Thursday, November 29, 2012

A serious new player at Bristol Bay

Deckboss was delighted to receive in his inbox yesterday a forwarded email confirming some talk he's been hearing for quite some time.

The email says Silver Bay Seafoods recently purchased eight acres on the Naknek River to construct a high-volume, state-of-the-art freezing and processing facility.

Now wouldn't that be something?

Bristol Bay's processor ranks certainly aren't what they used to be, and the landscape is littered with old, or dead, salmon canneries.

The email says Silver Bay is "optimistic we can provide Bay fishermen the same benefits enjoyed by our member fishermen in Southeast and Prince William Sound."

The company promotes "fishermen ownership" and "a stable rate of return on member investment," the email says.

It appears the email went to potential fishermen investors. It's signed by Rob Zuanich, Silver Bay's managing partner.

Silver Bay is a fairly new, fast-rising processor with plants in Sitka, Craig and Valdez.

35 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't invest in something with Rob Zuanich or that matter Bobby Thorstenson Jr if hell was freezing over. Silver Bay may be a outstanding market, but anything Zuanich touches is tainted with racketeering scum.

Anonymous said...

Wes, how can you say they are not what they used to be? Canfisco bought Leader Creek for $35 million. North Pacific bought Red Salmon for $50 million. Trident has upgraded to the tune of $20 million in the last 3 years. The existing plants can produce fresh, frozen, or canned product in excess of 15 million lbs a day.
Not saying competition isn't a good thing, but your logic is weak.

Anonymous said...

Silver Bay hasn't been that great the last couple of years. They went from being a price leader to simply another follower. Supposedly they overpaid for hatchery chums last year and we're in a real bad position. They tried to drop the chum price to fisherman but Trident and others were paying more. A lot of guys quit last summer in SE. Also very little fleet support.

Anonymous said...

It ain't Thorstenson you moron- he fishes for Icicle

Yes Z is a big player, Troy D is the biggest and there are 65 other guys who have stock-Larry Demmert- Dean Haltiner-Randy Stewart- Dave Jones- Randy Gregg- Wayne Alex- Scott McAllister-PeteSchonberg-Tom Manos-Seth Wyman-Jared Bright-Dan Castle-Al Jacklet-Sben Stroosma-Chris Peterson-Dan Crome-Bob Haltiner- and on and on and on

You might not like them but they're the best in SE in price- ownership-dividends- and they buy40% of the salmon.

Anonymous said...

And, last year, SBS was claimed on 45% of their sold product. They buy a lot. and the quality sucks. This train is running out of steam.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous at 7:34 AM just listed all the herring seiners that got their finger in the pot at SBS...go figure?

What happened to all that money they owed to the guy in Montana that they basically stole their equipment from???

Anonymous said...

The guy in Montana whom they paid handsomely for developing their plants?? The guy who got a piece of the company worth 3/4 of a million?
Herring seiners, some, as they buy around half of the sitka sac roe as well but this is bigger than a select group, Paul troka- Paul mattson-nick Johanson-John carle- Matt carle- John and on and on

The list goes on, say what you will about these guys, they filled a hole that the majors left a half dozen years ago and set up a fishermen-owned, fishermen-run, fishermen-based seafood processor. They're not perfect, for sure. Who is?

Anonymous said...

Bruce Wallace Doug Chaney rob briscoe Stan savland

Anonymous said...

So fishermen go out and start their own proceessor and it's a bad thing? Yeah. Complain all day long about the majors sticking it to ya and then complain all night long when someone does something about it. Look up the revenue stats on raw fish taxes in Sitka and Craig. Biggest ever. Most fish crossed the docks ever in both those towns.

Anonymous said...

Silver Bay comes to buy herring in San Francisco in 2013, breaks a lock on marketing held by two buyers paying rock bottom prices past three years. We are looking at SB arrival as a good thing for sure.

Anonymous said...

How do I sign up with sbs the bay has needed a new American owned processor for a long time.

Nnn said...

Earlier comments must be the 'smart'guys on the outside looking in at the SBS success story.

Anonymous said...

Any new buyer in BB should get the red carpet treatment. If you don't like them, don't sell to them. Added processing capability and competition are good things.

Anonymous said...

Exactly what the last guy said. Some folks just have to have something to bitch about, don't they?

