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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 Island Seafoods (owned by Pacific Seafood Group) 

Plant Address 317 Shelikof, Kodiak, Alaska 

 (NPDES Permit # 

Date of Visit Tuesday, August 17, 2010 

People Contacted John Whiddon, General Manager jwhiddon@pacseafood.com

206-783-3818

Website http://www.islandseafoods.com/ 

Seafood processed Cod, pollock, halibut, salmon, and rockfish 

Products Fresh and frozen whole fish (H&G) 

Fresh and frozen fillets 

Range of annual production volume [Confidential Business Information Removed from this 

report] pounds/year 

Months of operation Year round 

Discharge type Grind and discharge 

Information presented in this report was obtained from discussions with Mr. John 

Whiddon, General Manager. The Island Seafoods website was also consulted for 

background information and photograph. 

Background 

According to their website, Island Seafoods “started in 1995 as a small custom processing 

business serving Kodiak’s charter fishing fleet, and has grown today to supply seafood to 

customers and companies all over the world! 

In 2003, Island Seafoods was acquired by the Pacific Seafood Group, a family owned, vertically 

operated seafood company that is headquartered in Portland, Oregon. As a result of our 

relationship with Pacific Seafoods, we have grown every year and now process both sport fish 

from the charter fleet as well as millions of pounds of cod, halibut, rockfish, and salmon for the 

commercial market.” 

Operations 

Island Seafood is located on the Kodiak waterfront. In addition to their processing operations, 

they have a retail store (see Figure 1) and also sell seafood via the Internet. Island Seafood also 

provides services to sport fishermen. They fillet, vacuum-pack, freeze and ship. 

The plant operates year round, starting in January. They operate though the end of November or 

December when the quotas have been exhausted. The plant is then closed until the next year. 

Major products include fresh and frozen headed and gutted cod, pollock, halibut, salmon, and 

rockfish. 
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Island Seafood has a particular focus on fresh fish. Fresh fish is transported by air. 

Process 

Raw fish unloaded on the dock is stored on ice in totes. No refrigerated seawater is used. Fish are 

fed through hopper into the plant, then headed and gutted. A conveyor removes waste from the 

processing tables. 

Coho and sockeye salmon fillets are produced with a mechanical filleter (splitter), then pin bones 

are removed, the fillets are inspected, vacuum packed, and frozen. Chum and pink salmon are 

headed and gutted. The roe sacs are removed and frozen. There is no market for fresh roe in the 

U.S. 

Rockfish processing is depicted in Figure 2. 

Waste Management 

Solid waste from Island Seafoods is hauled to Kodiak Fish Meal Company, about 1 1/2 miles 

from the plant. Island Seafood pays a dumping fee and receives no share of Kodiak Fish Meal 

Company profit (they are not an owner). The meal plant dumping fee is determined by tonnage 

and species. 

Island Seafoods separates heads and other large waste pieces at the processing tables and places 

them in totes. The totes are moved by forklift and stored temporarily at a loading dock until they 

are picked up by the waste hauler. They fill about 50 totes per day. When the eagles congregate 

along the waterfront from mid January through March, extra measures are taken to avoid 

potential conflicts when handling waste. Totes remain covered until they are dumped and the 

waste truck is monitored closely to ensure eagles do not enter the truck. 

Island Seafood contracts with a trucking service to pick up the waste and take it to the fish meal 

plant. They have had no problems getting regular pick up and the trucking company is responsive 

when extra pick ups are needed. 

Wastewater 

Equipment wash down water, blood, and smaller pieces of waste fish are sluiced into floor drains, 

collected in a sump, and then pumped through a rotary screen. The screen is located on the same 

floor level as the rest of the plant. At the time of the site visit, the plant used an externally-fed 

screen 4 feet long with a 5 mm mesh screen. Mr. Whiddon explained that he planned to make 

improvements to the overall system for 2011. He plans to replace the existing screen with a 

bigger capacity internal-feed screen with a 3 mm mesh screen. Because of the hydraulics, design 

of the system upgrade required a civil engineer. They also require some building permit waivers 

Wastewater from the screen is discharged through the plant’s outfall in the harbor. They take one 

sample each week and it is analyzed at a Kodiak lab. They estimate wastewater flow using the 

meter on purchased city water (water flow is monitored daily). Discharges are about 23,000 

gallons per day, and 1 million pounds per month of TSS. 
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Figure 1. Island Seafoods (Source: http://www.islandseafoods.com/) 

Figure 2. Processing Rock Fish (Source: http://www.islandseafoods.com/)