effluent 

reduction benefits for non-remote Alaska processing locations. The petitioners also requested that EPA 

suspend the regulations asserting that a record-breaking salmon season would occur in 1980, while also 

noting the timing for guideline implementation could also pose compliance problems for the industry. On 

May 19, 1980, EPA published a direct final rule suspending the BPT screening requirement for 

processors (45 FR 32675), based upon good cause. The suspension was intended to expire October 15, 

1980. 

On June 16, the petitioners filed a supplemental petition for modification, maintaining that 

Anchorage, Cordova, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Petersburg should be removed from the non-remote 

designation and requesting EPA provide further evidence regarding the costs and benefits of 

implementing the new BPT requirements. EPA published the supplemental petition in its entirety on 

August 7, 1980 (45 FR 52411). In January 1981, EPA proposed to grant the petition for Juneau (removing 

it from non-remote status) and deny the petition for the other petitioning communities (46 FR 2544). The 

proposed response also indicated the suspension of BPT for the petitioning non-remote Alaska seafood 

processors (51 FR 24974) would remain in effect until a final decision was reached. EPA also solicited 

comment on, but did not formally propose, adding Dutch Harbor and the Kenai Peninsula to the list of 

non-remote locations. EPA has not, however, made a final decision regarding the petition, and, therefore, 

the remote and non-remote designations, as well as BPT requirements for non-remote Alaska seafood 

processors, remain suspended. The suspension effectively requires all Alaskan seafood processors 
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

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covered by the ELGs (with the exception of those in Kodiak) to meet the less stringent BPT effluent 

limitations based upon grinding for remote seafood processors, that is, waste size limits. 

1.2. CURRENT ADMINISTRATION OF THE ELG IN ALASKA

ELGs are administered through a system of permits, known as National Pollutant Discharge 

Elimination System (NPDES) permits. With the exception of seafood processors in Kodiak and a few 

others, permits written for seafood processors in Alaska require processors to meet the BPT requirements 

for remote seafood processors. NPDES permits spell out the limitations specified by the ELGs, unless 

more restrictive limits are placed in the permits to meet state requirements or water quality needs. Thus, 

the limits cannot be less stringent than the ELG requirements, which in this case means less stringent than 

the BPT requirement for remote processors, due to the suspension of the non-remote designation. Until 

recently, EPA Region 10 managed the issuance of permits to all discharging facilities in Alaska, including 

seafood processors. However, in 2008, EPA transferred authority over the NPDES permitting program to 

the State of Alaska. As such, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) issues 

NPDES permit to seafood processors discharging into state waters. EPA retains authority to issue permits 

in offshore federal waters (i.e., waters more than 3 miles from the baseline).

The NPDES permit covering the majority of seafood processors in Alaska is the NPDES General 

Permit for Seafood Processors in Alaska (AKG-52-0000), which expired in 2006 but which continues to 

cover shorebased seafood processors until a new General Permit can be issued. This permit applies the 

remote ELGs which are the less stringent BPT effluent limitations based upon grinding. Permitted 

seafood processors in Kodiak are authorized to discharge pursuant to the NPDES General Permit for 

Seafood Processors Operating Shorebased Facilities in Kodiak, Alaska (AKG528000FP). The Kodiak 

permit is based on the non-remote numeric BPT effluent limitations. Seafood processors in Dutch Harbor

have been issued individual NPDES permits that contain more stringent limits based on a Total Maximum 

Daily Limit (TMDL) (including limits for Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD)). In addition, offshore 

seafood processors (i.e., processors operating more than one half nautical mile from shore) are covered by 

the Alaska Offshore Seafood Processors NPDES General Permit (AKG 523000) which applies the remote 

BPT effluent limitations based upon grinding. 

1.3. RECONSIDERATION OF THE ALASKAN SEAFOOD PROCESSING SUBCATEGORIES

EPA is again considering appropriate amendments to the regulations as described above. EPA 

will consider the original proposal and comments received on that proposal, current information 

(collected from both secondary sources and recently received responses to a Section 308 survey

questionnaire), and comments that will be received on the notice of data availability (NODA). As 

indicated in the proposal, EPA is reviewing the status of an additional three “remote” locations that might 

be considered for reassignment to the “non-remote” classification: Dutch Harbor, Sitka, and the Kenai 

Peninsula. Additional locations that have similar characteristics to facilities classified as non-remote, such 

as Naknek, also could be considered based upon data and information submitted with public comments on 

the NODA. 

1.4. ORGANIZATION OF THE INDUSTRY PROFILE

The purpose of this industry profile is to provide an understanding of the industry within Alaska 

as well as its importance within the United States and abroad. Section 2 provides an overview of the 

industry and describes relevant global, national, regional, and state and local economic information. 

Section 3 provides information on the firms and facilities in the potentially affected non-remote areas, as 

well as information on those in the remote areas that EPA is considering adding to the list of non-remote 

locations. Section 4 then describes the current industry practices for managing fish wastes through 

discharge, offshore disposal, and by-product recovery, which is discussed in detail. Section 5 discusses 

the status of by-product recovery in the petitioning locations and additional locations of interest. Section 6 

presents a comparison of potential Alaskan by-product recovery quantities to the global availability of by-
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

4

products. In Section 7, the report discusses the role of species of fish processed and proximity of facilities 

in locations that may be considered non-remote in a possible final regulation to those that may remain 

remote. EPA also discusses the role of the seafood processing industry in the local economies of the nonremote petitioner communities.

2.0 OVERVIEW OF THE SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

2.1. DESCRIPTION OF THE INDUSTRY

The seafood processing industry is a part of the wider food processing sector, a major category 

within the manufacturing sector of the economy. The seafood processing industry acquires fresh fish or 

shellfish from harvesters, who typically operate as separate businesses within a non-manufacturing sector 

(the agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting sector), although some seafood processors operate large 

processing ships, which catch, process, and deliver seafood products as part of one operation. When the 

processor acquires the fresh seafood from harvesters, the processor removes unwanted fish parts (such as 

skeletons, heads, or shells) before creating secondary, preserved products for both human and non-human 

consumption. The processes in which usable fish products are separated from wastes can range from those 

using only hand labor to fully automated mechanical separation processes. The unwanted fish parts 

become part of the waste stream that the processor must manage. General waste management and byproduct recovery practices are reviewed in Section 4.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) divides the seafood processing 

industry into two main categories: Seafood Canning (NAICS code 311711), defined as “establishments 

primarily engaged in (1) canning seafood (including soup) and marine fats and oils and/or (2) smoking, 

salting, and drying seafood”; and Fresh and Frozen Seafood Processing (NAICS code 311712), defined 

as, “establishments primarily engaged in one or more of the following: (1) eviscerating fresh fish by 

removing heads, fins, scales, bones, and entrails; (2) shucking and packing fresh shellfish; (3) 

manufacturing frozen seafood; and (4) processing fresh and frozen marine fats and oils” (U.S. Census 

Bureau, 2010, 2010a). The non-remote Alaska seafood processing facilities are represented within both of 

these NAICS categories. 

2.2. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ALASKA FISHERIES AND SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY IN THE 

GLOBAL, U.S., AND REGIONAL ECONOMIES

2.2.1. Fisheries

The Alaska seafood processing industry is an important part of the U.S. industry, and a minor, but 

measurable, contributor to the global industry. The inputs to this industry; fish, shellfish, and other 

seafood in terms of production volumes, are an indicator of the seafood processing industry’s importance 

in Alaska, that region, the United States and the world. In 2008, global fish production (which combines 

aquaculture and commercial catch [landings]) was more than 142 million metric tons of fish, with 

commercial landings estimated at nearly 90 million metric tons (NMFS, 2010) (see Table 1). In that year, 

the United States was the fifth largest seafood producer in the world with roughly four million tons of fish 

produced. Landed seafood is the biggest contributor to U.S. seafood production. Aquaculture makes up 

the rest of seafood production, contributing less than 10 percent to total production.

The top fish-producing region in the United States was, and continues to be, the Pacific Coast 

region, which includes the states of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California. In 2008, the region 

landed 2.6 million metric tons of seafood, which is about 67 percent of all U.S. landings and more than 

four times the landings of the second largest fish producing region, the Gulf Coast, which landed 0.6 

million metric tons of seafood (throughout the remainder of the document, “tons” are considered to be 

metric tons, unless otherwise noted). The region’s landings also make up one half of the total value of 

U.S. landings. 
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

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Table 1. 2008 Fish Production and Processing Overview 

Location/Scale

Commercial 

Fish Landings

(million tons)

Percent of U.S. 

Landings

Value of 

Commercial Fish 

Landings

($ billions)

Percent of U.S. 

Value of Landings

World 89.74 NA NA NA

United States 3.78 -- $4.4 --

Pacific Coast Region 2.55 67% $2.2 50%

Alaska 2.06 54% $1.7 39%

Source: NMFS, 2010.

Alaska is by far the largest contributor to total seafood production in the Pacific Coast Region and 

in the United States. During the time period 1997-2007, Alaska accounted for 51 percent of the nation’s 

total landings, by weight, of fish and shellfish (Bimbo, 2008). The state’s landings of 2.06 million tons in 

2008 were approximately 81 percent of total Pacific Coast seafood landings, 54 percent of all U.S. 

landings, and about 1 percent of global fish production in that year (NMFS, 2010). (Fish landings 

comprise nearly all of Alaska fish production, since aquaculture plays little role in the state’s fishing 

economy.)2In 2008, Alaska led all states in the amount of fish landings. The next largest contributor to 

landings was Louisiana, with approximately 0.4 million tons. Alaska also led in the value of those 

landings ($1.7 billion) (NMFS, 2010).3 This is 77 percent of the value of landings produced by the Pacific 

Coast Region and about 39 percent of the value of landings in the United States (see Figure 1). The value 

of landings per ton of fish landed, however, lags behind the average for the United States, possibly 

reflecting the cost of transportation to the major lower 48 and Asian markets. 

Figure 1. Alaska Fish Production as it Relates to Regional and National Production

 

2

Fish production combines the volume of fish landings with volume of fish produced through aquaculture. In 

Alaska, unlike other states, finfish farming (raising or cultivating finfish in captivity) is prohibited, and therefore is 

not a major contributor to the state’s total fish production. Ocean ranching (which involves releasing young fish into 

open waters) as well as non-finfish farming (such as oysters, clams, and geoducks) are both permitted in Alaska and 

contribute to total fish production (State of Alaska, 1990).

3

Fish landings are the part of the fish catch that is brought onshore after harvest, often providing a record of total 

catch. NOAA credits landings of some fish, such as Alaska Pollock and other Pacific ground fish, a substantial 

portion of which are processed at sea, to the state nearest the catch location (NMFS, 2010).
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

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2.2.2. Seafood Processing

Much of the fish landed in the United States and abroad undergoes a processing step prior to 

being marketed. More than half of the world’s fish production (54%) underwent some form of seafood 

processing in 2006 (FAO, 2008). In the United States, the primary form of processing for human 

consumption in 2009 was fresh and frozen (77%), followed by canning (15%), and curing (2%). For nonhuman consumption, the primary products were bait and animal food (3%) as well as meal and oil (3%) 

(NMFS, 2010). 

As of 2007, seafood processing plants numbered 652 across the United States and employed

about 39,000 workers (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007a) (see Table 2). The Pacific Coast region, which 

includes the state of Alaska, is home to 282 seafood processors (or 43 percent of total U.S. seafood 

processing establishments). This region also is associated with more than half the U.S. employment and 

receipts. Nearly half of the establishments located in the Pacific Coast region, 116 facilities, are located in 

Alaska. These 116 facilities make up nearly 20 percent of the total U.S. seafood establishments (U.S. 

Census Bureau, 2007a, b).

4

Alaska employs nearly 

9,000 workers, or about 

23 percent of the U.S. total for 

the industry.5 Total receipts in Alaska are $2.2 billion, also about 20 percent of total receipts in this 

industry throughout the United States. The fact that Alaska by itself makes up so much of the seafood 

processing industry in the United States is notable. 

 

4 The establishment numbers are believed to include vessel-based processors, because the Census does collect 

information from floating “factory ships.” Most vessel-based processors are subject to offshore or nearshore 

requirements, not land-based requirements, although some vessels operate as land-based processors. EPA is not 

analyzing mobile land-based processors (such as barges that might dock or anchor in or near a processing location).

5 Note that employment figures from the Census reflect employment in March, 2007. Few Alaska processing 

establishments operate in March. Other regions of the United States are also seasonal, but it is likely that if average 

employment during a year were calculated, Alaska employment in the seafood processing industry as a percentage 

of U.S. employment might be higher than that shown here. 

National Marine Fisheries Service, 2010.
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Table 2. Alaska Seafood Processing in the Context of Its Region and the U.S. Seafood Processing 

Industry

Geographic 

Area

No. of 

Establishmen

ts

% of U.S. 

Establishmen

ts

Number of 

Employees

% of U.S. 

Employee

s

Total 

Receipts

($ 

billions)

% of 

U.S. 

Receipts

Alaska 116 18% 8,870 23% $2.2 20%

Fresh and frozen 98 18% 7,934 22% $2.0 20%

Canning 18 19% 936 33% $0.2 20%

Pacific Coast 282 43% 21,445 55% $5.9 53%

Fresh and frozen 237 42% 18,687 52% $4.9 49%

Canning 45 48% 1,689 60% $0.7 70%

United States 652 38,968 $11.1

Fresh and frozen 558 36137 $10.0

Canning 94 2,831 $1.0

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2007a, b. Does not include non-employer establishments (33 non-employer 

establishments are located in Alaska and more than 217 in the Pacific Coast region). 

The seafood processing industry in Alaska has changed somewhat in the last decade. In 1997,

there were 31 canning establishments (average March employment per establishment was 40) and 91 

fresh and frozen establishments (average March employment of 65) in Alaska, according to the Census.

The canning industry in 2007 consisted of 18 establishments (average employment 52) and 98 fresh and 

frozen establishments (average employment 81). Thus, the number of canning establishments in Alaska 

has decreased substantially during the recent decade, with production being concentrated in fewer, larger 

facilities. Meanwhile, the number of fresh and frozen establishments has grown somewhat since 1997, 

while the size of those establishments, on average, has become larger (based on average employment). 

Thus, overall, the number of seafood processing establishments has declined only slightly, but the process 

has shifted from canning to fresh and frozen and the establishments themselves have become larger over 

the years (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007a; 2000a). 

2.3. OVERVIEW OF THE SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY IN ALASKA

Alaska’s 116 seafood processing plants6are divided by EPA definitions into direct discharging, 

indirect discharging (discharging to publicly owned treatment works), or non-discharging. The facilities 

are also classified as operating in remote or non-remote processing locations for regulatory purposes. At 

this time, 21 facilities are designated as operating in non-remote locations (that is, they are located in or 

near the cities of Anchorage, Cordova, Juneau, Ketchikan, Kodiak, and Petersburg). However, some of 

these facilities are currently discharging wastes to publicly owned treatment works and, therefore, are not 

subject to the BPT requirements for direct dischargers, the focus of EPA’s potential actions7. Several 

others (six establishments) are located in Kodiak and currently are meeting the requirements for nonremote processors. EPA considers a total of 14 facilities with direct discharge to be potentially affected by 

its decision on the petition and a possible final regulation as discussed in Section 1. The remaining 

establishments operating in Alaska have been considered as being remote land-based, nearshore, or 

offshore establishments. The 116 seafood processing facilities are owned by an estimated 86 employer

firms (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007b)

8

. This number includes more establishments than considered by EPA 

 

6 This industry profile focuses on employer firms. The numbers of facilities discussed in this section do not include 

33 non-employer firms. 

7 The exact number of establishments discharging wastes to publicly owned treatment works was not determined.

8 The permits number more than the establishments in part because the Census classifies firms by the industry to 

which the major share of the firm’s revenue is attributable. It is possible that a facility could do some processing but 
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

8

in the ELG, including floating processors, those which have primarily retail operations or some other 

business with seafood processing as a small portion of the business, and those which have ceased 

operations. At the national level, approximately 96 percent of firms owning seafood processing 

establishments are small businesses as defined by the Small Business Administration (SBA), employing 

on a yearly average fewer than 500 employees (Federal Register, 2010). Known large firms owning 

processing facilities in Alaska include Trident Seafoods, Icicle Seafoods, Ocean Beauty Seafoods, and the 

Japanese firms Maruha Nichiro Holdings, Nippon Suison Kaisha, and Marubeni. Additional information 

on these firms is presented in Section 3.1.2. A total of six small businesses are estimated to be affected 

by EPA’s decision on the petition. Section 3.2 discusses how small businesses were identified in these 

groups of firms. 

2.4. THE MAJOR ALASKAN FISHERIES AND THEIR IMPACT ON SEAFOOD PROCESSING FINANCES

The seafood processors in Alaska are dependent on their fisheries, which drive the economics of 

the industry. Alaska has five major fisheries, which harvest and process particular species of fish. 

Alaska’s major fisheries include: 1) salmon (such as coho, sockeye, and chum), 2) halibut, 3) herring, 4) 

shellfish (such as king crabs and tanner crabs), and 5) groundfish (such as pollock, rockfish, flounder, 

haddock and cod) (Knapp, 2010). Each fishery is managed by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game 

(ADFG) with the exception of halibut, which is managed by the International Pacific Halibut Commission 

(IPHC). The volume of seafood production each fishery contributes to the Alaskan fishing and 

manufacturing industry has varied widely over time. For example, a shellfish boom between 1960 and 

1980 turned Kodiak into Alaska’s “crab capital,” during which time the king crab catch in Alaska totaled 

about 110,000 million tons, much of it landed in Kodiak. Beginning around 1980, the king crab catch

declined dramatically, decreasing by more than 100,000 million tons by 2002 (Knapp, 2010). With king 

crab harvests slow to recover, harvesters have focused more on tanner and snow crab, and the Bering Sea, 

Aleutian Island, and Gulf of Alaska region is now the center of crab production in the state (ADFG, 

2009). Dutch Harbor production is now dominated by pollock.

