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Site Visit Report 

Alaska Seafood Processing Industry Petition Response 

Lindsay Guzzo 

Environmental Engineer 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

Region 10 Permits Division 

guzzo.lindsay@epa.gov

206-553-0268 

 Betsy Bicknell 

 Senior Environmental Engineer 

 Eastern Research Group, Inc. (ERG) 

 betsy.bicknell@erg.com

 703-633-1612 

Plant Name Trident Seafoods Corporation 

Plant Address Petersburg, Alaska 

NPDES Permit # AK-G52-0475 

Date of Visit Sunday, August 15, 2010 

People Contacted Dave Ohmer 

Plant Manager 

dohmer@tridentseafoods.com

907-772-3333 

Nick Ohmer 

Fleet Manager 

nohmer@tridentseafoods.com

907-772-3333

Company Website www.tridentseafoods.com 

Seafood processed Salmon, halibut, black cod, other groundfish 

Products Frozen whole fish (headed and gutted) 

Fresh whole fish (h&g) 

Frozen roe skeins (sujiko) 

Range of annual production volume 4 to 11 million pounds per year 

13 million pounds in the largest year 

Months of operation March - November 

Discharge type Grind and discharge 

Dave Ohmer provided some history of the plant. Mr. Ohmer’s grandfather started the business as 

Alaska Glacier Seafoods in 1916. The business was subsequently bought by Norquest and then by 

Trident, the current owner. The Trident/Norquest plant processes fish from March to November, 

with no work in December, January, or February. March starts with longline season. Waste is 

processed through a grinder system located under the plant and discharged into the Wrangell 

Narrows, which has a strong 3 – 5 knot tidal flow. 

Lindsay Guzzo provided a history of the Alaska seafood processing industry petition and EPA’s 

current project. Mr. Ohmer noted that Sitka and Dutch Harbor, both with large production 

volumes, are not included in the list of non-remote processing centers. Mr. Ohmer also noted that 

the Cordova, Ketchikan, and Dutch Harbor processing plants discharge into relatively still waters, 

resulting in accumulation of discharged solids in their zone of deposit (ZOD). In contrast, Trident 

Petersburg discharges into the Wrangell Narrows, which has a strong current. Ms. Guzzo 

explained EPA’s schedule for the petition response and encouraged Mr. Ohmer to comment on 

EPA’s NODA when it is published in early 2011. 

Mr. Ohmer noted that the neighboring Icicle Petersburg Fisheries processing plant operates a 

waste reduction plant that sometimes gives off a strong odor. The Trident/Norquest plant once 

provided waste to Icicle, including shrimp and crab shells. At first, they were paid for the waste. 

Then they paid Icicle to take the waste. Then, Icicle said we don’t want the Trident/Norquest 

waste. In the 1990s, the Norquest production was predominantly shrimp and crab. They took 
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shrimp and crab waste into Petersburg sound each night. In 2005 Trident/Norquest got out of the 

shrimp business. Now, they grind all waste to <0.5” in every dimension and discharge it through 

their outfall. 

Mr. Ohmer explained that in 2010 the Petersburg seafood processing industry employed 500 

fewer workers than it had in previous years. This is a result of Ocean Beauty not opening its 

Petersburg plant and other processors employing fewer workers. Trident has moved a 

considerable amount of production from the Petersburg plant to a new plant in Wrangell. 

The town is very concerned about the loss of employment. Even though the processing plant 

workers are seasonal and often from outside the area, they bring economic activity to the town. 

Mr. Ohmer said he thought an appropriate community solution [to the loss of seafood processing 

jobs] was needed. He explained that the Icicle and Norquest Petersburg plants had developed a 

local relationship. Icicle and Trident have a different relationship on a corporate level. 

Mr. Ohmer noted that if byproduct recovery presents an opportunity to make money, Trident will 

look at it. 

Mr. Ohmer estimated that the largest volume of fish the Trident/Norquest plant had produced was 

11 million pounds/year. He estimated they would do 4-5 million pounds in 2010. He noted that 

Trident made corporate decisions on where to put its fish. Some of the catch that in previous 

years would have come to Petersburg has gone to Wrangell instead. 

Mr. Ohmer explained that Norquest had grown its gill net fleet from 8 to 82 boats, the largest 

fleet in the southeast. Now only 50% of the catch from these boats goes to Petersburg while the 

rest goes to Wrangell and Juneau. The loss of the landings in Petersburg means a loss to the 

community of the landed fish tax1

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The Petersburg Community Economic Development group wanted Mr. Ohmer to endorse a 

policy: buy local, sell local. Mr. Ohmer said he couldn’t get behind that. From a business 

perspective, he had to buy inputs at the lowest cost, even if they were not local. 

Mr. Ohmer noted changes to the southeast Alaska fisheries in 30 years. He noted the new plants 

in Sitka and Craig. Petersburg has more competition. When asked what advantages Petersburg 

has over other processing centers, he noted the relationships with fishermen. Processors commit 

to “take care of” fisherman. For example, providing quality ice, tender service, and loans as 

needed. He noted that in Cordova, fishermen sell on the fishing grounds to tenders that transport 

the catch to processors. They use a different organization than at Petersburg. As far as the 

Trident/Norquest plant in Petersburg, Mr. Ohmer noted that it can more easily run mixed catch 

than Wrangell, which is designed for salmon. 

Mr. Ohmer noted that the Petersburg conditions had posed a challenge to an EPA inspector (on a 

previous visit). The inspector saw foam near the dock that was from the pump-out from tender. 

The tender had to pump out to ensure vessel stability. 

