Japanese seafood company Maruha Nichiro Corporation (MNC) has confirmed that its consolidated subsidiaries, Maruha Capital Investment Inc (MCII) and Westward Seafoods Inc (WSI) are to acquire assets for Alaska pollock operations from Icicle Seafoods Inc and its group companies.
In a notice to the Tokyo Stock Exchange, MNS advised that WSI has acquired a processing facility from Seattle-based Icicle and the fishing vessel owner company, newly established by MCII and a local partner, have acquired nine fishing vessels with Alaska pollock quota from Icicle.
The value of the deal has not been disclosed due to confidentiality agreements.
As a result of the acquisition, MNC Group’s share of access to the inshore Alaska pollock quota will increase from 31% to 41%, making it the top share holder in the inshore business.
Because of the American Fisheries Act, MCII may not own or control more than 25% interest in a US fishing vessel owning company. However, by establishing a new fishing vessel owner company with a local partner owning 75% stake, the new company will be able to acquire the fishing vessels with quotas and land them at the MCII Group’s plants, thus making more quotas available.
The processing facilities being acquired are located in close proximity to MCII’s two existing plants, with MNC expecting there to be no significant additional costs associated with their operation.
Also including the processing of fish species other than Alaska pollock, the group will strive to further improve production efficiency, by appropriately allocating the production functions of the three plants, it said.
The local partner belongs to the Community Development Quota (CDQ) Group. The scheme of this transfer is to access fishery resources in cooperation with the CDQ organisation. Although the catch quota obtained this time is not allocated to CDQ, the value of the catch will be retained by the local community through the local partner.
In December 2020, the MNC Group withdrew from the Alaskan salmon business.
“With the acquisition of the assets of the Alaska pollock operations, from now on, Alaska pollock will be positioned as the mainstay of the MNC Group’s North American business and the MNC Group will concentrate management resources in this growing area,” the notice stated.
With a total volume of around 3.5 million tonnes, Alaska pollock is the second largest wild caught fish after Peruvian anchovy. The United States and Russia, which share the Bering Sea, almost split the global supply.