The Alaskan groundfish fishery also has a history of fluctuating volumes and harvesters. Prior to 

1972, groundfish production was flourishing under foreign harvesters who began targeting the pollock 

fishery. With little regulation of gear or rules to prevent overfishing, contention was high among large, 

foreign factory boats and the smaller domestic pot fisheries and longliners. As groundfish production 

sharply declined after 1972, the United States established the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), 

which created a 200-mile conservation zone. To promote U.S. fisheries, the U.S. government put forth 

various policies, following creation of the EEZ, such as the American Fisheries Promotion Act. These 

policies obligated foreign harvesters to meet many more requirements in order to fish within the EEZ 

(such as the purchasing of U.S. fisheries products and technology transfer relating to fishing and boating 

equipment). In combination with incentive programs such as the NMFS Fisheries Obligation Guarantee 

Program, which provided loans for U.S. factory trawlers and processors in order to facilitate industry 

growth, these strategies shifted the once foreign-based groundfish fishery into domestic hands by the 

early 1990s (Bechtel, 2010). 

Several factors shape the financial standing of the Alaskan seafood processing industry each year. 

On a broad level, financial fluctuations may occur due to consumers’ changing seafood product 

preferences or the quantity of seafood available to meet those consumer demands. For instance, the exvessel price for herring decreased by more than 70 percent from1995 to 2003 because Japan, one of the 

main markets for Alaskan herring products, dramatically decreased its purchases of luxury herring 

products as its economy stagnated (Knapp, 2007). Seafood availability, which can fluctuate by up to 50

 

the major source of its revenue is another business, such as retail sales of fish products. Also, the General Permit 

includes floating offshore and nearshore processors, which substantially increase the number.
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

9

percent each year, can be shaped by factors such as fish productivity cycles that can be sensitive to 

seasonal temperatures, spawning patterns, or species health, as discussed above (Knapp, 2010).

The economic crisis experienced by the Alaskan salmon industry in the 1990s provides one 

example of the potential financial impacts resulting from fluctuations in seafood availability. During the 

1990’s the farmed salmon industry emerged and created a high degree of competition with Alaskan 

salmon.9. Atlantic salmon farmed in Norway, Chile, Scotland, Canada (both British Columbia and eastern 

Canada), and Maine greatly increased the volume of salmon production. As a result of the increased 

supply from the salmon farms, the price paid to fishermen dropped from $2 per lb to less than $1.00 per 

lb for most species of salmon except Chinook (Knapp, 2010).

Figure 2 shows the ex-vessel price for the volume of Alaska’s fishery landings in 2008. The exvessel price is the price that the processor pays for the seafood when the product leaves the boat. The 

figure illustrates the relative value of each fishery to Alaska’s economy in 2008 before any processing or 

value-added procedures are undertaken. For example, although nearly twice as many tons of herring were 

landed as halibut, the ex-vessel value of halibut landings was almost $150 million greater than that of the 

herring (ADFG, 2008).

 

9 Alaska laws prohibit salmon farming. The closest farm is a single, solitary salmon farm in Washington State. 

Alaska has a large fish hatchery industry to increase the number of wild salmon available for harvest (Knapp, 2010).
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

10

Figure 2. 2008 Fish Landings and Ex-Vessel Values by Alaska Fishery

At the processor level, the fish price negotiated between harvesters and processors can be a 

critical financial factor. In Alaska, seafood processors operate independently from harvesters. The pollock 

fishery is the exception; it operates primarily from large, offshore processing vessels. As a result,

processors can purchase their seafood from anyone, but the fishermen can also sell their catch to anyone, 

subject to contractual or other agreements. Although processors and harvesters rely on each other in order 

to generate income from their businesses, part of their financial success depends on the fish prices 

negotiated between the two parties each season. Processors can be very competitive for access to fish, and 

the level of competition fluctuates depending on the number of processing plants in the vicinity, the 

strength of the overall market as well as the value of the fish. For example, during years in which fish 

quantities are limited, competition between processors may increase, and processors, therefore, may be 

willing to pay a higher price for fish than in years where is an ample supply of fish. In years in which fish 

are abundant, processors may limit the number of fish they are willing to purchase from a harvester. 

Land-based processors must also keep in mind, however, the possibility for floating processors to move 

into an area during good fish-producing seasons, potentially decreasing the volume of fish brought to 

land-based processors (Knapp, 2010).

Because of the uncertainty of the purchasing and processing arrangement, fishermen and 

processors will often make an agreement for the fishing season or year. For example, a fisherman might 

agree to limit the processor’s supply to the quantity of fish that the processor is able to use. In return, the 

processor agrees to pay the fisherman a certain minimum price. Additionally, fishermen may seek loans 

from processors for new fishing vessels and enter into a contractual agreement with the processor that 

requires a specified percentage of the catch to be provided to that processor. Harvester-processor

agreements are sometimes broken by both parties, and suspicions of collusion among processors often 

arise among harvesters. The mobility of the both the producers (harvesters) and, in some cases, the 

consumers (the processors) can result in a highly competitive environment for an often limited resource. 

The competition for fish, the volatility of supply, and the resulting effects on revenues mean that the 

financial picture at seafood processing establishments can vary widely from year to year (Knapp, 2010).

Source: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, 2010; International Pacific 

Halibut Commission (IPHC, 2010). Halibut Ex-vessel Price was calculated by 

using ADFG average ex-vessel price for all Alaskan locations.

Source: ADFG, 2008.
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

11

Beyond the ex-vessel price, processors also pay a range of taxes. These taxes might include a 

landing tax10,fish business tax, or raw fish tax. For example, seafood processors pay a fisheries business 

tax “based on the price paid to the fishermen for the unprocessed fisheries resource” and the value paid 

depends on the species of fish (ranging from 1 to 5%) as well as the type of processing that will be 

undertaken (Alaska Department of Revenue, 2010). The state returns half of the collected tax to the 

community in which the processor is located. Some communities use the fisheries tax revenues for 

activities related to fishing and seafood processing, while others use the tax revenues in their general 

funds for the town (roads, schools, library, etc.) (Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and 

Economic Development (DCCED), 2010). 

3.0 ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING FACILITIES AND FIRMS IN THE PETITIONING 

NON-REMOTE PROCESSING LOCATIONS AND ADDITIONAL REMOTE 

PROCESSING LOCATIONS OF INTEREST

This section discusses the firms and facilities in several smaller areas of Alaska or “seafood 

processing locations” which could be affected by EPA’s final amended regulations. The primary focus of 

this section is the 14 facilities in the non-remote processing locations that are considered by EPA to be 

“petitioning locations” (see Section 3.1 for the identification of these facilities). As noted, these 

petitioning locations include Anchorage, Cordova, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Petersburg. While Kodiak is a 

non-remote location, it is not a petitioning location, and no direct discharge is occurring in Anchorage at 

this time. Neither of these locations is discussed further in this report. This section also presents profile 

information on two additional locations currently classified as remote that EPA’s 1981 proposal solicited 

comment on considering including as non-remote locations (Dutch Harbor and the Kenai Peninsula) plus 

one additional location identified during this update and (Sitka), and which are associated with 16 

facilities. These are considered the remote locations of interest. Other possible additional locations are not 

discussed in any detail. Finally, no nearshore, offshore processing, or floating processors are profiled, 

because these facilities were not covered by the original effluent limitations guidelines and thus are not 

within EPA’s focus at this time. However, with the growth of floating processors in Alaskan waters, since 

the mid-1980s the ELGs also have been applied to many of these floating processors in a general permit 

as necessary and appropriate. Information collected by EPA from nearshore and offshore floating 

processors has provided helpful contextual information to assist in better understanding land-based 

processing operations in comparison to the rest of the industry in Alaska. Figure 3 shows the State of 

Alaska with the petitioning locations and the other locations of interest located on the map. With the 

exception of Dutch Harbor, salmon represents the vast majority (more than 90%) of the seafood processed 

in each of the processing locations discussed in this section.

 

10 The Alaska Department of Revenue defines landing tax as a tax levied on fishery resources that are processed 

outside of the state of Alaska but are first landed in Alaska. The amount paid is based on the unprocessed weight of 

the resource (Alaska Department of Revenue, 2010).
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

12

Figure 3. Map of ADFG Harvest Areas with Seafood Processor Locations

Section 3.1 presents an overview of the direct discharging facilities (both petitioners and those in 

the locations of interest). The section first discusses the facilities in the non-remote processing locations 

involved in the petition (Section 3.1.1) and then discusses the facilities in several remote locations of 

interest that EPA is considering to determine whether they now have attributes similar to non-remote 

locations (Section 3.1.2). Section 3.2 then presents an overview of the owner firms of the direct 

discharging facilities, first in the petitioning locations (Section 3.2.1), then in the remote locations of 

interest (Section 3.2.2).

3.1. OVERVIEW OF FACILITIES AND FIRMS

This section describes the land-based seafood processing facilities and firms holding effluent 

discharge permits in the non-remote, petitioning processing locations (Section 3.1.1) and remote locations 

of interest (Section 3.1.2). Table 3 summarizes basic information on the facilities in these two groups of 

locations. 

3.1.1. Petitioning Non-Remote Processing Location Facilities

This section provides brief summaries of the facilities that are currently located in the non-remote 

processing locations that petitioned EPA (see Section 1). Sources for this information are primarily 

Source: Map with harvest areas taken from ADFG, 2010. Processing locations added by EPA.
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

13

corporate websites unless otherwise cited.

11

 Fourteen distinct discharging facilities are located in the 

petitioning locations, of which EPA surveyed 11 facilities from data received for the nine entities which 

received information collection requests. The three facilities not surveyed are identified in their 

descriptions, which are presented below. The information submitted by the respondents to the survey 

included both technical and financial data to support analyses of costs and impacts associated with 

meeting the requirements for non-remote seafood processing discharges as described in Section 1. EPA 

reviewed the financial information submitted for the 11 facilities. All of these facilities are considered 

financially viable as of 2009. Additional financial details from the survey, however, are considered 

Confidential Business Information (CBI) and are not provided here. See Report to the Record Cost and 

Economic Impact Analysis for Alaska Seafood Processors (Facilities and Firms) 2013, DCN XXXXX.

3.1.1.1. Cordova

Cordova is the most northerly located petitioning location currently practicing direct discharge. It 

is located relatively near Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula (see Figure 3). Four direct discharging 

facilities in Cordova process seafood. One is owned by a small, independent firm, Copper River 

Seafoods, which also has a facility in Anchorage that does not discharge directly. The other three are 

facilities owned by large firms that operate nationally, as well as in Alaska (Copper River, 2010; Ocean 

Beauty, 2010b; Trident Seafoods Corporation, 2010g).

Copper River Seafoods—In 1996, Copper River Seafoods took ownership of a 70-year old processing 

plant in Cordova where it now processes fresh, frozen and smoked seafood products using a variety of 

salmon, halibut, cod, and rockfish. The Cordova plant also processes salmon roe into ikura and sujiko12. 

Fresh fish, predominantly salmon, is shipped to Anchorage. Frozen fish is exported. Copper River 

Seafoods’ Cordova plant operates from May 15 through September 15 and employs a portion of the 

company’s 150 seasonal employees.

Ocean Beauty—The Ocean Beauty Cordova plant operates February through September. The plant 

processes halibut, black cod, rockfish, and salmon. It is one of the largest producers of Copper River King 

and Sockeye salmon in Alaska.

Norquest Seafoods (Trident South)—The Norquest Seafoods (Trident South) plant is owned and 

operated by Trident Seafood Corporation, which took ownership in 2007. The facility operates March 

through September and processes a variety of bottom fish, sable fish, halibut, and salmon. Salmon and 

halibut comprise the majority of the facility’s finished product.

Trident Seafood Cannery (Trident North)—Formerly owned by Bear and Wolf, the Trident Seafood 

cannery processes salmon from May through early September. In 2008, the plant produced more than 20 

million lbs of canned salmon.

 

11 These websites include: Copper River http://copperriverseafoods.com/ ; Ocean Beauty 

http://www.oceanbeauty.com/; Trident Seafoods http://www.tridentseafoods.com/company/history.php; Alaska 

Glacier http://www.alaskaglacierseafoods.com/; Taku http://takustore.com/; Alaska General 

http://www.akgen.com/index.asp; E.C. Phillips http://www.ecphillipsalaska.com/; Icicle Seafoods 

http://www.icicleseafoods.com/

12 Ikura is processed and salted roe, and sujiko is salted and cured salmon eggs.
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

14

Table 3. Facility Overview by Petitioning Locations and Locations of Interest

Facility

(By location) Owner Firm or Parent Employment Type of Products Type(s) of Seafood Used

Facilities in Petitioning Locations

Cordova

Copper River 

Seafoods−Cordova Copper River Seafoods 150 Fresh ,frozen, smoked, and roe

Salmon, halibut, cod

Ocean Beauty−Cordova Ocean Beauty Seafoods NA NA Halibut, black cod, rockfish, and 

salmon

Norquest Seafoods Trident Seafood 

Corporation NA NA Bottom fish, sable fish, halibut, and salmon

Trident Seafood Cannery Trident Seafood 

Corporation NA Canned Salmon

Juneau

Alaska Glacier Seafoods Alaska Glacier Seafoods 70 Fresh and Frozen (whole and 

fillet), roe

Chum salmon, black cod , halibut, 

rockfish, crab, spot prawns, sea 

cucumbers, various ground fish

Taku Fisheries Alaska Seafood 

Holdings (parent) NA Fresh, frozen, and smoked Salmon, halibut, black cod

Ketchikan

Alaska General Alaska General NA Canned,

Fresh and frozen , roe Salmon

E.C. Phillips and Son, Inc E.C. Phillips and Son, 

Inc. NA Fresh and Frozen

Salmon, halibut, rockfish, shrimp, 

cod, herring, sea cucumber and 

geoduck

Pacific Sun Products Coastal Fisheries, LLC NA Fresh, frozen, and canned Salmon

Ketchikan Cannery Trident Seafood 

Corporation NA Canned and roe Salmon

Trident Seafoods Trident Seafood 

Corporation NA Fresh and Frozen Salmon, sea cucumbers, prawns, and crab

Petersburg

Icicle Seafoods

Icicle Seafoods, Inc. 

(Paine & Partners, 

parent)

500 Fresh/frozen, canned, and 

value-added products

Salmon, halibut, cod, crab 

(various species)
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

15

Facility

(By location) Owner Firm or Parent Employment Type of Products Type(s) of Seafood Used

Ocean Beauty−Petersburg Ocean Beauty Seafoods 160-180 Ikura, Fresh/frozen and 

canned Salmon

Trident Seafoods 

−Petersburg

Trident Seafood 

Corporation NA NA Salmon, halibut, black cod, and rockfish

Non-Petitioning Facilities in Locations of Interest

Dutch Harbor

Alyeska Seafoods Maruha Nichiro 

Holdings (parent) NA Fresh and frozen Crab

Bering Star Fisheries, LLC 

*

Copper River Seafoods 

and Siu Alaska (Norton 

Sound Economic 

Development 

Corporation)

NA NA NA

UniSea Nippon Suison Kaisha 

(parent) 450-95013 Surimi, fresh, and frozen Cod, halibut, pollock, snow and king crab

Westward Maruha Nichiro 

Holdings (parent) 22014 NA Pollock, cod, halibut, and crab

Kenai Peninsula

Inlet Fish Producers Kenai Inlet Fish Producers 200 (total for both 

facilities) Fresh and frozen Salmon and halibut

Inlet Fish Producers 

Kasilof Inlet Fish Producers NA Fresh and frozen Salmon and halibut

Ocean Beauty−Nikiski Ocean Beauty Seafoods NA Fresh and frozen Salmon

Pacific Star Seafoods Double E Seafoods, 

LLC NA Fresh/frozen and smoked products

Salmon, sablefish, halibut, cod, 

and rockfish

Salamantof Seafoods Salamantof Seafoods NA NA Cod, rockfish, halibut, and salmon

Snug Harbor Seafoods Snug Harbor Seafoods 200 Fresh, frozen, and smoked Sablefish, rockfish, cod, halibut, 

and salmon

 

13 Hoovers, 2010d and corporate website.

14 Manta, 2011b.

* A processor newly opened after the period of time covered in EPA’s analyses and thus not considred.
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

16

Facility

(By location) Owner Firm or Parent Employment Type of Products Type(s) of Seafood Used

Icicle Seafoods

Icicle Seafoods, Inc. 

(Paine & Partners, 

parent)

300 Fresh/frozen, canned Black cod, halibut, and salmon

Polar Seafoods Polar Equipment NA NA Salmon and groundfish

Resurrection Bay Seafoods 

(Sea Level Seafoods)

Pacific Seafoods 

(parent) NA NA Cod, rockfish, sablefish, and halibut

The Fish Factory (City of 

Homer permit) The Fish Factory 20-49 Fresh and frozen NA

Sitka

Silver Bay Seafoods [a] Silver Bay Seafoods 200 Fresh, frozen, and roe Salmon, halibut, crab, and herring

North Pacific Seafoods 

(Sitka Sound Seafoods) Marubeni Corporation 220 (North Pacific) NA

Salmon, halibut, sablefish, 

rockfish, herring, sea cucumbers, 

cod, shrimp and Dungeness crab

Seafood Producers 

Cooperative

Seafood Producers 

Cooperative NA Fresh, frozen, roe, and bait Salmon, halibut, bottom fish, sablefish and herring

Source: Where not cited, information is from corporate websites (see footnote 9).

Note: NA represents information that is not publically available.

[a] The City/Borough of Sitka is the NPDES permit holder for the outfall used primarily by Silver Bay Seafoods.
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

17

3.1.1.2. Juneau

Juneau is located on the mainland of Alaska in the area known as the Inside Passage of the 

Alexander Archipelago, which is where most of the discharging petitioning location facilities are located 

(see Figure 3). Juneau is home to two small direct discharging seafood processors. 

Alaska Glacier Seafoods—The Alaska Glacier Seafood (AGS) plant is located on Auke Bay, about 13 

miles north of downtown Juneau. The plant is five years old and processes small volumes of a wide 

variety of seafood such as fresh and frozen salmon and crab along with cod, sea cucumbers, halibut, 

shrimp and prawns. Nearly 80 percent of production goes into making fillets, while the remainder of 

production is whole fish. AGS operates March through November and processes approximately seven 

million pounds of seafood a year. The facility employs 70 people during the peak season.

