Tag Archives: Gary Hennigh
Alaska fishermen and processing plants are in limbo as a state-backed seafood company teeters
The fishing fleet in the Southwest Alaska town of King Cove would have been harvesting Pacific cod this winter. But they couldn’t: Skippers had nowhere to sell their catch. The enormous plant that usually buys and processes their fish never opened for the winter season. The company that runs the plant, Peter Pan Seafoods, is facing six-figure legal claims from fishermen who say they haven’t been paid for catches they delivered months ago. King Cove’s city administrator says the company is behind on its utility payments. And now, residents fear the plant may stay closed through the summer salmon season, which would leave the village with just half of the revenue that normally funds its yearly budget. “We should be fishing right now,” said Ken Mack, a longtime King Cove fisherman. more, >>click to read<< 09:36
Peter Pan’s King Cove plant will stay closed this winter as fishing industry turmoil spreads
In a major hit to Southwest Alaska’s fishing industry, Peter Pan Seafood Co. will keep its huge plant in the village of King Cove shuttered this winter, meaning that the company won’t be processing millions of dollars’ worth of cod, whitefish and crab. “It’s one of the most difficult days of my life,” Rodger May, one of the company’s owners and a longtime player in the seafood industry, said in a brief interview Thursday. “It’s just a devastating time for the industry.” The closure is the latest sign of the widening turmoil in Alaska seafood markets, which are contending with depressed global demand across many different species and intense competition from producers in Russia. more, >>click to read<< 13:39
