More than two years after severe autumn storm winds beached a $7 million seafood processing barge on the shore of the Bristol Bay watershed, the Northline Seafoods company is bouncing back with plans for a much brighter future. These plans include a new commercial salmon processing platform, which is set to open in 2024 in Bristol Bay.
Ben Blakey, president and co-founder of Northline Seafoods, in Sitka, says he hopes the plan will inspire others in the industry.
“The bay needs more innovative people,” said Blakey, urging more creativity in both harvesting and processing. The Hannah, a one-of-a-kind vertically integrated vessel, will operate in Bristol Bay during the commercial fishing season. The vessel will deep freeze fish whole on the fishing grounds and then haul them back to Northline’s base of Pacific Northwest operations in Bellingham, Washington, to store, reprocess and distribute the salmon year-round.
The final product for market will have a higher quality and a more sustainable environmental footprint, he said.
The Hannah, engineered and designed with the company as the general contractor, promises to be a big step forward environmentally. According to company calculations, 217,000 gallons of diesel fuel will be saved compared with typical fish processing and transportation methods. Every piece of the fish will be used, meaning less waste. The flash freezing process will protect the salmon skin, minimizing need for plastic packaging. There will also be significantly fewer carbon emissions with fewer steps between harvesters and customers.
“Everyone at Northline is excited about this next chapter for our company and our industry,” said Blakey, an industry veteran.
Northline Seafoods recently closed on a $40 million Food Supply Chain loan backed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The deal was made possible by the Biden Administration’s “Build Back Better” initiative and financed by Greater Commercial Lending (GCL), which provides loans to businesses and organizations in underserved and rural communities. Northline also teamed up with the Seattle-based investment banking firm Zachary Scott, which has deep ties to the seafood industry, to raise $62.5 million in capital to support the company in its development.
Vessel construction is set to begin at the Port of Bellingham in Washington in January of 2023.
The completed vessel will be able to buy, process, shop and store fish on a single vertically integrated platform, eliminating the number of third-party hands the Bristol Bay salmon passes through before being purchased by consumers, resulting in more transparency and better quality, the processor said.
The Hannah’s on-board refrigeration system will allow the fish to be flash frozen whole, so the processing can be spread out over time, creating year-round jobs for processors, engineers, maintenance staff, sales and logistics personnel and corporate management.
Most salmon processing facilities rely on shipping containers and cold storage at about minus 5 to minus 10 degrees, Blakey said. The Hannah will store its fish at 25 degrees below zero, and these fish will be stored in the same place until they are processes and distributed. The company anticipates processing 50,000 pounds a day, five days a week, with an eye to food service and other buyers looking for upscale product, Blakey said.
The majority of the fish will be sold to distributors, complimenting existing brands or going into new premium options. Smaller orders, as few as 25 to 50 pounds of fillets, will be available, but will not be a fundamental part of the business model, he said.
