Friday, September 20, 2013

More on Adak

As we reported Thursday, yet another operator is taking over the processing plant on far-flung Adak Island in the Aleutians.

The new operator is Adak Cod Cooperative.

The company president, John Lowrance, is a familiar name in Alaska's salmon industry.

He founded Leader Creek Fisheries, a small but innovative Bristol Bay processor. Lowrance sold his interest in Leader Creek in 2010.

A succession of operators, most recently Icicle Seafoods, failed to achieve much success at Adak, where cod is the money fish.

Now Lowrance says he and Joe Kelso are going to give it a shot.

State records show Lowrance and Kelso are 50-50 partners in Ekuk Fisheries, another small Bristol Bay salmon processor.

The Aleut Corp. owns the Adak plant, and Adak Cod Cooperative has signed a 20-year lease.

Back in June, you'll recall, the city of Adak bought the shuttered plant's processing equipment at auction.

The city is now selling that equipment to Adak Cod Cooperative for about $2 million.

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