Anonymous said...

You are showing classic foolish fisherman assumtions here. Capacity is not the issue in the Bay. With a projected harvest of roughly 17 million, Trident plus AGS and Red Salom could nearly hand it alone...if the put it in cans. Therein lies the problem of the Bay. Poor quality Bay fish plus processing speed dictate use of cans. You will never get what you want in price when your market put your lesser quality fish in the can. Additional processors don't solve this. A quality program solves this.

Anonymous said...

Additional processing capacity/competition classic foolishness? Who taught you economics, the janitor?

Quality improvements are necessary and forthcoming, but, you must not remember the ex-vessel prices of the 80's when free market conditions reigned. I personally believe that we need to get this sockeye price up to the $2+ lb. point to make it a truly viable business venture. Duct tape and bailing wire can hold rust together for only so long.

Anonymous said...

Have you heard of farmed salmon? You will never get $2 when the Asian and European customers will always happily buy a cheaper alternative to a dirty, temperatue abused, seal bit Bay fish.

Anonymous said...

Farmed salmon? Oh, you mean that pink colored wet paper product.

You ever see the money in China lately? Wild salmon is the real thing. Price isn't the factor when you have the $$$.

Keep trying to convince us that these sockeye aren't worth anything.

Anonymous said...

I live in Sitka and have watched Silver Bay grow over the past few years. At first I thought that it was a good thing then I watched how Troy D and the mayor of Sitka Marko Dapsevich took advantage of the system and swindled the town out of their only deepwater dock. After the deal closed the Mayor left town with his stock. Now they are using so much power that our town now needs to upgrade our damn(98 million) while the residents pay for it with increased electrical rates. They then moved to Craig and The owners father in-law who is the mayor also gave him free land. SBS promised to bring local jobs but all they brought with them were foreigners that they can pay like crap because the can charge them for room and board. Beware when they come to your town.

Anonymous said...

4:24,

Here you go, FSBO.

http://www.nationalfisherman.com/classifieds?pid=54&sid=70:Silver-Bay-Seafoods-Stock-for-sale

Anonymous said...

What stinks even more is that people like Tom Manos (who sold a SE seine permit in the buyback) sat on the board of SRA and is also a shareholder in SBS - talk about conflict of interest, he probably is on the board of the PSVOA as well.

Then there is this business of Alaska Seiners, another LLC Rob Z. has created.

Most interesting is the bankruptcy of the P/V New West, owned by HomeShore LLC and Great Land. Everyone knows who Great Land was, but who was HomeShore? Ahh, that was Rob Z & Troy, but they weren't mentioned in the bankruptcy filings. When Jim Beaton tried to sell the catch of Great Land directly instead of using SnoPac, Greg Blakey was not happy. And why? Because Home Shore was organized by Jim Beaton as another piece for Stikine Holdings.

I guess you can't have Stikine Holdings named in a bankruptcy filing if they need to keep borrowing money from banks to finance Craig, Valdez & Bristol Bay, after all, they would have to claim they have never been part of a bankruptcy in order to prove their creditworthiness.

Anonymous said...

beware bristol bay what you wish for!these delta hogback boys at sbs are for one thing,there own bottom line at the expence of everyone else.they are the poster childern of conservitve values of privitisation of alaskas natural resources to a select few,all the while gameing the system.them and there friends at seas,along with a wink from there friends in the adfg have all but managed the sitka sound herring sac roe fisherie to its demise.so bristol bay beware of wolfs dressed in sheeps clothing,wearing a little american flag pin in there fur!

Anonymous said...

And it actually looks like the real players are already on scene.

The Army and Coast Guard, just in case those updates we confusing many still fishin for tuition.

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/regulations/regprocess/fisheriesboard/pdfs/2012-2013/bristolbay/meetingdocs/rc16_deptofarmy.pdf

Anonymous said...

What the matter with Serious Players,

Hell, it never gets better than this; Pilot Point's going to take on the whole United States Military?

Just think, these people know how to start an outboard too???

Roland Briggs, where Limited Entry is between his ears.

They don't grow em this ignorant, in any place but Petersburg, and Pilot Point.

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/regulations/regprocess/fisheriesboard/pdfs/2012-2013/bristolbay/meetingdocs/rc34_r.briggs.pdf

Anonymous said...