Taku Fisheries —The Taku Fisheries plant is located in downtown Juneau, immediately adjacent to the 

cruise ship docking area and the Mount Roberts tramway. It was built in 1994 and has a footprint of 

44,000 square feet. Taku operates a retail store, mail/Internet sales, as well as wholesale. Taku and Icy 

Strait Seafoods, the latter of which is located in Washington State, are sister companies and wholly owned 

subsidiaries of Alaska Seafood Holdings, Inc. Taku Fisheries produces a variety of frozen, smoked, and 

value-added salmon products. The plant operates 10 months per year, processing an average of seven

million pounds of seafood annually. About 60 to 70 percent of production is salmon (usually higher value 

fish such as sockeye and king and little pink). Taku also processes halibut, black cod, rockfish, and crab 

(king, tanner, and Dungeness). Most of the production is whole fish (headed and gutted), frozen and 

barged out to Seattle. In 2010, Taku employed 40 foreign student workers in the United States on J-1 

visas as well as 30 workers residing in Juneau. This facility and its firm were not surveyed by EPA.

3.1.1.3. Ketchikan

Ketchikan, also located in the Alexander Archipelago/Inside Passage region, is at the southern 

entrance of the Inside Passage (see Figure 3). It is the location of the largest number of direct discharging 

facilities in the petitioning locations. Five discharging facilities operate here, two of which are owned by 

Trident. 

Alaska General—Alaska General’s Ketchikan plant began operating in Ketchikan in 1906 as the New 

England Fish Company and was later purchased and operated by the Canadian Fishing Company in 1990 

under the name of Kanaway Seafoods. The current company, Alaska General Seafoods, was established 

in 1999 after the assets from Kanaway Seafoods, Nelbro Packing Co. and Alaska General Processors 

were combined to form Alaska General Seafoods. Today, the plant operates on a seasonal basis from June 

through mid September. AGS takes the plant out of winter storage in April. Salmon canning operations 

begin in the 4th week of June and last until the end of August. The plant produces fresh, frozen, and 

canned salmon and herring products. About 85 percent of their production is canned pink salmon; the 

remainder is fresh and frozen salmon - pink and other species. This facility and its firm were not surveyed 

by EPA.

E.C. Phillips and Son, Inc.—E.C. Phillips has operated in Ketchikan since 1926 (almost 85 years).The 

E.C. Phillips facility processes a variety of fresh and frozen seafood including salmon, halibut, ling cod, 

geoduck, spot shrimp, herring, and sea cucumbers. The plant was built in 1950 and operates year round. 

When salmon season ends in October, the plant begins processing dive fish (sea cucumbers and geoduck) 

and continues to process salmon that was frozen in the summer months into portions and fillets. The final 

products from this facility are packaged into boxes and transported in shipping containers all over the 

world. Fish are sold fresh and frozen, whole with head on, headed and gutted, filleted and portioned. The

company employs between 200 to 250 workers, with approximately 190 positions attributed to summer 

processing. A seasonal employee may work 450 to 600 hours in the four-month season.
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

18

Pacific Sun Products—Owned by Coastal Fisheries, LLC, Pacific Sun Products produces fresh, frozen, 

cured and canned seafood products. The entire variety of fish produced by the facility is not publically 

available but previously has included salmon and sea urchin roe. This facility and its firm were not 

surveyed by EPA.

Trident Seafoods (Norquest)—One of two plants that Trident owns in Ketchikan, this plant was owned 

by Norquest Seafoods until 2006. The plant produces primarily salmon, but it also processes a variety of 

other species such as halibut, geoduck, and cod. Unlike many of the other facilities in the petitioning 

locations, this facility is open year-round.

Trident Seafoods, Ketchikan Cannery—This facility primarily processes canned salmon, but it does 

process sea cucumbers, prawns, and crab as well. The facility operates from June through October.

3.1.1.4. Petersburg

Petersburg is located on Mitkof Island, within the Alexander Archipelago’s Inside Passage, 

roughly between Ketchikan and Juneau, but across one arm of the Passage from these locations (see 

Figure 3). Three facilities regularly operate in Petersburg, all owned by large firms. 

Icicle Seafoods—The Petersburg Icicle plant is the oldest seafood processing facility in Alaska. The plant 

operates February through November, processing salmon, pollock, halibut, cod, and a variety of crab. The 

facility processes fresh, frozen, canned, and value-added products such as surimi. Most halibut is sold 

fresh, and all cod is frozen. Halibut heads are used for bait with 100 percent product utilization. The plant 

also processes a special form of spring herring roe (roe on kelp), which is frozen and shipped to Japan.

Ocean Beauty—The Ocean Beauty Petersburg facility operates from April to mid-September, seasonally 

employing between 160 and 180 workers. The facility produces ikura as well as fresh, frozen, and canned 

salmon. This plant closed temporarily in 2010 (Trident, 2010b).

Trident Seafoods (Norquest)—Previously owned by Norquest Seafoods, the Trident Petersburg facility 

processes salmon, halibut, black cod, and rockfish. The plant processes seafood from March through 

November. The Trident Mitkof plant, which was also previously owned by Norquest Seafoods, is 

associated with this plant. The facility was not operational in 2008, although in 2007, it processed salmon 

during the months of July and August. EPA is not analyzing this facility.

3.1.2. Processing Locations of Interest Currently Classified as Remote

This section provides an overview of the facilities that are located within areas currently 

designated as remote processing areas but that have a number of processors within geographical 

proximity of one another. Six of these facilities and their firms were surveyed. EPA reviewed the 

financial information for those surveyed facilities located on the Kenai Peninsula; the facilities surveyed 

in this location are considered financially viable as of 2009. Additional financial details are not provided 

here because of confidential business information considerations. The facilities in these locations that 

were surveyed are identified in their descriptions presented below. The facility descriptions below are 

based on information found on corporate websites unless otherwise cited.15

 

15 Available corporate websites include: Inlet Fish Producers http://www.inletfish.com/; Kenai Landing

http://www.kenailanding.com/; Marubeni Corporation http://www.marubeni.com/division/food.html; Maruha 

Nichiro Holdings http://www.maruha-nichiro.co.jp/english/; Nippon Suison Kaisha

http://www.nissui.co.jp/english/index.html; North Pacific Seafoods

http://northpacificseafoods.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

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3.1.2.1. Dutch Harbor

Dutch Harbor is remote by geographic standards, being located midway along the Aleutian 

Islands chain (see Figure 3). It is the port of Unalaska, one of Alaska’s larger cities. This harbor is one of 

the most active and largest (by production) fishing and seafood processing locations in Alaska (NMFS, 

2010). There are three existing shore based processors in this location and one that is expected to be

operational this year. The three existing facilities are all owned by Japanese firms.

Alyeska Seafoods—Alyeska Seafoods processes fresh and frozen crab in its Dutch Harbor facility. Other 

facility-level information is not made publically available. This facility, its firm, and its parent company 

were surveyed by EPA.

Bering Star Fisheries, LLC—In August 2010, Copper River Seafoods and Siu Alaska Corporation 

announced that Bering Star Fisheries will be operating the Harbor Crown floating (barge) processing 

plant in Dutch Harbor beginning January 2011. Bering Star Fisheries was formed by the Dutch Harbor 

Acquisition LLC, a company comprised of Copper River Seafoods through Western Alaska Ventures 

LLC, one of its partners, and Siu Alaska Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Norton Sound 

Economic Development Corporation. The plant will be processing cod, halibut, and crab out of the 

previous Harbor Crown plant beginning in January 2011. Employee and revenue estimates are not yet 

available given that it is a start-up facility. 

Westward—This Dutch Harbor facility produces 254 million lbs of seafood annually. It is a sister facility 

to Alyeska Seafoods, with the same Japanese firm as its ultimate parent firm. Although the facility 

focuses on Alaskan pollock, it also processes cod, halibut, and a variety of crab (Westward, 2010a). A 

total of 220 employees are considered to work at this location (Manta, 2011b). This facility, its firm, and 

its parent company were surveyed. 

UniSea—UniSea processes cod, halibut, pollock, snow and king crab, and surimi as well as white 

fishmeal and fish oil in its Dutch Harbor facility. The fishing season begins around January for crab, 

pollock, and cod and runs through mid-November. The automated processing facility has the capability of 

processing 60 metric tons of seafood per hour. Information on how many of the company’s estimated 600 

to 1200 workers are employed at this facility is not available.

3.1.2.2. Kenai Peninsula 

EPA has grouped Seward, in the northeastern portion of the Kenai Peninsula, with more southerly 

and westerly areas near the cities of Kenai, Nikiski, and Homer, AK, to define the Kenai Peninsula 

processing center (see Figure 3). The ten discharging facilities that operate in this area are mostly 

relatively small. A few facilities initially identified as permitted dischargers have since been determined 

to no longer discharge regulated wastewater. Kenai Landing (Scientific Fisheries) is, at this time, 

operating only as a by-product recovery plant, and Deep Creek does not believe it will be subject to 

discharge permits going forward (Deep Creek Custom Packing, 2011). These two facilities are not 

discussed further in this report.

Icicle Seafoods—The Seward Icicle facility processes black cod, halibut, and salmon into fresh, frozen, 

and canned seafood products. The plant also produces fishmeal. The season for cod and halibut runs from 

March 8th through November 15th, and the salmon season runs from June through the end of August. 

During salmon season, employment may reach 300 workers. This facility and its firm were surveyed.

 

; Pacific Star Seafoods http://eefoods.com/pdf/pacific.pdf; Silver Bay Seafoods www.silverbayseafoods.com/; 

Snug Harbor Seafoods http://snugharborseafoods.com/index.html; The Fish Factory http://www.thefishfactory.net/; 

UniSea http://www.unisea.com/; Westward Seafoods http://www.westwardseafoods.com/company.php
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

20

Inlet Fish Producers (Kenai)—Inlet Fish Producers Kenai facility operates from June through early 

September with the peak season from early July until mid-August. Approximately 250 seasonal workers 

are hired to work in the plant to unload, butcher, and freeze the fish (combined with the Kasilof facility 

employment). This facility and its firm were surveyed.

Inlet Fish Producers (Kasilof)—Inlet Fish Producers (Kasilof) operates from June through early 

September, with the peak season from early July until mid-August. The seasonal workers (counted with 

the Kenai plant employment) are hired to work in the plant to unload, butcher, and freeze the fish. This 

facility and its firm were surveyed.

 Ocean Beauty—Ocean Beauty’s Nikiski plant processes frozen (and some fresh) coho, chum,

pink, sockeye, king salmon, salmon roe, halibut and cod during a season that generally runs from 

the beginning of April through the end of October. This facility and its firm were surveyed.

Pacific Star Seafoods—Pacific Star processes salmon, sablefish, halibut, cod, and rockfish from more 

than 50 independent fishermen to produce fresh, frozen, and smoked products. The facility, which is 

owned by Double E Seafoods, operates from May through August.

Polar Seafoods—The Polar Seafoods facility, owned by Polar Equipment, processes fresh and frozen 

seafood. The facility processes groundfish from January through April and salmon from July through 

September.

Salamatof Seafoods—Salamatof Seafoods is affiliated with the Salamatof Native Association, Inc. The 

facility processes cod, rockfish, halibut, and salmon. 

Sea Level Seafoods (Resurrection Bay Seafoods)—The Seward Resurrection Bay facility is owned by 

Sea Level Seafoods, which is based in Wrangell and is doing business as Resurrection Bay Seafoods. The 

parent company is Pacific Seafood Company. The facility processes cod, rockfish, sablefish, and halibut 

from March through mid-November.

 Snug Harbor—The Snug Harbor processing facility produces fresh, frozen, and smoked seafood 

products from sablefish, rockfish, cod, halibut, and salmon. The facility process seafood from 

March through November or until fish quantities are depleted for the season. Snug Harbor 

employs approximately 200 seasonal workers. This facility and its firm were surveyed.

The Fish Factory—The Fish Factory processes fresh and frozen fish at its facility in Homer, Alaska. The 

company is estimated to employ approximately 20 to 49 workers, but public information does not specify 

whether these workers are all employed at the processing facility. Public information also does not 

mention types of fish or other processing particulars for this facility. The facility uses the City of Homer 

fish grinding facility that is owned and managed by the port and Harbor of Homer. The NPDES permit 

holder for the wastewater discharges is the City of Homer. The facility grinds and discharges fish waste 

from charter operations, sports fisherman, and The Fish Factory and operates from January through 

November.

3.1.2.3. Sitka

Sitka is located on Baranof and Chichagof Islands on the western side of the Alexander 

Archipelago, about 100 miles from Petersburg, AK (see Figure 3). Of the four discharging facilities EPA 

initially identified, Absolute Fresh Seafoods appears to be out of business (it did not file discharge reports 

for 2005 through 2010 with either ADEC or EPA Region 10) and will not be discussed further in this 

report. 
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

21

North Pacific Seafoods—The North Pacific Seafood processing plant in Sitka, also known as Sitka 

Sounds Seafoods, “processes all species of salmon from all gear types, halibut, sablefish, rockfish, 

herring, sea cucumbers, lingcod, Pacific cod, shrimp and Dungeness crab” (North Pacific Seafoods, 

2010a). Processing occurs from March to the end of October, with the major salmon season occurring 

from mid-June through September. The facility employs 220 workers during the peak season.

Seafood Producers Cooperative—The Seafood Producers Cooperative plant operates year- round. The 

facility processes salmon, halibut, bottom fish, sablefish as well as herring bait and roe.

Silver Bay Seafoods—Silver Bay Seafoods is the largest seafood processing facility in Sitka, and one of 

the larger facilities among the discharging facilities in either the locations of interest or the petitioning 

locations. The facility discharges under a permit held by The City/Borough of Sitka through an outfall 

located on Saw Mill Road. Silver Bay is currently the primary processor using this outfall as of 2009. 

During 2007 and 2008, Silver Bay jointly discharged through this outfall with Baranof Frozen Foods, 

which is no longer operating. The full variety of seafood processed by Silver Bay Seafoods is unknown, 

although it does include salmon. During the 2010 salmon season, 200 seasonal workers were employed 

for fish processing and facility maintenance.

3.2. FIRMS OWNING FACILITIES IN THE PETITIONING NON-REMOTE PROCESSING LOCATIONS AND 

REMOTE LOCATIONS OF INTEREST

This section presents information on the firms that own facilities in the petitioning locations 

(Section 3.2.1) and the additional firms that own facilities in the locations of interest (Icicle Seafoods and 

Ocean Beauty Seafoods own facilities in both petitioning locations and locations of interest) (Section 

3.2.1). Table 4 presents the firms with Alaskan processors discussed in these two subsections (those firms 

for which the facility information is all that is available, are not repeated here). The table is divided by 

firms of direct discharging processors in the petitioning locations and the firms with direct discharging 

processors in the remote locations of interest. Most employment and revenue figures are estimates made 

by firms that specialize in providing this information; some estimates may be better than others. For the 

purposes of this profile, these estimates are considered approximate only. As the table shows, among the 

potentially affected petitioners, three firms have been identified as small, three firms have been identified 

as large, and three firms could not be identified by size and are presumed small. Among those in the 

locations of interest, five are identified as small, four are identified as large, and three could not be 

identified by size and are presumed small.

Table 4. Firms with Potentially Affected Petitioning Alaskan Processing Facilities and Those with 

Facilities in the Locations of Interest 

Firm Headquarters 

Location

Facility 

Locations

Large or 

Small Firm Employment

Annual 

Revenue

($ millions)

Firms in Petitioning Locations

Alaska General 

Seafoods16 Kenmore, WA Ketchikan, Naknek Small 700 peak, less than 500 average NA

Alaska Glacier 

Seafoods17 Juneau Juneau Small NA NA

Coastal 

Fisheries, LLC N/A Ketchikan NA NA NA

 

16 Source: Alaska General Seafoods, 2010a.

17 Source: Alaska Glacier Seafoods, 2010a.
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

22

Firm Headquarters 

Location

Facility 

Locations

Large or 

Small Firm Employment

Annual 

Revenue

($ millions)

(Pacific Sun)

Copper River 

Seafoods 18

Cordova and 

Anchorage

Cordova, 

Anchorage Small 175 seasonal $50-$10019

E.C. Phillips

and Son, Inc.

20 Ketchikan Ketchikan Small 200-250 

seasonal NA

Icicle Seafoods 

[a]21 Seattle, WA

Petersburg, 

Seward (Kenai 

Peninsula)

Large 500+ $400

Ocean Beauty 

Seafoods22 Seattle, WA

Alitka, Cordova, 

Excursion Inlet, 

Kodiak, Naknek, 

Petersburg, and 

Nikiski (Kenai 

Peninsula)

Large 500 $400

Alaska Seafood 

Holdings (Taku) NA Juneau NA NA NA

Trident 

Seafood23 Seattle, WA

Cordova, 

Ketchikan, 

Naknek, Akutan, 

Sand Point, St. 

Paul, Kodiak, 

Chignik, and 

Wrangell

Large 2,510 $1,000

Additional Firms with Facilities in Locations of Interest

Double E 

Seafoods, 

LLC24

Seattle, WA

Pacific Star, 

Kenai and 

Yakutat 

Seafoods, 

Yakutat

NA NA $100

Inlet Fish 

Producers25 Kenai Kasilof and Nikiski, AK Small 200 NA

Maruha Nichiro 

Holdings 

(Alyeska and 

Westward) 26

Japan

Alyeska 

Seafoods, Dutch 

Harbor, and

Westward 

Seafoods, Dutch 

Large 14,094 $8,940

 

18 Source: Copper River Seafoods, 2010a.

19 Source: Manta, 2011a.

20 Source: E.C. Phillips and Son, 2010a.

21 Source: Icicle Seafoods, 2010a; Hoovers, 2010a.

22 Source: Ocean Beauty, 2010b; Hoovers, 2010e.

23 Source: Trident Seafood Corporation, 2010c; Hoovers, 2010f, Trident letter to Bristol Bay Borough, January 24, 

2012.

