Icicle Seafoods has made official its decision to shut the
doors on its facilities at Adak, citing concerns about the health of the
region’s Pacific cod fishery and increased regulatory uncertainty.
Icicle’s new president and chief executive officer, Amy
Humphreys, said the company supports policies that encourage development and
sustainability of Alaska’s coastal communities and recognize this goal is often
best achieved with a resident fishing fleet and year round seafood processing
operation. “However, given the questionable outlook for the Pacific cod fishery
in the area and the high costs of operating in this remote location, we have
decided to focus our resources in other areas within our Alaska operations,”
she said.
Icicle recently completed the purchase of a second shore-based
seafood processing facility in Bristol Bay. Humphreys said the addition of the
Wood River facility in Dillingham would significantly increase Icicle’s
capacity to produce high quality sockeye salmon fillets. Herring and chum and
pink salmon will also be processed at Dillingham. The purchase was the final
step in Icicle’s acquisition of Snopac Products assets, which began last year.
Atka Pride Seafoods at Atka meanwhile has told commercial
harvesters of its willingness to buy seafood from fishermen who would have been
delivering to Icicle at Adak, and several fishermen have already expressed
interest in the offer, rather than delivering at Dutch Harbor. Atka Pride Seafoods will employ about two
dozen people for the season.
Atka Pride Seafoods, a joint venture of APICDA Joint Ventures
Inc. and the Atka fishermen’s Association, will open April 27 and remain open
through November.
APICDA Joint Ventures is a wholly owned subsidiary of the
Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association. Icicle is a
Seattle-based diversified seafood company owned by the private equity firm of
Paine & Partners LLC, with offices in New York, Chicago and San Francisco.
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