Questions about Fish Processing in Alaska

[Northrick]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

Peter Pan has been in trouble for years.

Meanwhile, although I didn't feel it was worth posting here, there is plenty of good news. Trident's Ketchikan plant was sold to Silver Bay, and their Petersberg facility was purchased by a local family with about 100 years into the seafood industry on the panhandle. Up in Bristol Bay, the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association has a new executive director who's strongly advocating for taking those tall cans of salmon off the U.S.market, which I think is probably long overdue (although that particular product does perform extremely well in Asia, and not just among the cheap crowd).

Even though it means less tax revenue for Alaska communities, I can't help thinking that slowing down on this ground fish trawling can't be an overall bad thing. We'd have a better idea of the impact that this activity has on crab and Yukon River king salmon populations.

I wish someone would write a book on how Chuck Bundrant (the founder of Trident) became a billionaire by selling groundfish to McDonalds and Pinnacle Foods. These factory trawlers weren't always a thing in Alaska seafood, and now they seem to be nearly synonymous with it.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/23/b...rant-dead.html

Behind a paywall so I couldn't read the article.


I thought cod were generally caught using pots or long lines, not trawlers. Am I wrong on that? I like cod better than halibut as it actually has flavor and is half the price.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by Northrick

Behind a paywall so I couldn't read the article.


I thought cod were generally caught using pots or long lines, not trawlers. Am I wrong on that? I like cod better than halibut as it actually has flavor and is half the price.

Yes and no. They (mostly) bottom trawl for Pacific cod out in the Aleutians and some in the Bering, while they (mostly) use longline/pots in the Gulf of Alaska. Down here in SE, we longline for black cod (sablefish).

Bundrant made his billions off of walleye pollock (groundfish is a catch-all term that refers to a variety of demersal species), though, and although it's in the cod family, it's not cost-effective to harvest it any other way than by pelagic (middle) trawling.

Someone actually did write a book about him several years ago. You can buy it on Amazon for just slightly under $100.

https://www.amazon.com/Catching-Deck.../dp/1933245344

.

[Northrick]

Yeah, no. Not paying a $100 for a book about a rich guy.


I love sablefish, however the price for it goes all over the map, so I only get it when the price is reasonable.

[Timur99]

Someone actually did write a book about him several years ago. You can buy it on Amazon for just slightly under $100.

[jesse85b]

Originally Posted by Jarbucs

Hello Jesse,

Ive been looking everywhere to purchase your book but to no avail. Can I purchase it from you directly?

The SLIME LINE book was withdrawn years ago. Anyone interested can contact me and I will send a copy for free.


You can reach me here: infoathumansidepressdotcom


Be advised my old citydata user account is frozen. Also I am unable to answer DMs on this new account.

I am no longer on the boats or in Alaska, but my time there was a very formative experience for all I have done after.