Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion  In this June 27, 2013 file photo sockeye salmon tumble into a tote at a receiving station south of Clam Gulch, Alaska. A new company has entered the Cook Inlet fish industry as Inlet Fish Producers announced its sale to Seattle-based North Pacific Seafoods Inc.

Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion In this June 27, 2013 file photo sockeye salmon tumble into a tote at a receiving station south of Clam Gulch, Alaska. A new company has entered the Cook Inlet fish industry as Inlet Fish Producers announced its sale to Seattle-based North Pacific Seafoods Inc.

Inlet Fish Producers sold to North Pacific Seafoods

  • By Rashah McChesney
  • Wednesday, July 1, 2015 4:20pm
  • News

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story misspelled the name of the Japanese trading house that owns North Pacific Seafoods. It is Marubeni. 

Two Cook Inlet processing facilities will be added to a growing list of salmon production businesses owned by the Seattle-based North Pacific Seafoods.

The acquisition, announced Tuesday, will add the Kenai and Kasilof plants currently owned by Inlet Fish Producers to the five shore-based processing plants North Pacific Seafoods operates in Alaska.

North Pacific Seafoods is a subsidiary of the Japanese trading house Marubeni and the deal cost the company about $8 million, according to the Japanese business and financial publication Nikkei Review. John Garner, Chief Operating Officer for North Pacific Seafoods, disputes the Review’s figure, but refused to give an accurate sale amount.

The deal is expected boost North Pacific’s salmon processing capacity to about 62,000 tons annually.

Negotiations have been ongoing for months as Inlet Fish Producers founder and owner Vince Goddard, who said he is close to retirement, sought a buyer.

Garner told Undercurrent News in May that the two companies were considering a sale. The plants will give North Pacific Seafoods its first foothold in Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound salmon processing — a necessity for the sale, Goddard said.

“I wanted to basically have our operation remain intact and not be combined with a company that has overlapping footprints,” Goddard said. “There’s a lot of people that get left out of the equation when that happens.”

Further, Goddard said, he was looking to sell to a company that maintained a strong presence in Kodiak. North Pacific owns Alaska Pacific Seafoods in Kodiak.

“When we have too much fish in Cook Inlet or Prince William Sound, it’s really important to have capacity in Kodiak to handle the overload,” he said.

Inlet Fish primarily buys from commercial drift fishermen in Cook Inlet, though Goddard said he also buys from shore-based setnetters. In Prince William Sound the majority of the company’s production comes out of the seine fleet, he said.

The acquisition is expected to boost North Pacific Seafoods’ sales by about 10 percent, Garner said. That should boost the company’s sales to about $227 million according to an acquisition announcement on 4-traders.com.

Goddard said he didn’t know of any plans to boost production in Bristol Bay where North Pacific Seafoods is a strong buyer.

“We’re mainly planning on expanding what we’re doing right here in Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound,” he said.

The Kenai plant has been operating under Goddard for 29 fishing seasons and the Kasilof plant since 1984, though Inlet Fish didn’t buy the Kasilof plant until 2002. When operating at peak capacity, the company employs about 200 people, he said.

Goddard will stay on with the company for the next few years and run its Cook Inlet operations.

“I’m pleased with the choice I made and I think all of our fishing fleet and our employees and the whole local community will be pleased with the choice also,” he said.

 

Reach Rashah McChesney at rashah.mcchesney@peninsulaclarion.com or follow her on Twitter @litmuslens

More in News

A Kenai Peninsula Food Bank truck in the Food Bank parking lot on Aug. 4, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Food bank seeks turkey donations as Thanksgiving nears

The local food bank is calling for donations of $25 to “Adopt-A-Turkey” for a local family in need

Seward City Hall is seen under cloudy skies in Seward, Alaska, on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Seward budget hearing covers bed tax, wages, emergency medical services

The Seward City Council on Nov. 12 considered a series of legislative items connected to 2025 and 2026 budget

The results of ranked choice tabulation show Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, winning reelection in the race for Senate District D. (Screenshot/Gavel Alaska)
Bjorkman, Vance win reelection after tabulation of ranked choice ballots

An effort to repeal ranked choice voting and the open primary system was very narrowly defeated

Jacob Caldwell, chief executive officer of Kenai Aviation, stands at the Kenai Aviation desk at the Kenai Municipal Airport on Thursday, Sept. 13, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Aviation, Reeve Air submit proposals to bring air service back to Seward

Scheduled air service has been unavailable in Seward since 2002

Erosion damage to the southbound lane of Homer Spit Road is seen on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024, following a storm event on Saturday in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
City, DOT work to repair storm damage to Spit road

A second storm event on Saturday affected nearly a mile of the southbound lane

Kenaitze Indian Tribe Education Director Kyle McFall speaks during a special meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Board of Education in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Charter school proposed by Kenaitze Indian Tribe given approval by school board

The application will next be forwarded to the State Department of Education and Early Department

Suzanne Phillips, who formerly was a teacher at Aurora Borealis Charter School, speaks during a special meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Board of Education in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Aurora Borealis charter renewal clears school board

The school is seeking routine renewal of its charter through the 2035-2036 school year

State House District 6 candidates Rep. Sarah Vance, Dawson Slaughter and Brent Johnson participate in a candidate forum hosted by the Peninsula Clarion and KBBI 890 AM at the Homer Public Library in Homer, Alaska, on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Saturday update: House District 6 race tightens slightly in new results

Neither incumbent Rep. Sarah Vance or challenger Brent Johnson have claimed 50% of votes in the race

A grader moves down 1st Avenue in Kenai, Alaska, during a snow storm on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Storm system to bring weekend snow to western Kenai Peninsula

Extended periods of light to moderate snow are expected Friday through Sunday morning

Most Read