24 Source: Double E Seafoods, 2010a; Hoovers, 2010.

25 Source: Inlet Fish Producers, 2010.

26 Source: Marua Nichiro, 2010; Hoovers, 2010c.
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

23

Firm Headquarters 

Location

Facility 

Locations

Large or 

Small Firm Employment

Annual 

Revenue

($ millions)

Harbor and 

Kodiak

Nippon Suison 

Kaisha27 Japan

UniSea 

Seafoods, Dutch 

Harbor

Large 8,801 $5,195

Marubeni 

Corporation 

(North Pacific 

Seafoods)28

Japan (Seattle, 

WA)

Sitka, Kodiak, 

Togiak, and 

Pederson Point

Large 5,679 (parent) $35,384 (parent)

Polar 

Equipment29 NA Kenai Peninsula, AK NA NA NA

Seafood 

Producers 

Cooperative

Sitka Sitka NA NA NA

NA indicates information that is not publicly available.

[a] Icicle Seafoods is owned by parent company, Paine & Partners.

[b] North Pacific Seafoods is owned by the Marubeni Corporation.

 

27 Source: Nippon Suison Kaisha, 2010; Hoovers, 2010d.

28 Source: Marubeni Corporation, 2010; Hoovers, 2010b.

29 Source: Manta, 2010.
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

24

3.2.1. Firms Owning Petitioning Processing Location Facilities

Nine firms operate the 14 petitioning location facilities discussed above. Trident Seafoods 

Corporation owns five of the facilities (two in Ketchikan, two in Cordova, and one in Petersburg) and 

Ocean Beauty owns two (Cordova and Petersburg). The remaining firms operate one facility each in the 

petitioning locations, even though some of them own other facilities outside the petitioning locations. The 

facility information for the Alaska Glacier and E.C. Phillips facilities in Section 3.1.1 reflects the 

information available for the owner firms and is not repeated here. No publicly available information is 

available for Coastal Fisheries, LLC, the owner firm of the Pacific Sun facility or Alaska Seafood 

Holdings, which owns Taku. Some additional firm-specific information is available on the other six firms 

operating discharging facilities in the petitioning locations, which is presented below. Of the nine firms, 

six were surveyed (including Trident, Icicle, Ocean Beauty, E.C. Phillips, Copper River Seafoods, and 

Alaska Glacier). Based on the survey information provided on the firm-level finances, EPA has 

determined that the firms were not in financial distress as of 2009 (U.S. EPA, 2011). EPA cannot provide 

additional financial details in order to protect confidential business information. All information presented 

here is from corporate websites (see Section 3.1.1) or is cited separately.

Alaska General Seafoods—Alaska General is based in Kenmore, Washington and operates two landbased processing locations in Alaska: one in Ketchikan and the other in Naknek (Bristol Bay, a 

processing location currently classified as remote). The company also operates a fish camp in Egigek, 

where housing, food, and boat storage and repair are supplied to fishermen. The company, which employs 

an estimated 700 workers during peak fish production, produces fresh, frozen, and canned fish products 

from salmon and herring it purchases from hundreds of fishermen. The products are sold in North 

America, Asia, and Europe. 

Copper River Seafoods—In 1996, three Alaska fisherman-owned and operated companies, Copper 

River Catch, Copper River Fine Seafoods, and Copper River Wild, collaborated to form Copper River 

Seafoods. With facilities in Cordova and Anchorage, where the corporate headquarters is located, Copper 

River Seafoods processes fresh, frozen and smoked seafood products (Copper River, 2010a). The 

company’s revenues are estimated at $50 to $100 million and seasonal employees total an average of 175 

workers between the two locations (Manta, 2011a).

 Icicle Seafoods, Inc.—Icicle Seafoods began in 1965 as a local fisherman-owned company, 

Petersburg Fisheries, Inc., in Petersburg, Alaska. The company was an early adopter of yearround processing and the use of floating processors which allowed fishermen to catch and process 

fish in the more remote areas of Alaska. Today, the company is owned by a private investment 

firm, Paine & Partners, and has estimated revenues of $400 million. Icicle employs an estimated 

500+ year-round workers at its headquarters in Seattle, WA, its aquaculture facility in 

Washington, and at its land-based processing facilities in Seward, Homer, Egegik, Petersburg and 

Larsen Bay. Icicle also has support sites at Ninilchik, Dillingham, Dutch Harbor, and Naknek 

(Hoovers, 2010a), but its website lists 500 employees (probably seasonal) at the Petersburg plant 

alone. The Petersburg plant is the only direct discharging facility owned by Icicle in the 

petitioning locations. The company also owns five floating processors. Icicle processes a variety 

of fish, including salmon, crab, pollock, halibut, and cod. Its facilities process fresh, frozen, 

canned, and value-added products such as surimi. Icicle markets canned products under private, 

national, and Icicle-brand labels (Icicle Seafoods, 2010a).

Ocean Beauty—Ocean Beauty Seafoods is based in Seattle, WA and began processing Alaska seafood in 

the 1930s. Today, the company employs an estimated 500 workers at its headquarters, seven distribution 

locations separate from its headquarters facility, several processing facilities in the lower 48, and seven 

processing plants located in Alaska. Those seven processing plants are located in Alitka, Cordova, 
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

25

Excursion Inlet, Kodiak, Naknuk, Petersburg, and Nikiski (Kenai). The Cordova and Petersburg plants 

are discharging petitioning location facilities (with its Nikiski facility located in the Kenai Peninsula 

location of interest). The company produces fresh, frozen, canned, and specialty products from a variety 

of fish specific to each of the company’s seven Alaska processing locations. Ocean Beauty revenues are 

estimated at $400 million and its products are shipped to the contiguous United States for national and 

international distribution (Hoovers, 2010e). 

Trident Seafoods Corporation—Founded in 1973, Trident Seafoods Corporation operates multiple 

processing facilities in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. In Alaska, Trident operates during both winter 

and summer seasons to produce a variety of fresh, frozen, canned and value added products utilizing crab, 

salmon, cod , halibut, perch, pollock, rockfish, and sole. The company owns a total of ten processing 

plants in Alaska. Five are located in the petitioning locations, including two in Cordova, two in 

Ketchikan, and one in Petersburg, with the remaining five located in locations classified as remote or nonremote non-petitioning [Kodiak]. The primary processing plants include “a Southeast pink salmon 

cannery in Ketchikan; Bristol Bay sockeye salmon canning and freezing operations in North and South 

Naknek; diversified processing plants handling Alaska pollock, Pacific cod, Black cod, halibut and crab 

in Akutan, Sand Point, Kodiak and St. Paul; and groundfish processing in Kodiak.” Trident also operates 

four by-product processing plants, located in Akutan, Chignik (on the Alaska Peninsula heading out 

towards the Aleutians), Cordova, and Wrangell (near Petersburg). Another by-product recovery facility is 

being built in Naknek. Trident currently employs an estimated 2,510 workers with company revenues 

reaching $1 billion (Trident, 2010c; Hoovers, 2010f, Trident 2012)

3.2.2. Other Firms Owning Remote Facilities in Procressing Locations of Interest 

(Dutch Harbor, Kenai Peninsula, Sitka)

Sixteen firms own discharging facilities in the remote locations of interest. Several of these firms, 

some of which are owned by parent companies, were either surveyed as the owner of a petitioning 

location facility or as an owner of a facility in a location of interest. Surveyed firms are noted in the 

discussions below. EPA obtained all information obtained from corporate websites (see Section 3.1.2) 

unless otherwise cited.

3.2.2.1. Dutch Harbor

Four firms own the three existing facilities and one newly opened facility in Dutch Harbor. Three 

of these firms are, in turn, owned by two large Japanese firms. The newly re-opened Bering Star Fisheries 

(formerly Harbor Crown Seafood) floating processing facility [see pg 19] is owned by Copper River and 

Siu Alaska under their joint venture, Dutch Harbor Acquisitions LLC30 (Siu Alaska Corporation, 2011). 

Additional profile information is not readily available for Siu Alaska or the jointly held corporate entity. 

Although two of these firms, Alyeska and Westward, as well as their parent were surveyed, EPA has not 

assessed the financial health of these firms at this time.

Maruha Nichiro Holdings (Alyeska and Westward Seafoods)—One of Japan’s largest seafood 

producers, Maruha Nichiro was established in 2007 when Nichiro and the Maruha Group merged. The 

company has four divisions, including fishery operations (fresh, frozen, and canned products), food 

operations, meat (chicken, pork, and processed meats), and storage and logistics. Maruha Nichiro has 

fishing and aquaculture operations in Japan, Alaska, and China. The company has two seafood processing 

subsidiaries in Alaska: Alyeska and Westward Seafoods. Maruha Nichiro currently employees 

approximately 14,094 workers with annual revenues reported at $8,940 million. Top company 

competitors include Nippon Suison Kaisha, which also operates a seafood processing plant in Alaska 

 

30 Siu Alaska is a for-profit, wholly owned subsidiary of the Norton Sound Economic Development Corporation 

(siualaska.com).
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

26

(UniSea). Its subsidiary, Alyeska Seafoods, also processes fresh and frozen crab in its Dutch Harbor 

facility. This subsidiary employs 340 workers and its annual revenue information is not publically 

available (Hoover’s 2011). Westward Seafoods also operates a processing facility in Kodiak. The main 

processing plant is its Dutch Harbor facility, which focuses on Alaskan pollock. Its Kodiak location 

processes a variety of finfish and shellfish from the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. The company 

employs an estimated 220 workers. Information pertaining to annual revenues is not publically available. 

Both Alyeska and Westward, along with their parent company and other subsidiaries and facilities owned 

by Maruha Nichiro, were surveyed. 

Nippon Suison Kaisha (UniSea)—Nippon Suison Kaisha, more commonly known as NISSUI, is the 

second largest producer of marine products in Japan. Production of fresh and frozen seafood products 

accounts for one-third of the company’s $5.2 billion annual revenue. The company owns the U.S. fish 

company, Gorton’s, and is the parent company to Alaska seafood processor, UniSea. NISSUI employs 

8,801 workers and, aside from seafood, has business segments involved in chemical and pharmaceutical 

production, cold-storage, third-party logistics, engineering services, and shipbuilding and repair. UniSea, 

its wholly owned subsidiary, processes cod, halibut, pollock, snow and king crab, and surimi31 as well as 

white fishmeal and fish oil in Dutch Harbor, AK. It also maintains a cold storage facility in Redmond, 

WA. The company obtains its catch from a variety of independent Alaskan fisherman and listed 40 

vessels as its fleet in 2001. UniSea employs an estimated 600 to 1,200 workers. Employment varies

according the fishing seasons’ production levels. UniSea products are marketed under the brand titles 

UniSea, Dutch Harbor, and GLS. Fish oil is recovered from the waste and is marketed in Taiwan and 

Japan and also fuels the processing plant. Information pertaining to annual revenues is not publically 

available.

3.2.2.2. Kenai Peninsula

Nine firms own the 10 discharging facilities in the Kenai Peninsula. Three of the firms owning 

the Kenai Peninsula location facilities are single-facility firms, including The Fish Factory, Salamatof, 

and Snug Harbor, which EPA surveyed. The information presented for the facility applies to the firm and 

is not repeated here. Another two firms, Icicle and Ocean Beauty (also surveyed), were discussed 

previously. No public information on the owner firm for Polar Seafoods was found. The remaining three 

firms are discussed here. The details of the financial status of firms owning facilities on the Kenai 

Peninsula processing location that were surveyed are not discussed to protect confidential business 

information, but they are not considered to be currently (2009) in financial distress (EPA, 2011).

Double E Seafoods, LLC (Pacific Star)—Based in Seattle, WA, Double E Seafoods focuses on Alaska 

and North Pacific Seafood. Also known as E & E Seafoods, the company’s services include fresh and 

frozen seafood processing, marketing, and import export services. Sales from all Alaskan facilities in 

2008 are reported at $100 million (Double E Seafoods, 2010b). Double E Seafoods is the parent company 

for both Pacific Star and Yakutat Seafoods, which is classified as remote and is located between the 

northern end of the Inside Passage and Cordova. EPA did not find Double E Seafoods employment 

numbers in publicly available information.

Pacific Seafood Company (Sea Level Seafoods)—Pacific Seafood Company owns Sea Level Seafoods, 

which in turn owns the Resurrection Bay facility (EPA’s CBI economic impact results report uses the Sea 

Level Seafoods name for this facility). Pacific Seafood Company reports that it operates processing 

plants “stretching along the Pacific Coast from Alaska to Mexico and distribution facilities in 

Washington, Oregon, California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona & Texas,” with its headquarters located in 

Oregon. EPA did not find information on revenues and employment.

 

31 Surimi is minced, processed fish used in the preparation of imitation seafood (Freedictionary.com, 2011).
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

27

 Inlet Fish Producers—Inlet Fish Producers operates two processing plants, one on the Kenai 

River and the other on the Kasilof River. Both are considered to be located in the Kenai Peninsula 

processing location. The plants process salmon from May through September as well as halibut.

Approximately 250 seasonal employees work at these facilities. Annual sales are estimated at 

$9.6 million (Hoovers, 2010g). This firm was surveyed.

3.2.2.3. Sitka

Three firms own the three discharging facilities located in Sitka. No firms in Sitka were surveyed.

Marubeni Corporation (North Pacific Seafoods)—The Marubeni Corporation is a Japanese general 

trading company with 11 divisions including: Chemicals; Energy; Finance, Logistics & IT Business; 

Food; Forest Product; Lifestyle; Metals & Mineral Resources; Real Estate; Plant, Ship & Industrial 

Machinery; Power Projects & Infrastructure; and Transportation Machinery. The company employed

5,679 workers in 2010 and its revenues are reported to be $35 billion. North Pacific Seafoods is 

Marubeni’s subsidiary and is headquartered in Seattle, WA. With an estimated 800 employees, North 

Pacific Seafoods has four land-based processing plants in Alaska that are located in the remote and nonremote processing locations of Sitka, Kodiak, Togiak (west of Bristol Bay), and Pederson Point (Bristol 

Bay area). Focusing on fresh, frozen, and value-added specialty products, the company catches, processes 

and distributes a variety of seafood products, including salmon, tuna, halibut, pollock, cod, rockfish, 

flatfish, crab, shrimp, caviar, squid, sea cucumbers, and roe.

Seafood Producers Cooperative—The Seafood Producer’s Cooperative states that the firm focuses on 

line-caught halibut, sablefish, salmon, rockfish and albacore. Its headquarters are located in Bellingham, 

WA. The firm claims to be “the largest and most successful fishermen’s cooperative in North America 

[w]ith more than 500 extraordinary fishermen.”

Silver Bay Seafoods -- Silver Bay indicates that it is a predominantly fisherman-owned firm and has

additional facilities located in Valdez (near Cordova) and Craig, AK (near Ketchikan); both are in remote 

locations. The firm’s focus is on salmon, but it also processes herring roe. The Sitka facility serves as 

corporate headquarters. Revenues at this relatively new firm, established in 2006, are estimated at $16.8 

million with a staff of 185 employees, who are most likely seasonal (Manta, 2011).

4.0 CURRENT INDUSTRY PRACTICES FOR MANAGING WASTE 

4.1. GENERAL WASTE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES 

Researchers estimate that approximately 60 percent of the total weight of processed seafood 

resources is used for the intended fish product, while the other 40 percent is considered waste (Bimbo, 

2008). The processing waste generated includes unwanted seafood parts such as heads, fins, shells, and 

bones. The amount of waste generated varies by the type of seafood species processed as well as the 

product being produced. Globally, an estimated nearly 60 million tons32 of seafood processing waste is

generated per year. Alaska alone produces more than one million tons of fish processing waste annually33

(Bimbo, 2010).

The choice of seafood waste management methods involves economic considerations, with the 

cost of a disposal method (e.g., grinding and near-shore discharge of the resulting wastewater or screening 

and nearshore discharge of resulting wastewater and offshore disposal, or the cost to process the screened 

solids for reuse in by-product recovery) taken into account. Fuel and vessel operating prices (e.g., labor), 

equipment costs (for grinding or secondary processing), and offsetting income from by-product 

marketability (and, thus, potential revenue from sale of recovered by-products offset costs of that 

 

32 Estimate calculated as 40 percent of 2008 global fish production , (142 million tons) being waste (NMFS, 2010).

33 Estimate based on 46 percent waste of average Alaska seafood landing of 2.43 million tons (Bimbo, 2010).
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

28

processing), factor into the processors’ disposal decisions. Other, non-economic, factors also play a role. 

These include regulations, such as the ELGs, local requirements, and the availability of cooperative, or 

collective, by-product processing, where several seafood processing facilities make use of by-product 

processing facilities operated by other firms. The availability of collective by-product processing, in turn, 

contributes to economic decision making. Historically, fish wastes have been disposed of through 

offshore disposal or discharge. Emerging markets, however, have begun to capitalize on the beneficial 

nutrients in fish wastes such as proteins, omega three fatty acids, and phosphorous (species dependent) 

resulting from fish waste that can be processed into secondary products or by-products (Bimbo, 2008). 

The next section begins by describing the principal seafood by-products including fishmeal, bone meal, 

fish oil and hydrolyzed protein, plus five others. This is followed by a discussion of the market for byproducts, current by-product facilities in Alaska, and volume of Alaskan seafood by-products available 

for future markets.

4.2. SEAFOOD BY-PRODUCTS

4.2.1. Fishmeal

“Fishmeal is a brown powder obtained after cooking, pressing, drying and milling fresh raw fish 

and/or fish processing waste” (IFFO, 2010). Fishmeal is made most frequently through a wet process 

where the fish waste is cooked so that the fish oils and water in the fish are released, and the proteins start 

coagulating. The coagulated mixture is then separated by pressing the solids into a press cake. Any 

remaining liquids and solids are placed in a decanter where the oils are separated through centrifugation. 

The resulting oil is added back to the presscake. The presscake is then dehydrated and milled (FAO, 

2010).

