Tag Archives: Trident CEO Joe Bundrant
Trident to sell Kodiak plant to Pacific Seafood
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. Links, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:39
Citing market volatility and Russia’s war in Ukraine, Trident plans to halt salmon buying early
Trident Seafoods, the country’s largest vertically integrated seafood company, announced a number of measures over the weekend that bode poorly for the Alaska salmon market, including an early end to its salmon buying season across much of the state. In a letter over the weekend to fishermen who sell their catch to Trident, the company outlined the issues prompting low prices and a halt to most salmon purchases at month’s end. “The current state of the salmon markets is volatile, and future indicators are even more concerning,” reads the letter, signed by Trident CEO Joe Bundrant and senior vice president for Alaska operations Jeff Welbourn. “We know this is not an easy time and we understand and empathize with our fishing community. Given how quickly things are changing we are committed to being as transparent as possible so you can make timely and informed decisions.” >click to read< 09:54
Trident Seafoods to close Alaska plant for three weeks after COVID-19 outbreak
Seattle based Trident Seafoods is shutting down its largest Alaska seafood plant for three weeks after a COVID-19 outbreak, a difficult decision that points to a renewed assault by the coronavirus on the ranks of workers in a key part of the nation’s food-processing industry. Trident is suspending operation at its Akutan facility just at the start of major winter harvests for pollock, North America’s biggest single-species seafood harvest, as well as cod and crab. At Akutan, some 700 employees have stopped working amid a new round of testing, and a fleet of boats that would normally be delivering their catch is now tied to docks. >click to read< 16:39
As Alaska fishing season set to begin, fearful communities and seafood industry try to prevent spread of coronavirus
Trident and other seafood-company officials hope to ensure that factory trawlers making their way through remote swaths of the Bering Sea do not replay any of the harrowing scenarios that unfolded on cruise ships this year, when waves of the virus sickened passengers. “The chance of having one hiccup — it’s going to ruin the season for everyone,” Hall said. “The boat has to be virus free.” Processors face another daunting challenge in launching salmon operations in remote Alaska communities, many of which suffered losses in the flu pandemic of more than a century ago and are fearful of thousands of seasonal workers spreading COVID-19. photos, >click to read< 11:43
