Tag Archives: Pacific Seafood Group
Crab fishing is delayed over price negotiations; no one wants under $3 a pound, will not go
Disputes between Bay Area fishermen and seafood company Pacific Seafood Group over crab prices are causing more delays to the start of the commercial crab fishing season. California allowed commercial crab season to begin Dec. 23 after a month delay over environmental concerns to whales and other marine animals. However, the fleets in Half Moon Bay and the entire Bay Area remain at an impasse,,, Fishermen want at least $3 a pound for crab, while Pacific Seafood Group is only offering $2.25 a pound. Until an agreement is reached, commercial fishermen from the Bay Area will not go out to fish. >click to read< 08:59
Fed up shrimpers may look to state for oversight
Missed payments, cash draws against the future and unpaid bills. Shrimp fishermen and plant workers from Newport to Eureka are feeling the financial pinch as a deadlock with processors continues. “They’ve got to get the plants open,” said Newport shrimper Ted Gibson, a key fisherman’s representative in price talks. “This is really hurting communities financially. I don’t think people have any idea how much money is not coming into Oregon because of this.” Unable to agree on a price for Pacific pink shrimp, some 60 boats are holding fast to the dock,,,>click to read<22:46
Shrimp Strike – Fishermen chafe while boats break strike
It’s been weeks of blue tarps and yawns on the Newport shrimp boats. But now, frustration is on deck too. The Pacific pink shrimp season has been open for a month, but processors and fishermen are still far apart on price. The captains and crews of some 115 boats along the coast are holding out while a deal is cut. Their patience is being tried as a fleet of some 20 boats from Washington and Columbia River ports make hay in the traditional fishing grounds of the Newport fleet. Newport fisherman Gary Ripka said that north coast boats breaking the strike have traditionally observed an unspoken agreement to stay well north of Newport. “They’re rubbing it in our faces,” he said. >click to read<13:47
Crabbers to sail into storm
Fishermen face high seas and uncertain prices as they set out Friday, Jan. 4, for the opening day of Dungeness crab season. “The weather’s been terrible but we hope to be processing by Friday night,” reported John Moody, manager of Pacific Seafood Group’s plant in Newport. A score of vessels left port under sunny skies Tuesday to drop pots for the “pre-soak,” enabling fishermen to land crab at the opening bell. But 50-55 mph gusts and 20-foot swells that were predicted to arrive Thursday night could mean further holdups for some boats. >click to read<10:15
Federal Judge Evokes Dr. Seuss in Upholding Seafood Regulations
Invoking Dr. Seuss, a federal judge on Monday quoted from the 1960 classic “One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish” to uphold a regulatory regime intended to cut down on seafood fraud and protect U.S. fishers from unfair competition. Despite a challenge to the rule by a slew of U.S. seafood importers, harvesters and processors, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta found that the traceability rule, which requires importers to document the supply chain of imports from their origin to their arrival in the U.S., was lawfully implemented by the National Marine Fisheries Service. click here to read the story 18:32
Seafood giant back in Warrenton
Mike Brown, like many in the seafood processing industry, is used to old buildings — massive complexes from another generation that have seen countless fish and hundreds of filleters come and go over the decades. But as general manager of Pacific Seafood Group’s rebuilt Warrenton facility, Brown is about to be in charge of a brand-new building. The West Coast seafood processing giant is in the middle of rebuilding after a fire destroyed the original plant in 2013. Construction began last year, click here to read the story 20:37
Former Pacific Seafood executive sentenced for embezzlement
A former executive who embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from Pacific Seafood Group was sentenced Monday in federal court to two years in federal prison. Andrew Henry Jacobs, 50, spent 11 years at the family-owned company Pacific Seafood Group, rising to serve as vice president of employee leadership and development for the company’s 2,500-member staff. While receiving a six-figure salary, he spent at least his last four years embezzling money from the company, stealing an estimated $900,000, according to prosecutors. He was sentenced after pleading guilty to wire fraud and filing a false income tax return. Using a company credit card and the authority to issue corporate checks, he secretly diverted company funds to purchase electronics, jewelry, firearms, vacations and prostitution services, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Bounds. He concealed his theft by doctoring receipts and invoices used to track expenses, according to the prosecutor. click here to read the story 11:08
Pacific Seafood, DOJ in fiery clash over Newport expansion
Pacific Seafood Group, the industry’s billion-dollar behemoth, has thoroughly shaken up this bustling commercial fishing town with an expansion blitz that will increase its already dominant market position. But before going ahead with a deal to buy the hulking Trident Seafood processing plant in the heart of Newport’s Bayfront, the biggest player in the West Coast seafood business made what one lawmaker called an “unprecedented request.”,,, Pacific may have overplayed its hand. In a blistering response to the company late Thursday afternoon, the Department of Justice threatened to take enforcement action against the company unless it agrees to put the Trident plant on the market for a year and, short of a sale, operate it for at least three years. Click here to read the article 09:30
An Update on the Caledonian Family Relief Fund.
On December 17th we posted There appears to be a problem with the Caledonian Tragedy Family Relief Fund. We said inquiry’s would be made, and we did inquire! We received a response from you caring on Dec 18, saying they would investigate the status of the fund. Calls were made to the company for comment, but we got dumped at the voicemail of the company attorney, with no response. Today, an article (damage control) was posted at undercurrent via seafoodnews.com that the funds will be released. When we post a fundraiser for people in need, we expect those funds to be distributed, otherwise we certainly wouldn’t post them. I believe this would still be in limbo if we didn’t dog them. Merry Christmas to the surviving loved ones of this tragedy.
Pacific Seafood Group, the parent company of Vancouver Island, Canada-based S&S Seafood and Ucluelet Harbor Seafood, announced on Dec. 23 that a fundraiser for the families of the crew lost on Caledonian has raised over CAD 100,000. The 33-meter trawler sank on Sept. 5, 2015 resulting in the deaths of skipper Wesley Hagglund, engineer Keith Standing, and deckhand Doug White. Standing and White were both from Port Alberni. Hagglund was from Duncan. A fourth crew member survived. Read the article here 16:40
Seafood Giant’s Tactics Fishy, Rival Claims
NEWPORT, Ore. (CN) – Seafood giant Pacific Seafood is trying to ruin a small company that buys its crabs from independent fishermen in an attempt to maintain its stranglehold on West Coast fisheries, the small fry claims in court.The small company says Pacific Seafood is not the greatest neighbor. Seawater leases a spot on the Yaquina Bay dock right next to Pacific Seafood, and it says Pacific is trying to force it out of business. Seawater demands $930,000 and an injunction ordering Pacific Seafood to abandon “illegal tactics designed only to destroy plaintiff ,,, Read the rest here 15:05
Pacific Seafood Group calls off acquisition of Ocean Gold Seafoods – Fishermen press forward with the lawsuit
Pacific Seafood Group announced Tuesday it has canceled plans to acquire Ocean Gold Seafoods, citing a legal challenge from commercial fishermen who allege the purchase would expand Pacific Seafood’s monopoly power over the groundfish, whiting and coldwater shrimp markets. A federal judge granted the fishermen a temporary restraining order to block the acquisition of the Westport, Wash., fish processing plant and scheduled a hearing for early February. Read the rest here 19:50