Fishmeal is a desirable product because it contains protein (60% to 2%), omega 3 fatty acids, 

vitamins, and minerals (Bimbo, 2008; IFFO, 2010). The grade and quality of fish meal depends on the 

sources and types of fish used to make it. The types of fish used to produce fishmeal are often oily, boney 

fish (such as menhaden and anchovies) that are not in high consumer demand for consumption. Fish 

trimmings from whitefish and herring (which have lower oil content) comprise, roughly, 25 percent of 

fishmeal content produced (IFFO, 2010).

Due to its nutritional value, fishmeal can be used as a feed ingredient for farm animals to balance 

dietary needs, and more recently, it has been used as feed for fish in hatcheries (although fish cannot be 

fed fishmeal made from their own species) (Bimbo, 2008; IFFO, 2010). 

4.2.2. Bone Meal 

When fishmeal is screened to remove the bones, the resulting bone material can be ground to 

form the product known as bone meal. Fish bones are often removed during processing to increase the 

protein content and reduce phosphorus levels of the product being made (Bimbo, 2008). Bone meal may 

be used as a feed additive or in products such as fertilizers as protein and mineral supplement.

Bone meal traditionally has been produced from ruminants, but since the outbreak of mad cow 

disease, Canada, the United States, and Europe have prohibited meals made from those sources, creating a 

market opportunity for fish meals (Finstad et. al., 2010). Bimbo (2008) also notes the benefits of using 

bone meal as a mining and petroleum waste water treatment to remove metals. This potential in-state use

in of bone meal Alaska would also be beneficial because it would help reduce product shipping costs of 

the bulky material. 
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

29

4.2.3. Fish Oil 

Fish oil is extracted from fish processing wastes using several different methods as described by 

Sathivel et. al.: “(1) ground fish are homogenized with water, the homogenized mixture is centrifuged34, 

and fish oil is separated; (2) ground fish (no added water) is heated and centrifuged, and fish oil is 

separated; (3) fish oil is extracted by rendering35; and (4) ground fish is hydrolyzed using commercial 

enzymes and the oil collected by centrifugation” (Sathivel et. al., 2010). 

Fish oils are divided into two main categories: commodity oils and nutraceutical oils. 

Commodity oils are bulk oils which themselves are divided into two types: food grade and non-food 

grade. Food grade oils must be produced under carefully controlled circumstances (e.g., input materials 

iced or kept under refrigeration) and are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. Non-food grade 

oils have few handling requirements. Nutraceutical fish oils also go through additional refining processes 

compared to raw, commodity oils used in feed (Bimbo, 2008).

Fish oils have several uses, depending on their type. Fish oils high in Omega 3 fatty acids are

used as a dietary supplement in feed for farmed fish. Refined nutraceutical fish oil is used to produce 

omega-3 health supplements and oils for human consumption (IFFO, 2010). In Alaska, non-food grade 

fish oil is often mixed with diesel fuel to extend energy sources that help fuel processing facilities

(Bimbo, 2008). For example, the Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) reports that UniSea in Dutch Harbor 

uses fish oil, produced largely from pollock processing waste by its own by-product recovery facility, to 

replace about 50 percent of the volume of fossil (diesel) fuel that would be used to generate electricity to 

operate the processing plant (AIDEA, 2011). Trident’s facility at Akutan near Dutch Harbor also uses fish 

oil to replace diesel fuel used to generate electricity to operate the processing plant.

4.2.4. Hydrolyzed Protein

Hydrolyzed protein, also known as fish hydrolysate, is created through the process of hydrolysis

whereby proteins are broken down by adding strong acidic or basic chemicals or enzymes to fish waste in 

order to facilitate the breakdown process. This method allows the functional proteins of the fish waste to 

be extracted and converted into a soluble protein that can be integrated into both food and non-food 

products. Chemical hydrolysis is a relatively quick and inexpensive way to create a soluble protein; 

however, the taste can be bitter and cause some loss of the protein’s functionality. This type of hydrolysis 

is used mainly for fertilizers. Enzymatic hydrolysis, on the other hand, is easier to control than chemical 

hydrolysis. While it is more expensive, enzymatic hydrolysis may be used to produce products such as 

sauces, silage, and fish feed. Current studies are gauging the protein functionality, taste, and solubility of 

products made using the enzymatic method (Sanmartin et. al., 2009).

4.2.5. Montlake Process

The Montlake Process “combines wet reduction technology, acid stabilization, and drum drying 

of fish waste” to produce high protein–low ash meal, oil, and gelatin (Nicklason et. al., 2010). The 

process de-bones muscle-containing fish and then cooks and decants the recovered muscle tissue to 

produce meal cake and oil. Nicklason et al go on to describe the remainder of the process as follows:

“Raw wet viscera are ground and combined with the decanter cake to form a blended meal. The 

blended meal can be immediately dried on a drum dryer or stabilized with 0.8% formic acid and 

stored for later drying. The finished meal is high in protein and low in ash, and has good binding 

properties that allow a rugged feed particle to be extruded with no added gelatinized starch as is 

 

34 A centrifuge works by rotating the mixture around a fixed axis at a speed that causes the large particles to settle at 

the bottom of the mixture, while the lighter particles rise to the top.

35 “Rendering is a process in which high heat is used to extract fat or oil primarily from animal tissues.” The process 

can be completed using wet or dry products (Sathivel, 2009).
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

30

the case with conventional fish meal–based feeds. In a separate processing line, a crude gelatin 

fraction is extracted from the bones by wet heat and straining. The crude gelatin is also dried on a 

drum dryer. Short-term storage of material reduces equipment requirements and increases 

working days for a given amount of material. This, in turn, allows the design of portable process 

units that can service more than one fishery and further extend operating days.” (Nicklason et. al, 

2010).

4.2.6. Compost and Crop Nutrient 

Fish processing by-products such as fish and bone meal, hydrolysates and fish oils have proven to 

be beneficial as a compost, fertilizer, and crop nutrient in both Alaska and the broader United States. 

These by-products can increase nitrogen and micronutrient (such as calcium and zinc) levels in soils

(Zhang et. al., 2010).

4.2.7. Modified Silage

Modified silage is created by adding organic compounds to fish waste to slow the breakdown of 

proteins and bacterial activity. By slowing this process, the modified silage is stable enough for transport 

to a facility that can process it into fishmeal or oil (Browning, 2010).

4.2.8. Chondroitin Sulfate (CS) 

CS is an important structural component of connective tissues, such as cartilage, and has become 

a dietary supplement commonly taken for osteoarthritis. Stine et al show that fish heads resulting from 

seafood processing are a viable source of CS (Stine et. al., 2010).

4.2.9. Dried Salmon Fish Heads 

A by-product of fish processing, salmon fish heads contain healthy lipids associated with brain 

development, decreased cardiovascular disease, and retina development in infants. With annual tons of 

salmon fish heads numbering near 65,000 tons, researchers have been experimenting with a variety of 

drying temperature techniques (Smiley et. al., 2010).

4.2.10. Chitin

Chitin is a natural biopolymer with a chemical structure similar to that of cellulose and is 

recovered mainly from the shells of crabs and shrimp. According to Troger and Niranjan (2010), “in order 

to obtain purified Chitin, it must be separated from the proteins, minerals and other components. This 

separation is achieved in three steps: 1) de-mineralisation to eliminate the calcium carbonate, 2) deproteinisation, and 3) elimination of lipids and decolourisation.” Chitin can be extracted from these 

seafood shells chemically or biologically. “Chemical extraction uses inorganic acids for demineralisation, alkali for de-proteinisation and organic solvents for the elimination of lipids and color” 

while biological extraction involves fermentation and enzyme extraction (Troger and Niranjan, 2010).

Alaska has not been a major player in the chitin industry because financial considerations make it 

more cost effective to ship the shells to China and to produce products there (FITC, 2010).

4.3. MARKETS FOR SEAFOOD PROCESSING BY-PRODUCTS

Three by-product markets are discussed in this section: fishmeal, fish oil, and hydrolysate, 

because they are the by-products currently being made in any notable volumes by Alaska by-product 

producers. Although established markets for traditional seafood by-products such as fishmeal and fish oil 

do exist, markets for non-traditional by-products such as hydrolyzed protein are still emerging (Bimbo, 

2008). Fishmeal and fish oil have overlapping market attributes resulting from their co-production 

processes (fish oil is a by-product of fishmeal production). Markets for products such as hydrolyzed 
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

31

protein, however, are not well quantified in market studies. This section begins with a discussion of the 

markets for fishmeal and fish oil, followed by a brief discussion of the hydrolyzed protein market. 

4.3.1. Fishmeal

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) the demand for fishmeal is one of the 

drivers of the entire fish sector because 25 percent of capture fisheries enter into fishmeal production 

(FAO, 2010). More than half of global fishmeal produced is used as feed in aquaculture (FAO, 2010). 

Aside from aquaculture, premium markets for fishmeal also include feed for early weaned pigs, poultry, 

and ruminants; as well as egg production that focuses on increasing Omega 3 content (Bimbo, 2010)

36

. 

Annual global fishmeal production for 2009 is estimated at 6.5 million tons (Bechtel, 2010). The 

main supply of seafood for the current fishmeal market comes from Peruvian anchovies. Other main 

producer-exporter countries for fishmeal include Chile, Iceland, Norway and Denmark. Figure 4 shows 

the relative production levels between the top fishmeal-producing and exporting countries (FAO, 2010).

Figure 4. Top International Fishmeal Producers 2006-2009

Recently, fishmeal production has been decreasing while its price continues to increase. Two 

main factors contributed to the decline in fishmeal production during 2009 and 2010. First, Peruvian 

fishmeal production has been negatively affected by weather near South America which has increased 

ocean temperatures, thereby decreasing the fish catch used to create fishmeal. Adding to the decreased 

fishmeal production on a global scale is the decline in Chilean fishmeal production that has resulted from 

a recent earthquake. With Chilean production levels estimated to decrease nearly 200,000 tons in 2010, 

more production pressure is falling onto the already-diminished fishmeal quantities generated by Peru 

(FAO, 2010; IFFO, 2010).

Fishmeal prices are expected to rise as the result of shrinking quantities of fishmeal production 

and the increasing product demand by China (which imports 50 percent of world fishmeal production). 

 

36 Different grades of fish products are reflective of the product’s ingredients. For instance, standard fishmeal, 

referred to as having "fair average quality" (FAQ) typically has 64% to 67% crude protein with up to 12% fat. 

Specialty, or premium, products have different amine levels with reflects an increased percentage of fresh, raw fish 

content. These premium products can fetch a higher dollar amount per ton on the market (IFFO, 2010; Bimbo, 

2008).

Source: IFFO data as published in FAO, 2010.

Source: IFFO data as published in FAO, 2010.
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

32

The FAO reports that some Chinese ports are paying record high fishmeal prices of $1,900 per ton for the 

highly desired product (FAO, 2010). With product supplies uncertain in the future, fishmeal prices are 

expected to continue rising.

In addition to an international market, the United States also presents a potential fishmeal market 

for Alaskan fishmeal. In 2008, the United States imported more than 38,000 tons of fish meal. The 

majority of fish meal was imported from Mexico (22,000 tons) with Chile (5,500 tons) and Canada (2,000 

tons) rounding out the top-three exporters to the United States (FAO, 2010). 

Several potential markets for fishery by-products exist within the United States. First, fishmeal 

can be used as a nutritional supplement in domestic livestock and aquaculture feed production. The

United States is the largest producer of animal feeds in the world, and in 2007, leading U.S.-based feed 

manufacturers produced more than 53 million tons of animal feed. Bimbo (2008) suggests that fishmeal 

markets should tap into the country’s livestock hubs such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Minnesota 

which each produced more than two million tons of livestock feed in 2005. Fishmeal could also be used 

for domestic aquaculture feed and supplements. In 2007, more than 1,800 aquaculture operations 

produced catfish and trout alone (Bimbo, 2008). 

Bimbo (2008) calculates the average price of fishmeal during the years 2002 to 2007 using prices 

from OilWorld.biz. Bimbo’s (2008) price average for meal was $966 per ton, or $866 when subtracting 

$100 for freight (as estimated by Bimbo). This price is considered a reasonable estimate of the price for 

Alaskan fishmeal products over the next few years, with some potential for this price to rise over time.

4.3.2. Fish Oil

Similar to the fishmeal industry, the five countries responsible for exporting the majority of the 

world’s fish oil are: Peru, Chile, Iceland, Norway and Denmark. Together, these countries exported 

530,000 tons of fish oil in 2009—a 100,000 ton decline from the previous year. Chile and Peru both 

reported a ten percent decrease in fish oil production during 2009, and Scandinavian countries contributed 

to global declines with a 30 percent decline in oil production. As fish oil production has decreased, its 

market price has also increased (FAO, 2010).

Fish oil prices are often compared to soybean oil because they are competing products in the 

market place and exhibit similar trends (Bimbo, 2008). While fish oil prices were $120 per ton below 

soybean oil prices in 2009, by March 2010, fish oil prices had risen above soybean oil prices, fetching 

$950 per ton, or twice as much as 2009 prices (FAO, 2010). The FAO attributes this price increase to 

changes in South American water temperatures that have reduced fish stocks used to produce fish oil (as 

is the case with fishmeal) (FAO, 2010). FAO (2010) expects prices to continue to rise due to this factor.

A fish oil’s composition contributes to its marketability and value. This composition can be 

affected by a variety of factors relating to the fish (such as the fish species, its aquatic environment, 

seasonal variations in weather, and geographical location) and how the fish is processed (Kim and 

Mendis, 2006). These factors contribute to the product’s overall quality and nutritional properties, such as 

the percentage of protein or the amount of fat contained in the product. Commodity oils and 

nutraceuticals often have different compositional requirements. For example, raw commodity oils, such as

those used in aquaculture, need to be low in oxidation and contaminants. Although nutraceutical fish oils

also have these same requirements, the nutraceutical market also seeks oils that have high levels of 

omega-3 fatty acids and come from pristine natural resources.

Nutraceutical oil comprises approximately five to10 percent of total fish oil production, and U.S. 

Customs information indicates that the volume of imported nutraceutical oils has more than tripled (from 

4,000 tons to 15,000 tons) from 2002 to 2008 (as cited in NMFS, 2010; Bimbo, 2008). Price information 

for nutraceutical oils, however, is not as readily available as commodity fish oil prices. Due to the 
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

33

variation in quality and refinement beyond raw, commodity oils, nutraceutical oils often achieve a higher 

price point in the marketplace. Bimbo (2008) notes that prices for nutraceutical oils vary from “lows of 

one to two dollars per kilogram (kg) up to and exceeding $15 per kg.” This translates to $907 to $13,608 

per ton, which is approximately the same as or much more expensive than prices for commodity oils). 

U.S. Customs estimates that, with the increase in the volume of imported oil from 2002 to 2008, the 

aggregate value of that oil also rose from approximately $15 million in 2002 to $95 million in 2008 (as 

cited in NMFS, 2010). 

Fish oil currently also is used as a fuel supplement at processing plant locations where on-site 

generation of electricity is necessary where power grid capabilities either may be severely limited or 

there is no available power at all. The Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) notes in its Renewable Energy 

Atlas, for example in 2009 and 2011, that many coastal locations offer the opportunity to use biomass 

(e.g., fish waste and the oil produced from it) as an important supplemental source of fuel to replace a 

portion of the fossil fuels used for energy generation. For example, all three long-standing processors in 

Dutch Harbor use fish oil produced primarily from pollock waste to replace a substantial portion of fossil 

fuel (diesel) normally used to generate electric power to run the processing plants. The by-product 

recovery facility in Kodiak also uses fish oil generated from pollock waste as the majority of fuel for onsite generation of electric power for that by-product recovery facility.

Bimbo (2008) estimates the average price of commodity oil during the years 2002 to 2007 using 

prices from Oilworld.biz. Bimbo’s (2008) price average for fish oil was $957 per ton, or $857 when 

subtracting $100 for freight (as estimated by Bimbo). This price is considered a reasonable estimate of the 

price for Alaskan oil products over the next few years, with some potential for this price to rise over time.

Alaska presents a potential resource for the world’s commodity grade oil and meal markets as 

well as the growing market for high quality, refined salmon oil. As noted earlier, companies producing 

nutraceutical preparations favor fish oils with high levels of omega-3 fatty acids from pristine resources, 

and Alaska’s environment and fish stocks meet those requirements. Alaska salmon and pollock provide a 

readily available source of high quality fish that, because of the cold water fisheries from which they 

come, have high levels of omega-3 fatty acids (Bechtel, 2010). Additionally, Alaska salmon and pollock 

are certified by the Marine Stewardship Council as coming from a sustainable resource (Bimbo, 2010). 

Bimbo (2008) states, however, that current Alaskan fish oil would need to be refined beyond current 

processing in order to meet nutraceutical standards.

4.3.3. Hydrolysate

As mentioned in the beginning of this section on by-product markets, no established market 

currently exists for non-traditional products such as hydrolysate. Bimbo (2008) notes two hydrolysate 

market considerations, including: 1) “hydrolysates...must be market driven since they are either very high 

in water content (silage) or bulky thus making transportation costs a key factor”, and 2) “hydrolysates 

must be further processed to remove bones, oil and insoluble materials before drying. This involves more 

capital costs, increased energy costs and further disposal issues with the residual by-products.” With little 

to no pricing or market information regarding hydrolysate from Alaskan producers, EPA assumes for the 

purposes of this profile, that there is a market (albeit currently small) for hydrolysate and that the market 

price for the product, at a minimum, covers the cost of producing the by-product.

5.0 ALASKAN BY-PRODUCT MARKET CONSIDERATIONS 

The financial viability of Alaskan by-products, such as fish oil, faces several economic 

considerations in the marketplace. Alaska’s energy costs exceed most energy prices within the contiguous 

United States, and these costs vary according to particular regions within the state. Capital costs make 

building by-product facilities and certain equipment investments less desirable to potential by-product 

producers (Bimbo, 2010). By-product plants are designed to run continuously and flows of fish are not 
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

34

necessarily predictable or continuous (especially due to seasonal variation) (Lane, 2010). Transportation 

costs associated with fuel and vessel costs might require resulting products to be lighter, less bulky, or 

able to withstand longer periods of time between processing phases. Additionally, profit margins 

reportedly have been thin throughout the state and vary from year to year (ADEC, 2010).

