Silver Bay Seafoods announced Tuesday (Mar. 18) that it will take over all Alaska facilities owned by competitor OBI Seafoods through a partnership with the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation (BBEDC). The deal includes OBI’s processing plants in Dillingham on the Wood River and in Naknek, bringing Silver Bay’s total to two facilities in each location.
In addition to the Dillingham and Naknek plants, Silver Bay will acquire facilities in Petersburg, Seward, Larsen Bay, Egegik, Cordova, and Kodiak. These plants process salmon, whitefish, and crab in fresh, frozen, and canned forms.
Silver Bay, a fishermen-owned processor, already runs 13 seafood processing facilities across Alaska and the West Coast. The company has been expanding and acquired five processing plants last year. Most recently, that included longtime Alaska processor Peter Pan Seafoods' facilities in Dillingham and Port Moller.
In the press release, Silver Bay’s CEO Cora Campbell said the deal will expand the company’s reach and strengthen the industry. “This investment in OBI will allow us to serve more fishermen and communities. We plan to bring our fishermen focus, commitment to innovation, and operational excellence to this partnership.”
BBEDC’s chief executive CEO Michael Link says the partnership is about stability, particularly “With the many challenges facing Alaska’s seafood industry.”
