August 10, 2010

New seafood companies acquires Harbor Crown processing plant

A new company led by Copper River Seafoods and Siu Alaska Corp. on Monday purchased the former Harbor Crown seafood processing plant in Dutch Harbor, Alaska.

Dutch Harbor Acquisitions LLC will operate the facility under the name Bering Star Fisheries LLC and process cod, halibut, sablefish and crab. Expected to be up and running by year's end, the plant will be the only 100% Alaskan owned and operated plant in Dutch Harbor.

Copper River Seafoods is participating in Dutch Harbor Acquisitions through Western Alaska Ventures LLC, a partnership between Copper River Seafoods in Anchorage, Alaska; Stuart and Benett Kozloff of International Seafood Ventures LLC in Seattle; and James Gonzalez of Pacific Harvest Seafood in Bellevue, Washington. Copper River Seafoods processes primarily salmon, halibut and cod, with plants in Alaska's Southeast, Central, Togiak and Bristol Bay regions.

Siu Alaska is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Norton Sound Economic Development Corp. (NSEDC), a private, non-profit Community Development Quota corporation representing 15 Norton Sound communities. NSEDC and Siu hold ownership interests in a number of Bering Sea vessels, including pollock at-sea catcher processors, a cod freezer-longliner and crab boats.