Officials at Peter Pan Seafoods in Anchorage have reached an agreement with Silver Bay Seafoods to operate Peter Pan’s facilities in Port Moller and Dillingham this summer, but have
announced no plans for the future of its historic processing facilities at King Cove.
Peter Pan had announced earlier that the processing plant at King Cove would not be open for
the groundfish A season, leaving King Cove residents hoping that there would be processing for the B season and other fisheries as well.
Then on April 4, Peter Pan posted a notice on Facebook saying that the company was saddened to share that Peter Pan would be halting operations at its processing plants, leading to discontinuation of both summer and winter production cycles for the foreseeable future.
The Peter Pan Seafoods location at King Cove is located 600 air miles southwest of Anchorage at the end of the Alaska Peninsula, has served as home to Peter Pan’s largest processing facility, and has operated there for over 100 years. In years past the King Cove plant has processed king crab, bairdi and opilio tanner crab, pollock, cod salmon, halibut, and black cod from the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska for all but about two weeks out of the year.
The domestic seafood industry has been hard hit in recent months by global economic downturns in the fishing industry, with Alaska harvesters and processors competing against lower priced salmon and other fish from Russia and China.
Travis Roenfanz, COO for Peter Pan Seafoods, said the company’s decision to pursue selling the Valdez plant and combine Alaska operations with Silver Bay came from a commitment to put its fleets, employees, and communities first.
“When there are inefficiencies in this industry, it affects the livelihoods of our fleet and we have a responsibility to maintain those livelihoods. We’re excited about this acquisition and what it will do for this fishery,” he said.
The plant, with origins back to the early 1900s, is known for having the largest salmon canning capacity of any plant in Alaska. All five species of salmon are abundant in area waters. During peak processing seasons, in winter and summer, the plant has employed nearly 500 people.
Current owners of the processing company acquired Peter Pan Seafoods in January of 2021.
The ownership group is comprised of Rodger May of Northwest Fish, the Na’-Nuk Investment Fund LP managed by McKinley Capital Management, and the RRG Global Partners Fund managed by RRG Capital Management LLC.
