By Tim Bradner
Alaska Journal of Commerce

Editor's note: "This Week in Alaska Business History" revisits events that shaped our past.

Fresh fish shipments made from Cold Bay

An Alaska-based fisheries company, Cold Sea International Inc., is shipping fresh cod by air from Cold Bay to Far East markets via Anchorage and plans to begin direct air shipments from Cold Bay to the Pacific Northwest and the Far East.

The development has delighted local fishermen and officials of the Aleutians East Borough, who have worked hard to get Cold Bay's jet-length airfield and an adjacent dock facility used to develop local fisheries.

Cold Bay, once used to refuel international jet flights, has a 10,000-foot-plus main runway, a 5,000-foot cross-runway, and is capable of handling jumbo cargo jets. Last year the Aleutians East Borough completed a $2 million expansion to the dock, hoping to attract more fisheries business.

"This is the first time anyone has been able to make the connection from the dock to the airport work. Cold Seas has been able to get product moving on a regular basis, and it shows the potential of the airport," said Denby Lloyd, resource analyst with the borough.

Cold Sea shipped 500,000 pounds of fresh cod in the early part of December with MarkAir and Reeve flights, connecting to Asia-bound international carriers in Anchorage.

Shipments were suspended in late December but will resume in early January, increasing in increments from 10,000 to 20,000 pounds a day. By February the company hopes to be landing 40,000 pounds a day at Cold Bay, sufficient for a daily direct cargo flight to the Pacific Northwest, according to Thorne Tasker, president of the company.

When volume reaches 100,000 pounds a day, he said, it will be sufficient for a direct flight to Asia. Cold Sea is now negotiating with carriers for the Pacific Northwest and Asia flights.

The new operation gives fishermen from Sand Point and Kind Cove an alternative market for their cod to the processing pants operated by Trident and Peter Pan Seafoods in those communities, Lloyd said.

Since those plants have log-standing purchasing relationships with certain local fishermen, Cold Seas creates an opportunity for fishermen who now don't have a market, he said.

New competition has also raised the price being paid to fishermen, from around 17 cents a pound paid before by the local processors to 25 cents a pound paid by Cold Sea, Tasker said.

- Compiled by Claire Chandler