5.1. NUMBER OF BY-PRODUCT PROCESSING FACILITIES 

Alaska had 17 processors dedicated solely to producing fishery by-products in 2009, including 12 

fishmeal processors and five fish oil processors (SFS, 2010; DCCED, 2010). The types of by-products

produced by the plants include fish protein meal, fish oil, fish bone meal, and stickwater. These byproducts are used to make consumer products such as commodity37 and nutraceutical oils, animal feeds 

(including feed used in aquaculture), and fertilizer/compost (Bechtel, 2010; FITC, 2010). According to 

Alaska’s Office of Fisheries Development, in 2009 fishmeal processors generated 31,100 tons of product 

produced from all seafood species, with a value of nearly $39 million. Fish oil producers in the same year 

produced 10,300 tons of oil worth $7.5 million.

The volume of fishmeal produced in Alaska generally has been declining since 2002, when it was 

more than 59,584 tons, or nearly twice as high as 2009 production levels. The 2009 production level of 

31,100 tons is roughly one percent of global fish meal production (DCCED, 2010; FAO, 2010). Alaska’s 

fish oil market is similarly positioned, with approximately one percent of global fish oil production 

(DCCED, 2010). However, the volume of Alaskan fish oil produced is increasing and has nearly doubled 

since 2000.

Many of the current fishmeal and fish oil operations in Alaska are the result of ADEC 

requirements that coincided with the Americanization of the groundfish fishery. The 1972 Clean Water 

Act led to conservation measures such as the Magnuson Fisheries Conservation and Management Act of 

1976 and, thereafter, the 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). As a result of these measures,

seafood processing facilities, predominately in Western Alaska surrounding the Bering Sea and Gulf of 

Alaska, began processing high volumes of groundfish. ADEC required these operations to integrate byproduct recovery systems to process fish meal and fish oil. Recovery operations with fish types that are 

harvested year-round are also able to run recovery operation year round if the total of volume of waste is 

sufficient (Bechtel, 2010).

Currently, eight of the state’s fishmeal operations remain in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska 

region, mainly handling pollock, cod, and other groundfish. For example, Kodiak Fishmeal Company 

uses approximately 1,000 tons of fish waste per day to produce fishmeal from white fish and salmon, 

bone meal, and fish oil (Kodiak Fishmeal Company, 2010). These waste processing facilities process an 

estimated 400 tons of waste per day (SFS, 2010). Several plants also process waste streams from salmon 

products in coastal communities in the Gulf region (Bechtel, 2010). Alyeska, Unisea, and Westward all 

operate individual by-product recovery facilities in Dutch Harbor. Also, Trident operates by-product 

recovery facilities at the Akutan processing plant (U.S. EPA, 2001a), Chignik, Wrangell, and in Cordova. 

Trident also is building a new by-product recovery facility in Naknek.

In addition to the recovery operations in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, seafood processors 

throughout Alaska use their wastes to produce by-products, primarily from salmon waste. Many of the 

by-product recovery facilities in the non-remote petitioning locations and locations of interest covered in 

this profile fall into this category of co-produced by-products. These processors operate their by-product 

recovery operations mainly during salmon season. Although some processors use a variety of fish waste 

solids to produce meal and oil, other producers focus on certain types of waste, such as fish heads, which 

have more desirable nutrient levels.

 

37 Commodity oils may be classified as food grade (such as fish oil used in cooking) or non-food grade (which may 

be incorporated into animal feeds) (Lane, 2010).
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

35

Table 5 provides by-product recovery information for facilities in the non-remote petitioning 

areas as well as the remote areas of interest. The table describes the types of seafood processed by the 

facility and the resulting by-products.

Table 5. Facilities Producing Fishmeal and Fish Oil

Facility

Independent

of Seafood 

Processing 

Plant?

Location By-product(s)

Produced [a] Seafood Processed

Alaska Protein 

Recovery/

Trident Seafoods

Yes**

Ketchikan

(barge, could 

relocate)

Salmon oil (food grade)

Salmon protein hydrolysate

Salmon heads (food grade) 

Salmon waste

Alyeska[f] No Dutch Harbor Fish meal 90% pollock waste

Icicle Seafoods No Petersburg Salmon oil 

Salmon meal

Salmon waste (mixed, nonfood grade)

Icicle Seafoods No Seward Salmon oil 

Salmon meal [c]

Salmon (roe stripped)

Salmon waste

Bottom fish waste

Sitka Meal, Oil, and 

Gelatin Yes Sitka (planned)

Salmon oil (food grade)

Salmon meal

Crude (6%) chondroitin 

sulfate-rich gelatin

Salmon waste

White fish waste

Scientific 

Fisheries[b] Yes Kenai Salmon oil (food grade)Salmon meal [d] Salmon heads (food grade)

Snug Harbor No Kenai Fertilizer (compost) Salmon waste

Trident Seafoods No

Akutan, 

Cordova, 

Chignik, 

Wrangell, 

Naknek [f]

Salmon oil (food grade)

Salmon protein hydrolysate [e] 

Fish meal

Salmon heads (food grade) 

Salmon waste

UniSea No Dutch Harbor

Fish meal 

Bone meal 

Fish oil 

Pollock collagen

90% pollock waste 

Some crab

Other fish

Westward No Dutch Harbor

Fish meal 

Bone meal 

Fish oil

90% pollock waste 

Some crab

Other fish

Source: U.S. EPA, 2010

*Raw and processed seafood that is managed as food grade is noted as such and is otherwise considered to be nonfood grade.

** It should be noted that APR is partly owned by Trident Seafood Corporation.

[a] The white fish oil is not a marketed by-product but, rather, it is typically burned in the plant’s boilers (FITC, 

2010).

[b] Operates plant for Alaska Marine Nutrition.

[c] <5% of by-products are white fish meal.

[d] Meal production is planned for 2011.

[e] The hydrolysate produced is acid hydrolyzed fertilizer grade and enzyme hydrolyzed animal feed grade and is 

marketed by Alaska Protein Recovery.

[f] U.S. EPA, 2001, U.S. EPA 2001a; Trident letter to Bristol Bay Borough, January 24, 2012; facility not yet 

operating in Naknek
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

36

5.2. CURRENT BY-PRODUCT PROCESSING IN THE PETITIONING LOCATIONS AND ADDITIONAL 

LOCATIONS OF INTEREST 

This section describes the seafood processing facilities within the petitioning locations as well as 

the locations of interest and their current by-product recovery efforts. This section highlights which 

operations currently are practicing by-product recovery, and discusses potential by-product recovery 

options for facilities currently not processing by-products. The facilities are discussed by location. 

5.2.1. Status of By-product Recovery in the Petitioning Locations

5.2.1.1. Cordova

As noted earlier, four seafood processing facilities are located near Cordova: Copper River 

Seafoods, Trident Cannery (Trident North), Ocean Beauty Seafoods, and Trident Norquest (Trident 

South). With only 0.6 miles separating the northernmost and southernmost of these plants, joint byproduct recovery in this center is a possibility, assuming corporate cooperation is feasible. Currently, 

Trident runs a recovery plant that operates only during salmon season and has previously taken waste 

from other area processors. 

In 2009, Trident started up a by-product recovery plant located next door to the Trident Cordova 

North plant. Trident’s Cordova facility uses Alaska Protein Recovery’s (APR) proprietary process to 

produce fish oil and fish hydrolysate (Lane, 2010; Trident, 2010). The size of the by-product plant in 

Cordova was based on the capacity of the Trident cannery, which was 1.5 million lbs of raw fish per day

(Lane, 2010).

Both the Trident Cordova North and Cordova South plants supply seafood waste to the Trident 

by-product recovery plant. Waste is transported from the Trident cannery (Cordova North plant) to the 

plant through three stainless steel pipes. Fish heads are transported separately from combined guts, 

frames, and skin (Trident, 2010). In 2010, Trident South trucked all salmon heads to the Trident North 

by-product recovery plant, and in 2011, it plans to truck the frames as well (Trident, 2010a). Trident 

South may also truck black cod heads. Trident Cordova South processes 400,000 to 500,000 lbs of black 

cod per year, resulting in 40,000 lbs per year of heads (Trident, 2010a). The heads are more than three 

percent oil, so it may be possible to recover the oil from the cod fish heads profitably38 (Trident, 2010a). 

The Ocean Beauty plant is adjacent to the Trident recovery plant. Ocean Beauty sent its

processing waste to Trident in 2009 and ground and discharged their waste through an NPDES permitted 

outfall in 2010. Ocean Beauty would like to send waste fish heads to Trident again in 2011 (Ocean 

Beauty, 2010).

5.2.1.2. Juneau

Juneau has two small direct discharging seafood processing plants that are nearly 14 miles apart. 

Taku is located in the heart of downtown Juneau and Alaska Glacier is located northwest of the city in an 

area known as Auke Bay (see Figure 3). Despite the distance, the two seafood processing facilities have 

access to a good roadway, thus there may be some potential for these processors to establish cooperative 

by-product recovery.

Currently, Alaska Glacier accumulates waste in totes on the dock, runs it through a grinder and 

pumps it into a bow picker (small boat). The boat transports the ground waste to beyond Portland Island 

where it is pumped out of the boat. The Taku Fisheries plant, which is located immediately adjacent to the 

cruise ship docking area and the Mount Roberts tramway in downtown Juneau, grinds its waste through 

 

38 In 2010, Trident froze a batch of cod heads and will process them at the by-product recovery plant at the end of 

the season to determine the effect of freezing on oil quality (Trident, 2010a).
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

37

two grinder pumps and discharges the ground waste through its NPDES-permitted outfall located

approximately 60 feet off the dock at a depth of 60 to 80 feet (Taku, 2010). 

5.2.1.3. Petersburg

Petersburg’s three seafood processors, Icicle, Trident Norquest, and Ocean Beauty Seafoods, are 

located near each other, with approximately one half mile between the Icicle and Ocean Beauty facilities 

and the Trident facility located between them. Distance is not an issue for joint by-product recovery, but 

currently, Icicle, which has the only existing by-product processing capability in the location, is not 

processing other facilities’ seafood wastes.

Icicle operates a by-product facility during salmon season and grinds and discharges waste 

through a NPDES permitted outfall during the remainder of the operating period. The by-product plant 

produces fish oil and fishmeal, which is used for aquaculture. The fish oil produced cannot be used for 

human food without additional refining. During salmon season, the plant has no additional by-product 

processing capacity, so as currently configured it cannot accept additional waste from its neighbors.

The two other plants currently are not recovering any fish waste. The Ocean Beauty plant did not 

operate in 2010 but is expected to operate during salmon season in 2011. This plant previously ground 

and discharged its processing waste through an NPDES permitted outfall and has not attempted any byproduct recovery. Sitka Meal, Oil, and Gelatin Company (SMOG), a potential by-product start-up firm to 

be located in Sitka (see discussion below in Section 4.4.2) has expressed interest in obtaining the waste 

from Ocean Beauty for its Sitka-based recovery plant (Stitzel, 2010). Trident has refurbished a salmon 

cannery in nearby Wrangell (less than 30 miles away), and the Petersburg plant has the potential to close 

to consolidate operations in Wrangell (Stitzel, 2010). If the Petersburg plant were to remain open, a 

recovery plant that could utilize the waste from both Trident operations potentially could be constructed, 

but no plans are underway.

5.2.1.4. Ketchikan

The five seafood processors in Ketchikan are located within a two mile area. Two processors—

Trident Norquest, and E.C. Phillips—are located slightly west of downtown Ketchikan, as is the byproduct processor, Alaska Protein Recovery (APR). The remaining three processors are just to the east of 

downtown: Alaska General, Pacific Sun Products, and the Trident salmon cannery. Approximately 1.8 

miles separates the two most distant processors. Cooperative by-product recovery is occurring to some 

extent in this location. The downtown area of Ketchikan and the cruise ship docks are located between 

these two groups of processors.

The available by-product recovery processing capabilities in Ketchikan are represented by APR, a 

by-product recovery plant that is partly owned by Trident Seafood Corporation. The plant produces 

salmon oil and hydrolyzed fish protein. It is located on a barge moored at the Trident dock and operates 

during the salmon season. The barge leaves when the season is over to deliver products to the 

Northwestern part of contiguous United States, and, more specifically, in 2010, hydrolysate to a buyer in 

California.

Nearly all of the Ketchikan facilities use APR for some or all of their wastes. The two major 

contributors to the waste stream processed by APR are the Trident Cannery and Alaska General. Alaska 

General is the only non-Trident facility to send virtually all of its processing waste solids (exclusively 

salmon via a pipeline) to APR, sending its wastewater through a NPDES-permitted outfall. The Trident 

cannery also processes virtually all of its waste at APR. 

Trident Norquest sends its fish heads, which are managed as food grade, to APR during salmon 

season. The remainder of the fish waste is ground and discharged through a NPDES permitted outfall. 
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

38

E.C. Phillips also removes fish heads and packs them on ice to be sent to APR for by-product recovery, 

and its remaining waste is ground and discharged shoreside (APR, 2010).

Only Pacific Sun Products does not provide any waste to APR. Currently, Pacific Sun discharges 

its fish waste through a NPDES-permitted outfall (APR, 2010; EPA, 2010).

5.2.2. Status of By-product Recovery in the Locations of Interest

5.2.2.1. Dutch Harbor 

As noted in section 5.1, eight of the state’s fishmeal operations are located in the Bering Sea and 

Gulf of Alaska region, mainly handling pollock, cod, and other groundfish. These waste processing 

facilities process an estimated 400 tons of waste per day (SFS, 2010). Three by-product operations are 

located in Dutch Harbor (See Figure 3). 

As shown in Table 5, Alyeska, UniSea, and Westward generate a range of by-products, primarily 

from pollock. The three operations produce fishmeal, bone meal, and/or fish oil. UniSea, additionally, 

produces pollock collagen. 

5.2.2.2. Kenai Peninsula

The Kenai Peninsula location encompasses several communities, including the cities of Kenai, 

Seward, and Homer. Ten discharging seafood processors are located in the Kenai Peninsula, including 

Ocean Beauty Seafoods in Nikiski, Snug Harbor Seafoods, and Icicle-Seward Fisheries. Although Ocean 

Beauty and Snug Harbor Seafoods are relatively near one another geographically, Ocean Beauty Nikiski 

and Icicle-Seward Fisheries are more than 100 miles apart with inter-connecting year-round roads.

The major by-product processing capability is associated with the Icicle Seward facility. Similar 

to the Icicle plant in Petersburg, Seward Fisheries operates a recovery plant during salmon season. 

Although Icicle has taken waste from other processors in the past, it no longer does so (U.S. EPA, 2010; 

Jordan, 1979). Processors from the Kenai Peninsula and Anchorage previously drove their processing 

waste to the Icicle by-product recovery plant in Seward for disposal. 

Scientific Fisheries Systems (SFS), a plant devoted to by-product processing (not seafood 

processing) is operating a salmon oil plant at Kenai Landing. This small scale, food grade salmon oil byproduct operation is being operated by SFS for Alaska Marine Nutrition, LLC. The operation is within 

driving distance of the Kenai Peninsula seafood processing facilities, and the plant does not operate 

during the winter months. The recovery operation is currently taking waste from Snug Harbor Seafoods 

and, possibly, other area processors. In 2010, Snug Harbor provided Scientific Fisheries with 210,943 lbs

(105 U.S. tons) of food grade fish heads. This represents about five percent of Snug Harbor’s total waste 

(U.S. EPA, 2010). Snug Harbor reported that it also produces fertilizer onsite from seafood processing 

waste using a composting operation. Seafood processing waste is taken from the processing line, mixed 

with wood chips, and is placed in furrows on a fenced field next to the seafood plant. Snug Harbor placed 

about 30 tons of the waste-wood chip mixture into furrows in 2007 and has continued to place about 10 

tons per year thereafter. The remainder of the processing waste is ground and discharged under a NPDES 

permit.

5.2.2.3. Sitka 

The primary direct discharging processors in Sitka are Silver Bay and two other smaller plants

(North Pacific Seafoods and the Seafood Producers Cooperative), which process approximately 15 

million lbs of seafood per year (U.S. EPA, 2010). The longest distance between processors is the nearly 

six miles from the Seafood Producers Cooperative to Silver Bay Seafoods. 
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

39

No by-product recovery currently is occurring in Sitka. One possible by-product recovery option 

for Sitka and, perhaps, certain other producers in nearby Inside Passage petitioning locations or elsewhere 

in Southeast Alaska, is the Sitka Meal, Oil, and Gelatin (SMOG) plant under consideration for 

construction. If it is built, the company intends to recover meal, oil, and gelatin from salmon waste. The 

plant would produce crude (6%) chondroitin sulfate gelatin by passing salmon heads through a bone 

separator and recovering chondroitin-rich cartilage (Stitzel, 2010). It is not yet known whether this byproduct facility will materialize and become a viable by-product recovery option for nearby processors, 

however (Stitzel, 2010). The largest seafood processor in the location, Silver Bay Seafoods, currently is 

not interested in sending its waste for by-product recovery to such a plant if it were to be built due to a 

contract to sell a portion of its waste, with the remainder being ground and discharged (with waste hauling 

for offshore disposal as a backup method if it were to exceed permitted discharge volumes) (Stitzel, 2010; 

AIDEA, 2011).

5.3. TOTAL WASTE AVAILABLE IN PETITION PROCESSING LOCATIONS 

Statewide, processing waste in Alaska ranges from an estimated 40 to 66 percent of the total 

weight of the fish being processed (Bimbo, 2008; Bechtel, 2010). The amount of seafood processing 

waste generated and available for the production of by-products varies by the type of seafood species 

processed as well as the seafood product being produced. For example, salmon that are only headed and 

gutted (H&G) retain about 65 percent of their weight for end products, while a considerably smaller 

percentage of pollock’s total weight is retained. When these fish are used to produce fillets, about 50 

percent of the salmon (by weight) and 20 percent of the pollock, are retained as product (FITC, 2010). For 

purposes of the processors covered in this profile, the main type of waste considered for by-product 

recovery is salmon processing waste.

