Cannon Fish Company has opened its new seafood processing plant in Kent, Washington, USA, which has the potential to employ 200 individuals.
Cannon Fish Company, a value-added seafood processing and marketing company that caters to a nationwide network of retailers, restaurants, specialty grocers and institutions, was acquired by the Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association (APICDA) in August 2013.
APICDA is one of six western Alaska Community Development Quota (CDQ) corporations. The CDQ program allocates a percentage of all Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands quotas for groundfish, halibut and crab.
APICDA and its subsidiary companies generate proceeds through the management of the quotas to fulfil its charitable purpose of developing stable local economies in six remote villages in the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands.
“The majority of the fish processed at the Kent facility is caught by fishing families living in villages in the Aleutian Islands adjacent to the Bering Sea,” said Larry Cotter, APICDA CEO. “Promoting commerce in rural Alaska and stabilising economies provides employment opportunities for local residents, tax revenue for local governments, economic growth in the community and region, a higher standard of living, and a reduction in social problems.
“This facility ties directly to APICDA’s processing plants in Alaska – the Atka Pride Seafoods plant in Atka and the Bering Pacific Seafoods plant in False Pass – and enhances the viability of all three facilities. The new facility also demonstrates that CDQ investments benefit communities and states beyond Alaska.”
