Credit Courtesy of American Seafoods
Eighty-six crew members of an American Seafoods trawler have tested positive for COVID-19, according to a press release from the seafood company Sunday night. Nine tests are still outstanding.
The American Dynasty — a 272-foot trawler whose home port is Seattle, WA — had previously reported one crew member tested positive and was admitted to the hospital on Friday, May 29, for treatment. As a result, the company decided to test the entire crew, and on May 30 an additional 85 crew members were confirmed positive.
The factory trawler was most recently in Bellingham, WA, and has returned to the Port of Seattle where it is currently under lockdown. All crew members are being quarantined and monitored by medical personnel, the press release said.
“The crew has access to any required medical care, and we are thrilled with the support that the agencies we are working with have provided,” said American Seafoods CEO Mikel Durham. “We have also put in place preparedness procedures in the event of a virus outbreak. Those plans are being fully executed right now.”
American Seafoods is based in Seattle and Dutch Harbor and maintains a fleet of six vessels that fish for pollock, hake, and sole out of both the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. The American Dynasty can carry a crew of 142, according to the operator’s website. It was last in Dutch Harbor for one day on March 31, and is set to return for pollock season, according to American Seafoods spokesperson Suzanne Lagoni
Fishing trawlers typically catch large quantities of midwater species, such as pollock or cod, and flatfish, such as sole and mackerel, by towing a large, cone-shaped net. The largest vessels in the ocean pollock fishery are factory trawlers – like the American Dynasty — that possess onboard processing facilities that process, package, and quickly freeze every product while at sea. Bering Sea pollock is one of the largest fisheries in the world, and has been for more than 20 years.
According to Durham, all crew members were screened and tested for COVID-19 antibodies and viral infection before they boarded the vessel. Only those who tested negative for the virus were cleared to board.
The company is cooperating with the U.S. Coast Guard, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Seattle/King County Health Department, Whatcom County Health Department, and the Port of Seattle, according to Durham.
This story has been updated.