All setnets are federal violations of navigable waters.

They were intended to be set by widows and orphans at low tide, catch fish through the flood and ebb, then picked once they were dry again at low tide. This continual king killing bastardized fishing is out of control.

Anonymous said...

Bummer of a Birthmark isn't it?

"Three generations of imbeciles are enough."

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/regulations/regprocess/fisheriesboard/pdfs/2012-2013/bristolbay/meetingdocs/rc25_magill.zimmerman.pdf

We were born in the back of a truck, and we actually believe the US Army, does not have a Prison Camp, know2n to the world at Ft Leavenworth Kansas.

Like that Petersburg Pilot, at Petersburg Virginia, it's a hell of a birthmark, for the white trash crowd.

Anonymous said...

The Bristol Bay Set Net Fleet, as explained in the United States Supreme Court.

We have seen more than once that the public welfare may call upon the best citizens for their lives. It would be strange if it could not call upon those who already sap the strength of the State for these lesser sacrifices, often not felt to be such by those concerned, in order to prevent our being swamped with incompetence. It is better for all the world if, instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind. The principle that sustains compulsory vaccination is broad enough to cover cutting the Fallopian tubes. Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11. Three generations of imbeciles are enough. [p208]

But, it is said, however it might be if this reasoning were applied generally, it fails when it is confined to the small number who are in the institutions named and is not applied to the multitudes outside. It is the usual last resort of constitutional arguments to point out shortcomings of this sort. But the answer is that the law does all that is needed when it does all that it can, indicates a policy, applies it to all within the lines, and seeks to bring within the lines all similarly situated so far and so fast as its means allow. Of course, so far as the operations enable those who otherwise must be kept confined to be returned to the world, and thus open the asylum to others, the equality aimed at will be more nearly reached.

Judgment affirmed.

Anonymous said...

Ouch!

Anonymous said...

That's nothing, you aought to see that bow cannon in action, It'll be fun to watch Roland take cannon fire at Pilot Point.
Ever watch that bow cannon? Hope he can get his two stoke runnin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypInHWffr7k

Anonymous said...

"Farmed salmon? Oh, you mean that pink colored wet paper product.

You ever see the money in China lately? Wild salmon is the real thing. Price isn't the factor when you have the $$$.

Keep trying to convince us that these sockeye aren't worth anything."


Once upon a time, back before you were born, Japan was the $$$. In the 90's the rug got pulled and all the geniuses lost permits, boats, wives etc. You may not be an idiot but you sound like one.

Anonymous said...

You know what buddy (from right above)? You are flat out the idiot. No question about it. I've been fishing since I was 5, had my permits issued to me as originals. Before I was born? Please. Let me find you in person so that I can enjoy a good old fashioned old timer slap down! If you weren't so obviously an idiot, or a cannery plant, you might get me upset, but I have to forgive you because you were born w/o a brain, or burned it out on drugs. BTW, I will not validate you with anymore of my time, so...say what you will, I'm not coming back.

Anonymous said...

Get ready for growth at any cost. Smart but not smart enough to keep what they have.

Anonymous said...

2 above..... if you've been around as long as you are you that dumb? What he said about japan is the fact and yes there is a def. Place for wild salmon now but salmo. Is a comodity. When chili is djmpinv red fleshed salmon at the prices they are now it fucks things up . If you dont believe fish farms effect the bay price you are part of the reason theres a problem. We laughed and ghought the farms couldnt touch us......look how that turned out only thing that saved us is bad publicity for toxic farm fish and good publicty for omega 3...... salmon is a comodity plain and simple, pork bellies

Anonymous said...

I agree with the above, If you think farmed salmon has no effect on your price in BBay you are very misinformed. Asia does not care about wild/farmed ect only price. The buyers who are looking for specifically wild want quality which BBay is not. Farmed salmon has a huge impact on BBay like it or not.

Anonymous said...

after having a good bit of experience in the SE salmon,herring ,halibut,black cod and shrimp business i can say for sure that the main and most important point about the folks at SBS is the following.THEY ARE NOT HONEST INDIVIDUALS.Yes they have probably raised prices to the fleet. the most important trait a business partner should have is what they lack.I am saying that from personal experience.