Tag Archives: Petersburg
Retired Commercial Fisherman Darryl Olson of Petersburg, Alaska, has passed away
Darryl Olson was born on January 18, 1942, in Petersburg, Alaska, to Dagney Marie (Loseth) Olson and Paul “Bud” Ivar Olson. Darryl grew up fishing with his father, Paul. He attended Petersburg High School and after graduation he married his dream girl, Mary Ann Hasbrouck, on March 10, 1962. They were happily married for fifty-nine years, when she preceded him in death in 2021. He worked for J&H Logging as a choker setter until he started his career as a commercial fisherman. After leasing two boats, Darryl bought the F/V Miss Helen. In 1972, Darryl and Mary Ann began building their Petersburg home. That same year, Darryl purchased his dreamboat, the F/V Mary Ann, with the help of Robert Thorstenson and Tommy Thompson, of Petersburg Fisheries, Inc. more, >>click to read<< 10:45
Fishermen and community leaders react to Trident announcement to sell a third of its Alaska plants
Gerry Cobban Knagin is a commercial fisherman. She and her family have fished around Kodiak and sold their harvest to Trident Seafoods, one of the largest seafood processors in the country, on and off for decades. But on Dec. 12, the company announced it’s selling off about a third of its Alaska processing plants, including their year-round facility in Kodiak. She said the announcement was a huge shock for almost everyone on the island. “Speaking with [Trident] management, there wasn’t any heads up for anyone,” Knagin said. “And they decided, according to management, that they wanted full transparency so that the fleet would know.” Photos, more, >>click to read<< 20:44
Ocean Beauty accepts offer on seafood plant for sale in Petersburg
Ocean Beauty Seafoods says it has accepted an offer on the shuttered seafood processing plant on the Petersburg waterfront, but is not identifying the buyer. The former cannery and seafood plant has been on the market for over a year. Recently, the price was reduced on both that facility and a nearby bunkhouse for the plant workers. >click to read< 15:42
Optimism scarce as commercial fisheries start up in Southeast
Activity is picking up in the harbors in Petersburg this week as fishing boats and tenders prepare for the start of several commercial fishing seasons, but optimism is a little scarce on the docks. Fishermen this summer are feeling the impacts of reduced catches, low forecasts and increasing competition from marine mammals. In South Harbor, Charlie Christensen is readying the Erika Ann for some tendering work in the early summer. Then he’ll switch over to seining once pink salmon start coming in. He has a long list of bad news for his fishing season, stretching back to management decisions by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for golden or brown king crab. He also points to whale predation on black cod,,, >click to read< 17:22
Commercial fleet highlights economic impact of Sitka Sound herring catch
Despite three days of impassioned testimony before the Board of Fisheries in January, not much has changed for the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery, which will ramp up in about a month. Local subsistence harvesters won an increase in the size of their exclusive use area, but failed to persuade the board to reduce the commercial catch. Fishermen and processors from Petersburg joined with other commercial interests to remind the board of the economic importance of the annual springtime export. >click to read< 14:53
Ocean Beauty won’t can salmon in Petersburg in 2017
Petersburg will only have one salmon cannery operating this summer. Ocean Beauty Seafoods will not be canning fish at the company’s plant in Petersburg in 2017. Tom Sunderland, vice president of marketing, says current market conditions favor selling frozen salmon over canned. “We’re gonna make a lot more money selling frozen salmon than canned salmon this year and the Petersburg plant is essentially a cannery,” Sunderland explained. “It doesn’t have a very large or efficient freezing operation, certainly not enough that you could run it just as a freezing operation. Our plant at Excursion Inlet on the other hand does have substantial freezing capacity and we can move that production over there and take care of that. And by doing so, the hope is we can return the highest value to the fleet by putting the product into its most lucrative product form.” Read the rest here 12:40
Tonka brings shrimp back to Petersburg Local company purchased 250,000 pounds over the winter
Tonka Seafoods, Inc., announced last year that it was working to bring shrimp fisheries and processing back to Petersburg after a nearly decade-long absence. Well, it’s delivered. The fishery is closed for March and April, but Chief Financial Officer Seth Scrimsher said they purchased 250,000 pounds of pink shrimp from fisherman at a price of 40 cents per pound over the winter. “There is a lot of interest in this cold water pink shrimp right now, especially worldwide,” he noted. Read the rest here 10:43
Bringing the pink shrimp back to Petersburg
Petersburg once was host to sound enterprise of commercial shrimp fisheries and processing plants, drawing in hundreds of thousands – even millions of pounds of shrimp, ranging from the tiny pink crustaceans commonly found gracing salads to their larger brethren that are fried, grilled, battered and steamed in cuisine across the world. Read the rest here 06:55
