Articles Posted in Northline Seafoods

This week it has been reported that Silver Bay Seafoods is trying to acquire Northline Seafoods, one of its competitors in Alaska’s salmon processing industry. It was also reported that Northline CEO and co-founder Ben Blakey resigned on April 15^th, 2026, during the acquisition process. For anyone working the Alaska salmon fishery, this is a news story worth following.

Silver Bay Seafoods has experience with acquisitions. The Sitka-based company, owned by a cooperative of roughly 600 fishermen, has rapidly expanded its footprint across Alaska’s seafood processing sector. In 2024, the company acquired Trident Seafoods’ Ketchikan and False Pass facilities. This expansion continued into March 2025, when Silver Bay purchased Cooke subsidiary Icicle Seafoods’ 50% stake in OBI Seafoods. The agreement, established in collaboration with BBEDC, brought eight significant processing facilities into their network. These plants are located in Petersburg, Seward, Kodiak, Larsen Bay, Egegik, Wood River, Cordova, and Naknek. Silver Bay also took over Peter Pan Seafoods’ Valdez operations and other key assets following Peter Pan’s high-profile bankruptcy.

Industry experts point out that if Northline is acquired, only three companies will dominate Alaska’s salmon processing industry. Such a level of consolidation has not been seen in recent years.