In order to estimate the total salmon waste available by the processors in the petitioning 

locations, the amount of raw seafood being processed must be obtained first. EPA consulted the two main 

sources of public information pertaining to the quantity and type of fish being processed in Alaska for this 

report. The first is the annual commercial catch numbers collected by the Alaska Department of Fish and 

Game (ADFG). Each year, AFDG records the volume of catch for herring, groundfish, salmon, and 

shellfish commercial fisheries. The volume of seafood (or landings), however, is recorded according to 

geographic regions which are not identical to the processing locations discussed in this profile. To 

estimate the volumes of seafood landed in petitioning areas, this analysis used ADFG regions that 

encompassed the petitioning processing locations

39. The processing locations and their corresponding 

ADFG regions are listed in Table 6. The other consideration in estimating the volume of fish landed for 

the petitioning locations using ADFG information is that halibut is excluded from the ADFG catch 

calculation because it is under the jurisdiction of the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC). 

Although this profile is considering only salmon waste generated by the processing locations of interest, 

the IPHC areas best representing the petitioning areas have also been included in Table 6 to help illustrate 

the complexity of determining total processing waste by processing locations in Alaska. 

Table 6. ADFG Regions Corresponding to Petitioning Locations

Processing Locations ADFG Region IPHC Area [a]

Juneau Southeast 2C

Ketchikan Southeast 2C

Petersburg Southeast 2C

Cordova Prince William Sound 3A

Source: ADFG, 2010; IPHC, 2010

[a] International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC)

 

39 Anchorage was not included because currently it has no land-based processors with EPA ELG permits considered 

in this profile (See Section 3.0).
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

40

Table 7 shows possible volumes of fish waste based on the volume of landings reported for entire 

ADFG regions and IPHC areas that correspond to the petitioning processing areas. Three cautionary 

points regarding the numbers in Table 7 are:

 The percentages of regional processing waste corresponding to each petitioning 

processing location are unknown and, therefore, the numbers presented in the table 

indicate only the relative waste volumes from particular species within processing 

locations. 

 The percentage of waste per volume of landings captured by ADFG and IPHC was 

calculated using percentages of species waste estimated by Bechtel (2010). These 

percentages of waste may fluctuate by the form of processing, as Bechtel notes, so the 

numbers are only an estimate of potential waste. 

 Table 7 values were calculated using data from 2008 because this was the most recent 

year of complete data across species and entities. Fish volumes also fluctuate each year, 

so these values provide a snapshot of waste availability for a given time period.

Table 7. Estimated Seafood Waste from Regions Surrounding Petitioning Processing Locations in 

2008 (tons)

Table 7 does highlight, however, that salmon constitutes the major source of seafood processing 

waste in the petitioning locations.

The second data source is the National NPDES permit annual reports. The NPDES annual reports 

are completed each year by processors holding NPDES permits and sent to the EPA. The reports include a 

variety of processing information, such as the volume of raw seafood utilized by the processor, the 

quantity of product made by the processor with that raw seafood, and the volume of wastewater 

discharged through the NPDES permitted outfall. Because the NPDES annual reports are completed by 

each permitted processor, the reports provide a reliable source of data for raw seafood and waste volumes 

of particular processors and processing locations, which are specific to ADFG regions (although a 

comparison of salmon waste generated in 2008 as presented in Table 7 and Table 8 reveals that the waste 

totals are fairly comparable). 

Table 8 shows the volume of salmon waste generated by the petitioning areas and areas of 

interest. The petitioning areas processor totals were obtained from the EPA questionnaire and aggregated 

to mask facility level information in communities with only a small number of facilities. The annual totals 

for the processors in the locations of interest who were not surveyed, were calculated using the 

information provided in the EPA NPDES annual reports.

Location Halibut

Groundfish

Salmon TOTAL

Lingcod Pacific 

Cod

Rockfish

(all types) Sablefish Walleye Pollock

Misc. 

Groundfish

Prince William 

Sound

Cordova

3,051[a] 5 2 15 28 411 0 38,822 42,334

Southeast

Ketchikan

Petersburg

776 43 136 102 337 0 4 32,109 33,506

TOTAL 3,827 48 138 117 365 411 4 70,931 75,840

Source: ADFG, 2008; IPHC, 2008.

[a] IPHC data for Cordova is not for the ADFG Prince William Sound region, but rather area 3A (See Table 2)
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

41

Table 8. Annual Salmon Waste Generated by Petitioning Areas and Areas of Interest 2005-2009

Total Waste (metric tons)

Location 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Average Annual 

Waste (mt)

Petitioning 

Locations [a] 98,138 67,956 102,591 74,940 77,436 84,212

Additional 

Locations of 

Interest [b]

230,476 227,861 199,072 159,061 124,791 188,252

Total Annual 

Waste 328,613 295,817 301,662 234,001 202,227 272,464

Source: EPA, 2010

[a] Petitioning Areas include Anchorage, Cordova, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Petersburg, but because Anchorage 

does not have any direct discharging processors, it is not included in this calculation.

[b] Additional locations of interest may include: Dutch Harbor, the Kenai Peninsula, and Sitka. Facilities in 

Western Alaska around the Bering Sea, such as those in Dutch Harbor, are already required by The Alaska 

Department of Conservation to implement by-product recovery technologies (Bechtel, 2010).

5.4. WASTE UTILIZATION ESTIMATES 

Bimbo (2008) estimates quantities of fishmeal and fish oil based on a percentage of fish 46 

percent waste to total landings. Bimbo suggests that a 5:1 conversation ratio can be used to estimate total 

fishmeal production from the total volume of fish waste. He also suggests that fish oil is approximately 

two percent of the total fish waste. Using these calculations, Bimbo posits that Alaska could generate 

more than 200,000 tons of fishmeal and more than 22,000 tons of fish oil per year based on the state’s 

annual average of 2.43 million tons of seafood landings (Bimbo, 2010).

Table 9 shows the volume of salmon harvested in 2009 by ADFG regions that encompass 

processing locations. The volume of fish waste generated by the salmon harvest as well as an estimate of 

potential fishmeal and fish oil production are also provided.

Table 9. 2009 Regional Salmon Harvests and Estimated Fishmeal and Oil Production (metric tons)

Region Salmon Harvest Volume of Fish 

Waste[d]

Potential

Fishmeal [e]

Potential

Fishmeal[f]

Southeast [a] 98,285 39,314 7,863 786

Central [b] 139,202 55,681 11,136 1,114

Westward [c] 89,441 35,776 7,155 716

Source: EPA calculation using ADFG regional harvest totals.

[a] Includes processing locations such as Juneau, Ketchikan, and Petersburg.

[b] Includes processing locations such as Naknek, Cordova, and Kenai.

[c] Includes processing locations such as Kodiak and Dutch Harbor.

[d] Estimated as 40 percent of total fish weight (ADFG, 2010).

[e] Estimated as 5:1 ratio of quantity of fish waste to meal (Bimbo, 2008).

[f] Bimbo estimates fish oil by-product as two percent of waste (Bimbo, 2008).

Table 10 uses the estimated volumes for salmon waste in the petitioning locations and additional 

locations of interest to calculate potential volumes of fishmeal and fish oil. The values in Table 10 are 

based on Bimbo’s (2008) methods for calculating potential volumes and prices of by-product in Alaska. 

Due to the annual fluctuations in seafood harvests and commodity prices, Bimbo uses average values 

from the time period from 2002 to 2007 to calculate average by-product prices (see table footnotes) 

(Bimbo, 2008). 
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

42

Table 10. Fishmeal and Fish Oil Production Estimates by Petitioning Locations and Additional 

Locations of Interest

6.0 COMPARING POTENTIAL ALASKAN AND GLOBAL QUANTITIES OF BYPRODUCTS

Alaska’s potential production levels of fishmeal and oil are minor in comparison to global 

quantities produced. Global quantities are used for comparison because the fishmeal and oil markets are 

global in scope. Using Knapp’s (2008) model for estimating global quantities of fishmeal and fish oil 

based on 2008 world fish production, it is estimated that the global volume of fish waste ranges from 17-

51 million tons. Applying Knapp’s (2008) by-product estimates to this waste volume results in a 

combined 1.7 to 2.8 million tons of fishmeal and fish oil being produced globally40. Applying Bimbo’s 

(2008) by-product ratios to Knapp’s volume of waste results in the figures presented in Table 11 below. 

Table 11. Comparing Alaskan and Global Quantities of Seafood By-products

Alaska [a] Worldwide [b]

Average 

annual 

waste (tons) 

[c]

Potential

Fishmeal using

5:1 ratio

(tons)

Potential Fish 

oil 2% of waste

(tons)

Seafood waste

(million tons)

Potential

Fishmeal using

5:1 ratio

(million tons)

Potential Fish 

oil (2% of waste)

(million tons)

272,464 54,493 5,449 17-51 3-10 0.3-1

[a] Alaskan totals are comprised of quantities from processors in petitioning areas as well as areas of interest.

[b]Worldwide fish production was taken from FAO (2008) and applied to by-product model waste totals from 

Knapp (2008).

[c] Based on average annual waste as calculated in Table 10. 

 

40 Knapp (2008) estimated global quantities of fishmeal and oil by multiplying the volume of world fish production 

by the percentage of food fishery products used to make by-products (30 to 60 percent). The resulting volume range 

is then multiplied by 40 to 60 percent to calculate the volume range of total by-product yield from the fish 

processing. The resulting by-product quantities are then multiplied by the percentages of those by-products that may 

be turned into meal or oil (0. to-0.25 percent).

Location

Average 

annual 

salmon 

waste

(tons) [c]

Potential 

Fishmeal 

using 5:1 

ratio 

(tons)

Fishmeal 

Value

(using 2002-

2007 average) 

($ millions) [d]

Potential 

Fish Oil 

2% of 

waste

(tons)

Fish Oil Value

(using 2002-

2007 average) 

($ millions)

[d]

Current Oil 

Value 

($950 per ton)

($ millions)

[e]

Petitioning 

Locations 

[a]

84,212 16,842 $1.5 1,684 $1.4 $1.4

Additional 

Locatioins 

of Interest 

[b]

188,252 37,650 $32.6 3,765 $3.2 $3.2

Total 272,464 54,493 $47.2 5,449 $4.7 $4.6

Source: U.S. EPA, 2010

[a] Petitioning Areas include: Anchorage, Cordova, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Petersburg. Because Anchorage does 

not have and direct discharging processors, it is not included in this calculation.

[b] Areas of interest include the Kenai Peninsula and Sitka.

[c] Average waste calculated from EPA questionnaire and NPDES annual report totals.

[d] Averages prices from 2002-2007 were taken from Bimbo (2008). Average price for meal was $966/ton. 

Average price for oil was $957/ton. Bimbo (2008) used OilWorld.biz prices to calculate five-year averages.

[e] Current day prices for oil taken from FAO (2010).
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

43

Table 11 shows that worldwide production of fishmeal and oil is in the millions of tons while 

estimates of quantities that potentially could be generated by Alaskan processors do not even reach 

60,000 tons (or about three percent of the global estimated total). Therefore, the incremental amount of 

by-product that could potentially be recovered is probably much less than three percent of global 

quantities (see also Figure 5). Because Alaska by-product production is so minimal in comparison to 

global production, the entry of these additional products into the market should not affect the global 

market price of meal and oil the way that other, larger, by-product-producing areas, such as the Peruvian 

anchovy fishery, have the potential to affect the by-product industry and pricing (see Section 4.3).

Figure 5. Comparing Global and Alaskan Potential Meal and Oil Production

7.0 OTHER FACTORS AFFECTING PROCESSORS IN NON-REMOTE PROCESSING 

LOCATIONS

This section discusses how revised discharge requirements may affect non-remote processors 

compared to other seafood processors without similar discharge requirements. Two topics are highlighted 

in this section: 1) the main species harvested (and therefore, potentially processed) by location, and 2) the 

proximity of non-remote processors that may possibly be subject to a revised effluent regulation to 

processors that may not be subject to the regulation. Refer to section 3.1 of this Profile for information 

and data on species of fish processed.

Table 12 shows the distance between the seafood processing locations that have permitted direct 

discharging seafood processors and those that are classified as remote (and not one of those within a 

location of interest). Because many of the locations are not connected by roads, the distances are provided 

in nautical miles (NM). For each location, the table also highlights the nearest processing locations. 

Table 12. Other Processors Closest to the Processors in Petitioning Locations and Locations of 

Interest

Processing 

Location

Location #/Distance in Nautical Miles (NM)

1 (NM) 2 (NM) 3 (NM) 4 (NM) 5 (NM)

N

o

nRem

ote

Anchorage Whittier 60 Big 

Lake 64 Seward 127

Source: Knapp, 2008 and EPA calculation.
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

44

Processing 

Location

Location #/Distance in Nautical Miles (NM)

1 (NM) 2 (NM) 3 (NM) 4 (NM) 5 (NM)

Cordova Valdez 40 Whittier 89

Petersburg Wrangell 28 Kake 34

Juneau

Excursion 

Inlet 32 Hoonah 34 Pelican 61 Haines 65

Ketchikan Metlakatla 13 Craig 52

Rem

ote

Dutch 

Harbor

King 

Cove 134 Cold Bay 155 St. Paul 232

Kenai [a] Homer 27 Soldotna 26 Nikiski 36 Anchorage 81 Whittier 90

Sitka Kake 45 Pelican 62 Hoonah 64 Petersburg 79

Source: Potential processors resulted from EPA, Region 10, ADEC (2010) permit listings and ADFG 

(2011) land-based processor listing. Latitude and Longitude Coordinates from Google Maps 

(Google.com, 2011) were entered in Straight Sailing Marine Distance Calculator (CSGnetwork, 2011).

[a] The first three locations—Homer, Soldotna, and Nikiski—are on the Kenai Peninsula, while the 

nearest processors not located on the Kenai Peninsula are in Anchorage and Whittier.

As Table 12 shows, several non-remote processors affected by effluent guideline regulations are 

near processors without similar discharge restrictions. The table also shows that processors within close 

geographical proximity are also likely to process similar types of seafood. For example, Wrangell and 

Petersburg both process similar types of fish, such as salmon, and are only 28 NM apart. See Section 3 for 

discussion of fish species processed by location.

The communities that are home to the non-remote, petitioning seafood processors and the 

facilities in the additional remote processing locations of interest have varying economies and population 

demographics. This section begins with demographic information for the communities in the petitioning 

locations and locations of interest in order to help provide some context to the discussion afterward about 

the role of seafood processing in local processing economies.

Demographic information for the petitioning processor communities and additional locations of 

interest from the U.S. Census Bureau is provided in Table 13. The geographic areas surveyed as U.S. 

census areas do not directly match each municipality in Alaska. For example, as shown in Table 13, 

Petersburg is part of the Wrangell-Petersburg census area, Cordova statistics are combined with those of 

Valdez, and Dutch Harbor is included in the Aleutians West census area. Because some communities’ 

population and economic information have been aggregated beyond the individual municipality level of 

interest, the census information included in this section provides only an overall sense of the 

characteristics of some areas and should not be used for direct community comparisons. 
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

45

Table 13. Census Characterization of Petitioning Processor Communities from 2000 US Census

Census 

Characteristic

Non-Remote Processor Communities

Remote Locations of 

Interest

Ketchikan

WrangellPetersburgValdez 

Cordova Anchorage

Juneau 

City and 

Borough

Aleutians 

West

(Dutch 

Harbor) Sitka

Kenai 

Peninsula 

(including 

Seward)

Total Population 14,070 6,684 10,195 260,283 30,711 5,465 8,835 49,691

Labor Force 7,772 3,406 5,043 143,350 17,623 3,788 4,934 23,116

Median 

Household 

Income [a]

51,344 46,434 48,734 55,546 62,034 61,406 51,901 46,397

Percentage of 

Individuals 

Below Poverty 

Line

6.5% 7.9% 9.8% 7.3% 6.0% 11.9% 7.8% 10.0%

Population of 

American Indian 

and Alaskan 

Native

2,109 1,074 1,351 18,941 3,496 1,145 1,641 3,713

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2000.

[a] Median Income was based on U.S. Census data for 1999.

The seafood processing industry has varying effects on the petitioning communities and 

additional locations of interest because it plays proportionally different roles in each of the local 

economies. In order to help understand the community impacts of the seafood processing industry, EPA 

obtained economic and industry information for the petitioning areas and areas of interest from the U.S. 

Census County Business Patterns (CBP) for 200841. CBP statistics were used rather than the 2007 

Economic Census because nuanced, local level information often was withheld in the 2007 Economic 

Census, given the small number of seafood processors in some locations and the proprietary nature of the 

information. Even within the County Business Patterns, some communities’ information is represented by 

a range (for example, 1-19 employees) so as not to be able to identify individual companies when there 

are few processors in a particular area. Also, as mentioned in Section 2.2.2, employment figures from the 

Census are not recorded during peak fishing and processing season in Alaska, so employment in the 

seafood processing industry might be higher than that shown here.

Within County Business Patterns, as well as the 2007 Economic Census, seafood processing falls 

within the broader manufacturing sector. In order to help highlight the relative importance of seafood 

processing in each of the communities’ local economies, Table 14 compares employment and 

establishment information from the each community with employment and establishment statistics from 

the manufacturing sector and the seafood processing industry within that manufacturing sector. Income 

and expenditures were not included in the table because the information was not publicly available for the 

seafood processors. Similar to Table 13, the information in Table 14 also combines communities into U.S. 

census areas, so the industry statistics for Petersburg and Cordova as well as the remote areas of Dutch 

Harbor and the Kenai Peninsula are aggregated beyond individual petitioning areas and areas of interest.

