Kodiak’s largest seafood processing plant has a new owner. Trident Seafoods announced on Oct. 14 that it reached a deal with Pacific Seafood for the downtown facility.
The Star of Kodiak plant in its namesake town is the last plant to sell after Trident, which is based in Seattle, announced a major restructuring plan back in December 2023, which included selling four plants in Alaska – a third of the company’s facilities in the state.
Trident noted the tough state of the seafood industry for its decision – a market collapse detailed by a recent “economic snapshot” from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which found that Alaska’s seafood industry was worth $1.8 billion less in 2023 than it was in 2022.
The other Trident plants sold earlier this year. The Ketchikan and False Pass facilities went to Silver Bay Seafoods, which has its corporate office in Seattle. Trident’s Petersburg plant sold to E.C. Phillips & Son, which operates out of Ketchikan and Craig. Trident also solicited buyers for assets in South Naknek and in Chignik, but the status of those sales are unknown.
According to the Monday release, Pacific Seafood plans to retain all of the employees at the Kodiak plant, but the transaction hasn’t been finalized, and there are few public details about the deal.
“Both Trident and Pacific Seafoods are privately held – that means it’s hard to get information about them, they don’t release profit and loss statements,” said Jacob Resneck, the Alaska and West Coast fisheries reporter for Undercurrent News, a commercial fishing and seafood trade magazine.
Pacific Seafood, which is based in Clackamas, Ore., already has a smaller plant in Kodiak though. That company’s president and chief executive officer, Frank Dulcich, said in a statement that the acquisition is an opportunity to expand its Kodiak operations.
The Star of Kodiak processing plant runs year-round, and processes several species like pollock, salmon, halibut, rockfish, crab, herring, and Pacific cod.
“Our top priority is to reassure employees and the fleet that this is a handoff, not a shutdown,” said Trident CEO Joe Bundrant in the joint statement.
He added the company is committed to “a smooth transition” and will work with the plant’s new owners to operate for the Gulf of Alaska pollock A season, which starts in January.
Trident had previously committed to buying during pollock B season, but the season closed after just about a quarter of the quota was caught, due to Chinook salmon bycatch, or incidental harvest of non-target species.
Bundrant, who was born in Kodiak, added in Monday’s announcement that the plant’s new chapter was also personal.
“This is a bittersweet moment for me, but I’m confident that Pacific Seafood is the right partner to serve this community with passion and integrity,” he said.
When reached by email, both Pacific and Trident officials declined to comment further. The deal is expected to be completed in November.