 

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 At the end of the meeting, Mr. Ohmer explained that the landed fish tax is assessed on the gross value of 

fish purchased by the seafood processor. The tax is 3% of the price paid by the processor. The state takes 

half of the tax and returns 50% to the community. Petersburg puts the revenue from the landed fish tax in 

the general fund; in Wrangell the revenue is used to develop the harbor. In Petersburg, the fish revenues are 

comparable in scale to sales tax (Petersburg sales tax is 6%). 
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The Trident/Norquest plant processes about 800,000 pound/year of halibut. Waste from halibut 

processing includes heads which sometimes contain stainless steel fish hooks. Mr. Ohmer noted 

that their waste passes through three grinders (Autio, Muffin Monster®, and a Vaughan chopper 

pump). He noted that the Autio grinder is sensitive to metal pieces in the waste, while the Muffin 

Monster® could grind with some metal. Mr. Ohmer asked what environmental concerns result 

from local dumping. He noted that in the old days they dumped waste off the dock and it attracted 

a lot of herring. The community fished for herring near the dock. Now, they discharge ground 

waste through the outfall (about 60 feet from shore). It sustains a large sea urchin population in 

the Wrangell Narrows. He explained that this population demonstrates “high fecundity.” 

Even with the three stages of grinding (Autio, Muffin Monster®, Vaughan), Mr. Ohmer noted that 

the ground waste is not consistently less than 0.5” in any dimension and he does not think that 

such a grind is technically achievable. 

When asked, Mr. Ohmer stated that taking the waste solids offshore would be possible. They did 

so in the past, using a 38 foot boat. Solids were collected in totes and the totes were dumped 

overboard, 4 -5 miles from shore. He noted this was dangerous in rough water. He also noted that 

when they processed shrimp, they separate solids with a fine screen and the screened water had a 

pink color. 

Plant Tour 

Nick Ohmer escorted Ms. Guzzo and Ms. Bicknell on a tour of the plant, starting at the fish offloading area. Trident/Norquest is equipped with a fish pump. Figure 1 shows the flexible hose 

used to pump fish out of tender holds. The pumped fish/water mixture goes to a dewatering box. 

Nick Ohmer explained that the fish pump operator manages the amount of water in the holds. 

When there is too much water, some will end up in the outfall. When there is too little, the 

operator must return some to the hold to facilitate fish pumping. Effluent from the dewatering box 

goes to the outfall, but bypasses the grinder system. Figure 2 shows the sump under the dock that 

is equipped with grinders. 

Fish that are not fed directly into production are stored in iced totes. Figure 3 shows a collection 

of totes on the dock. 

Figure 4 shows the sump and grinders located under the dock. The holding sump is on the right. 

The green vertical shaft is the Muffin Monster® chopper pump. Discharge from the plant is the 

large, white pipe to the left. Trident/Norquest recently expanded the sump and added a new 

Muffin Monster®. Previously, the sump was undersized and sometimes overflowed. 

Fish processing starts with a guillotine header. As a safety precaution, the guillotine operator has 

handcuffs so he can’t reach under the blade. On the pocket line, operators slit the belly, remove 

guts, and remove the collar. Operators sort the guts and the roe. Guts flow to an Autio grinder 

(shown in Figure 5). The headed and gutted fish is further cleaned by vacuuming out the gut 

cavity, scraping, and washing in a high flow washer (city water) to rinse off any particulates 

adhering to the fish. 

Fish are sorted by species, size, and grade and placed on trays for freezing. If necessary for 

product flow, the cleaned fish are stored in iced totes. It takes six hours to freeze salmon, longer 

for halibut because it is a larger fish. The frozen fish are taken from the freezer to the breakout 

table, where they are removed from the freezer tray. 
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Frozen fish are double glazed (glazing adds a thin coating to the frozen fish to reduce 

dehydration, i.e., freezer burn). Figure 6 shows half of the double glaze tank. The frozen glazed 

fish are packed in 1,100- to 1,300-pound boxes, stored in freezer trailers, and shipped by barge to 

Seattle or other ports. 

Roe skeins (sujiko) are packed in large boxes and frozen in a plate freezer. Figure 7 shows the 

box for bulk roe. Frozen products are loaded into freezer vans and shipped by barge. Fresh fish is 

shipped on the ferry system. 

Closing discussion. After the tour, discussion with Mr. Dave Ohmer resumed. He noted that his 

plant’s largest production day in 2010 was 125,000 to 150,000 pounds, considerable reduced 

from previous years. They have been downsized because Trident has moved operations to 

Wrangell. 

When asked to speculate about the future of seafood processing in Petersburg, Mr. Ohmer noted 

that Ocean Beauty, which is not operating in 2010, might resume operations next year if 2011 is a 

big salmon year, as predicted. In his opinion, Ocean Beauty is the weakest of the three processors 

in Petersburg. The Community Development Quota Program2

 bought into Ocean Beauty. When 

asked what Petersburg has going for it, Mr. Ohmer said it is access to fishermen. He noted that 

Petersburg fishermen have the largest share of halibut quota in southeast Alaska. In his 

assessment, Petersburg fishermen can supply more fish than one plant can process. 

Ms. Bicknell asked how Ohmer’s plant would respond more stringent discharge 

requirements. Ohmer stated that they did not have space for an oil plant. 

Figure 1 Trident Petersburg fish unloading hose 

 

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 The CDQ Program is a federal program to develop Alaska fisheries. 
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Figure 2 Trident Petersburg under dock 

Figure 3 Trident Petersburg totes 
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Figure 4 Trident Petersburg Muffin Monster® & sump 

Figure 5 Trident Petersburg Autio grinder 
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Figure 6 Trident Petersburg glazing tank 

Figure 7 Trident Petersburg freezing pack