 

41 2008 is the most recent year for which the US County Business Patterns information is available.
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

46

Table 14 Seafood Processing in the Context of Census Employment and Establishments

Census Area

Non-Remote Petitioning Locations Remote Locations of 

Interest

Total

Anchorage Juneau Ketchikan 

Gateway

ValdezCordovaWrangellPetersburg

Dutch 

HarborAleutian 

Bay

Kenai 

Peninsula Sitka

Establishments

Total- All sectors 8,486 1,106 565 405 265 134 1,953 391 13,305

Percent of Total 

Establishments in 

Seafood Processing

0.08 0.27 0.71 2.47 3.40 6.72 1.02 2.05 0.53

Total- Manufacturing 195 28 16 14 13 14 62 17 359

Percent of 

Manufacturing 

Establishments in 

Seafood Processing

3.59 10.71 25.00 71.43 69.23 64.29 32.26 47.06 19.50

Total- Seafood 

Processing 7 3 4 10 9 9 20 8 70

Employment [a]

Total- All sectors 140,981 10,868 4,938 2,516 1,510 4,686 13,090 3,185 181,774

Percent of Total 

Employees in 

Seafood Processing

Low

0.01 0.19 2.43 0.83 11.13 67.09 1.70 5.87 2.15

High 0.08 1.09 7.05 4.69 12.32 67.09 1.84 5.87 2.45

Total- Manufacturing 2,353 253 357 139 197 3,236 618 248 7,401

Percent of 

Manufacturing 

Employees in 

Seafood Processing

Low

0.89 8.30 33.61 15.11 85.28 97.16 36.08 75.40 52.76

High 0.08 46.64 7.05 4.69 12.32 67.09 1.84 5.87 2.45

Total-Seafood 

Processing

Low

21 21 120 21 168 3,144 223 187 3,905

High 118 118 348 118 186 3,144 241 187 4,460

Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2008) (County Business Patterns). Employment figures from Census do not reflect 

employment during peak fish processing periods in Alaska due to the seasonal nature of the work. Alaska employment 

in the seafood processing industry may be higher than that shown here.

[a] Employment statistics for seafood processing appear as a range in CBP, and a low and high employment estimate 

were calculated from the ranges provided.

Table 14 shows the relative impact that seafood processing has on number of establishments and 

employment in non-remote petitioning locations as well as the additional remote locations of interest. 

Although some census areas encompass more than one community, the information presented in Table 14 

suggests that seafood processing plays a larger role in some local economies (such as WrangellPetersburg) relative to others (such as Anchorage). The very large Trident processing facility in Akutan is 

a standalone and self sufficient community. The table also shows the relative role of the seafood 

processing industry in the remote areas of interest as compared to the non-remote, petitioning areas. 
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

47

For a more detailed understanding of the composition of the seafood processing industry in each 

of the communities, Table 15 divides seafood processing into canning and fresh and frozen production as 

defined by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code. 
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

48

Table 15. Seafood Canning and Fresh/Frozen Processor Establishments and Employees [a]

Census Area

State

of

Alaska

Non-Remote Petitioning Locations Remote Locations of Interest Petitioning 

Locations and 

Additional 

Locations of 

Interest 

Combined 

Total

Anchorage Juneau Ketchikan 

Gateway

ValdezCordovaWrangellPetersburg Total

Dutch 

HarborAleutian 

Bay

Kenai 

Peninsula Sitka Total

CANNING (NAICS 311711)

Establishments 18 1 1 2 1 4 9 NA 1 NA 1 10

Employees [b]

Low 936 1 1 20 1 1 24 NA 1 NA 1 25

High 19 19 99 19 19 175 NA 19 NA 19 194

FRESH/FROZEN (NAICS 311712)

Establishments 98 6 2 2 9 5 24 9 19 8 36 60

Employees [b]* 

Low 7,934 20 20 100 20 167* 327 3,144* 222* 187* 3,553 3,880

High 99 99 249 99 167* 713 3,144* 222* 187* 3,553 4,266

Source: US Census Bureau (2008), U.S. Census Bureau (2007b)

[a] Data for the State of Alaska was taken from the 2007 US Economics Census (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007b) while figures for all other categories 

were taken from County Business Patterns (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008). 

[b]Employment statistics for seafood processing appear as a range in CBP, and a low and high employment estimate were calculated from the 

ranges provided. Employment statistics for seafood processing appear as an aggregate total in the U.S. Economic Census information (U.S. 

Census Bureau, 2007a) used for the state.

NA: NA indicates that the type of processing does not apply to the census area.

* Indicates actual number of employees reported instead of range.
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

49

8.0 REFERENCES

Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development (DCCED), 2010. Revenue 

Sharing Programs website. <http://www.commerce.state.ak.us/dcra/LOGON/srs/srs-fish.htm>.

Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC), 2010. In Person Meeting between ADEC 

Officials and Betsy Bicknell, ERG, and Lindsay Guzzo, EPA. August 9, Juneau AK.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG). 2011. 2010 Preliminary Processor Buyers (Intent to 

Operate) Listing as of January 13, 2011.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG), 2010. Commercial Fishing Website. 

<http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=fishingcommercial.main>. August 2, 2011.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG), 2009. 2008 Statewide Shellfish Summary. Accessed at: 

<http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=fishingCommercial.main>. August 21.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG), 2008. 2008 Alaska Fisheries ExVessel Price. ADFG 

Division of Commercial Fisheries. Juneau, AK

Alaska Department of Revenue, 2010. Fisheries Related Taxes.

<http://www.tax.alaska.gov/programs/programs/help/faq/faq.aspx?60620>. October.

Alaska General Seafoods, 2010a. Website. <http://www.akgen.com/index.asp>. December.

Alaska Glacier Seafoods, 2010a. Website. <http://www.alaskaglacierseafoods.com/>. December.

Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA). 2011. Board Meeting Minutes. 

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Alaska Protein Recovery (APR). 2010. ERG site visit to Alaska Protein Recovery, Ketchikan, AK. 

August 13.

Bechtel. P.J., 2010. Enhancing Utilization of Alaska Fish Processing Byproduct Parts. In: P.J. Bechtel and 

S. Smiley (eds.), A Sustainable Future: Fish Processing Byproducts. Alaska Sea Grant, University of 

Alaska Fairbanks.

Bimbo, A.P. 2010. 2008 Update on Potential Products, Markets, and Competing Products. In: P.J. Bechtel 

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Prepared for the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation.

Browning, J., 2010. From Sustainability to Full Utilization. In: P.J. Bechtel and S. Smiley (eds.), A 

Sustainable Future: Fish Processing Byproducts. Alaska Sea Grant, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 

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CSGnetwork, 2010. Straight Sailing Marine Distance Calculator.

Copper River Seafoods, 2010. ERG site visit to Copper River Seafoods, Cordova, AK. August 19.
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

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Copper River Seafoods, 2010a. Website. < http://copperriverseafoods.com/>. December.

Deep Creek Custom Packing. 2011. Telephone Conversation between Jeff, Deep Creek Custom Packing, 

and Melanie Sands, ERG. April 27.

Double E Seafoods, LLC, 2010a. Website. < http://www.eefoods.com/>. December.

Double E Seafoods, 2010b. Growth through Value and Service Webpage. 

<http://www.eefoods.com/company.html>. December 6.

E.C. Phillips and Son, Inc., 2010a. Website. < http://www.ecphillipsalaska.com/>. December.

Federal Register (FR), 2010. Small Business Size Regulations. Title 13, Part 121.

Federal Register (FR), 1986. Final Rule. Best Conventional Pollutant Control. FR 24974. 51(131), July 9.

Federal Register (FR), 1981. Proposed Response to Petition. 46 FR 2544. 46 (6), January 9.

Federal Register (FR), 1980. Canned and Preserved Processing Point Source Category. 40 CFR 408. 

45(154), August 7.

Federal Register (FR), 1975. Interim Final ELGs, Phase II, 40 FR 4582. Jan. 30.

Federal Register (FR), 1974. Final ELGs, Phase I, 39 FR 23134. June 26

Finstad, G., C. Bucki, G. Aguiar, E. Wiklund, and P.J. Bechtel, 2010. Alaska Fish Byproducts as a Feed 

Ingredient for Reindeer. In: P.J. Bechtel and S. Smiley (eds.), A Sustainable Future: Fish Processing 

Byproducts. Alaska Sea Grant, University of Alaska Fairbanks, pp. 73-86. 

Fishery Industrial Technology Center, (FITC), 2010. Teleconference between Scott Smiley and Peter 

Bechtel, FITC, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Kodiak, AK, U.S EPA, and ERG. August 17.

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 2010. Food Outlook Global Market Analysis: Fish and 

Fishery Products. < http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/ak341e/ak341e11.htm >. December.

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 2008. FAO World Review of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

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Freedictionary.com, 2011. Definition for Surimi. www.thefreedictionary.com/surimi. August 1.

Google.com, 2011. Latitude and Longitude Coordinates for Processor Locations. Website.

Hoovers, 2010. E & E Seafoods (Double E Seafoods). Company Information Search. 

<http://www.hoovers.com/company/Icicle_Seafoods_Inc/rrtfjci-1.html>. December.

Hoovers, 2010a. Icicle Seafoods. Company Information Search. 

<http://www.hoovers.com/company/Icicle_Seafoods_Inc/rrtfjci-1.html>. December.

Hoovers, 2010b. Marubeni Corporation. Company Information Search. 

<http://www.hoovers.com/company/Marubeni_Corporation/crkkif-1-1njea5.html >. December.
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Hoovers, 2010c. Maruha Nichiro Holdings. Company Information Search < 

http://www.hoovers.com/company/Maruha_Nichiro_Holdings_Inc/hthfxi-1.html >. December.

Hoovers, 2010d Nippon Suison Kaisha. Company Information Search < 

http://www.hoovers.com/company/Nippon_Suisan_Kaisha_Ltd/hjfkri-1.html >. December.

Hoovers, 2010e. Ocean Beauty Seafoods. Company Information Search 

<http://www.hoovers.com/search/company-search-results/100003765-

1.html?type=company&term=Ocean%20Beauty%20Seafoods>. December.

Hoovers, 2010f. Trident Seafood Corporation. Company Information Search 

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Hoovers, 2010g. Inlet Fish Producers. Company Information Search. 

<http://www.hoovers.com/company/Inlet_Fish_Producers_Inc/rkjjkkhtc-1.html>. August 2, 2011.

Hoovers, 2011. Alyeska Seafoods. http://www.hoovers.com/company/Alyeska_Seafoods_Inc/ryftcsi1.html

Icicle Seafoods, 2010a. Website. < http://www.icicleseafoods.com/>. December.

Inlet Fish Producers. 2010. Website. < http://www.inletfish.com/>. December.

International Fishmeal and Fish Oil Organisation (IFFO), 2010. What Are Fishmeal and Fish Oil? 

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International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC), 2010. Alaska webpage. 

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International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC), 2008. 2008 Catch Data. 

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Jordan, Edward C. 1979. Reassessment of Effluent Limitation Guidelines and New Source Performance 

Standards for the Canned and Preserved Seafood Processing Point Sorce Category. Prepared for the 

Environmental Protection Agency. Edward C. Jordan Co. Inc, Portland, Maine.

Kim, S., and E. Mendis, 2006. Bioactive compounds from marine processing byproducts – A review. 

Food Research International 39: 383–393.

Knapp, G., 2010. In person meeting between Betsy Bicknell, ERG, and Gunnar Knapp. August 8, 

Anchorage, AK.

Knapp, G., 2008. The Potential for Increasing Production of Fishmeal and Fish Oil from Food Fishery 

Byproducts: The Case of Alaska Pollock. Presentation.

Knapp, G., 2007. Overview of Trends in Alaska Fisheries Prices and Values. Updated.

Kodiak Fishmeal Company, 2010. ERG site visit to Kodiak Fishmeal Company, August 18.

Lane. 2010. Personal Communication between Sandro Lane, Alaska Protein Recovery, and Betsy 

Bicknell, ERG, December 16.
PROFILE OF THE ALASKA SEAFOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

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Manta.com, 2011. Silver Bay Seafoods. < www.manta.com/c/mt8g1pm/silver-bay-seafoods-llc >. August 

2.

Manta.com, 2011a. Copper River Seafoods. http://www.manta.com/c/mmd76f5/copper-river-seafoods

Manta.com, 2011b. Westward, Dutch Harbor. http://www.manta.com/c/mmnjxv3/westward-seafoods-inc

Manta.com, 2010. Polar Equipment. Company Information Search 

<http://www.manta.com/c/mmfzrrr/polar-seafoods>. December.

Marubeni Corporation, 2010. Website. < http://www.marubeni.com/division/food.html>. December.

Maruha Nichiro Holdings, 2010. Website. < http://www.maruha-nichiro.co.jp/english/>. December.

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), 2010. Fisheries of the United States 2009. National Marine 

Fisheries Service Office of Science and Technology. Silver Spring, MD.

Nicklason, P., P. Stitzel, H. Barnett, R. Johnson, and M. Rust, 2010. Montlake Process for Utilization of 

Salmon Processing Waste in Alaska. In: P.J. Bechtel and S. Smiley (eds.), A Sustainable Future: Fish 

Processing Byproducts. Alaska Sea Grant, University of Alaska Fairbanks, pp. 221-234. 

doi:10.4027/sffpb.2010.18

Nippon Suison Kaisha, 2010. Website. < http://www.nissui.co.jp/english/index.html>. December.

North Pacific Seafoods, 2010a. Website. 

<http://northpacificseafoods.com/component/option.com_frontpage/Itemid1/>. December.

Ocean Beauty Seafoods, 2010. ERG site visit to Ocean Beauty Seafoods, Cordova, AK. August 19.

Ocean Beauty Seafoods, 2010a. ERG site visit to Ocean Beauty Seafoods, Kodiak, AK. August 18.

Ocean Beauty Seafoods, 2010b. Website. < http://www.oceanbeauty.com/>. December.

Pacific Star Seafoods, 2010. Webpage. < http://eefoods.com/pdf/pacific.pdf>. December.

Sanmartin et al. 2009. Recent Advances in the Recovery and Improvement of Functional Proteins from 

Fish Processing By-Products: Use of Protein Glycation as an Alternate Method. Institute of 

Technologies, Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety. Vol 8, pp 332-344.

Sathivel, S., 2010. Effects of Extraction and Purification Processes on the Quality of Fish Oil. In: P.J. 

Bechtel and S. Smiley (eds.), A Sustainable Future: Fish Processing Byproducts. Alaska Sea Grant, 

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Scientific Fisheries Systems (SFS), 2010. In Person Meeting between Scientific Fisheries Systems (SFS) 

representatives and Betsy Bicknell, ERG, and Lindsay Guzzo, EPA. Anchorage, AK. August 9.

Silver Bay Seafoods, 2010. Website. < www.silverbayseafoods.com/>. December.

Siu Alaska Corporation, 2011. Siu Alaska Corporation Operations webpage. 

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Smiley, S., N. Demir, A.C.M. Oliveira, and P.J. Bechtel, 2010. Characterization of Dried Heads from 

Five Pacific Salmon Species, Dried at Different Temperatures. In: P.J. Bechtel and S. Smiley (eds.), A 

Sustainable Future: Fish Processing Byproducts. Alaska Sea Grant, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 

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Snug Harbor Seafoods, 2010. Website. < http://snugharborseafoods.com/index.html>. December. 

State of Alaska, 1990. Statute 16.40.210. Prohibits Fin Fish Farming. 

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Stitzel. 2010. Personal Communication between Peter Stitzel, Sitka Meal, Oil, and Technology, and Betsy 

Bicknell, ERG, December 16.

Taku (Southeast Alaska Smoked Salmon Company), 2010. ERG site visit to Taku, Juneau, AK. August 

16.

Taku (Southeast Alaska Smoked Salmon Company), 2010a. Website. <http://takustore.com/>. December.

The Fish Factory, 2010. Website. <http://www.thefishfactory.net/>. December.

Trident Seafood Corporation. 2010. ERG site visit to Trident-North, Cordova, AK. August 19.

Trident Seafood Corporation. 2010a. ERG site visit to Trident-South, Cordova, AK. August 19.

Trident Seafood Corporation, 2010b. ERG site visit to Trident Seafood Corporation, Petersburg, AK. 

August 15.

Trident Seafood Corporation, 2010c. Website. <http://www.tridentseafoods.com/company/history.php>. 

December

Trident Seafood Corporation, letter to Bristol Bay Borough, January 24, 2012.

Troger, C., and K. Niranjan, 2010. Sustainable Chitin Extraction and Chitosan Modification for 

Application in the Food Industry. Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of 

Reading, Whiteknights, Reading,RG6 6AH, United Kingdom. Accessed via 

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U.S. Census Bureau, 2010. North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Definitions Fresh 

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U.S. Census Bureau, 2010a. North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Definitions 

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U.S. Census Bureau, 2008. 2008 County Business Patterns for NAICS 311711 and 311712. Accessed via 

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U.S. Census Bureau, 2007a. 2007 Economic Census 2007 for 311711 and 311712 for United States. 

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U.S. Census Bureau, 2007b. 2007 Economic Census 2007 for 311711 and 311712 for the State of Alaska. 

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U.S. Census Bureau, 2000. Census Data 2000 for the State of Alaska. 

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U.S. Census Bureau, 2000a. 1997 Economic Census. Geographic Area Series. Manufacturing –Codes 

311711 and 311712 for the State of Alaska. Geographic Area Series. May.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 2011. Report to the Record: Results of Analysis for Alaska 

Seafood Processors (Facilities and Firms). (CBI)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 2013a. Report to the Record: Costs and Economic

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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 2010. NPDES Annual Reports. Received from EPA 

Region 10 via email, and from ADEC web site

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 2001. Fact Sheet: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

(EPA) Plans to Reissue a Wastewater Discharge Permit to Alyeska Seafoods, Inc. NPDES Permit 

Number AK-000027-2. September 14.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 2001a. Fact Sheet: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

(EPA) Plans to Reissue a Wastewater Discharge Permit to Trident Seafoods, Inc. NPDES Permit 

Number AK-003730-3. September 14.

Westward Seafoods, 2010a. Website. < http://www.westwardseafoods.com/company.php >. December.

Zhang, M., S. Sparrow, A. Pantoja, and P.J. Bechtel, 2010. Crop Nutrient Recovery from Applied Fish 

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