By Margaret Bauman
Alaska Journal of Commerce

Both sides in a dispute revolving around a lease for a fish processing plant at Adak, in the Aleutian Chain, said Nov. 8 they have reached agreement on major items for a new lease.

The goal now for Adak Fisheries and the Aleut Corp. is to have the new lease in effect by the first of the year, said David Shoup, attorney for Adak fisheries, and Dave Jensen, president of the Aleut Corp.

There are still a number of conditions that have to be met for the new lease to actually be signed, but the parties have agreed to a new lease going into effect at the first of January, Shoup said.

"I'm anxious to see it done, but it's got to make sense," Jensen said. "The plant is operating right now. I'm looking for security and (plant operator Kjetil Solberg) is looking to stay in business, and we have to figure out how to do that.

"The devil's always in the details," Jensen said. "We're working on the details. My board has to approve it, and the board of the Aleut Enterprise Corp. (a subsidiary of the Aleut Corp.) also has to approve it. We are not an owner. We are the landlord and we are looking for a responsible entity to sign the lease with us."

Preceding the tentative lease agreement, the Aleut Corp. had been seeking the eviction of Adak Fisheries.

Adak Fisheries has also dealt with issues over the control of the company. Solberg is now the sole owner of the firm, after buying out former partner Aleutian Spray. Before the buyout, Solberg and Aleutian Spray were embroiled in litigation over control of the company.

Adak, population 69, is a second-class city located 1,300 miles southwest of Anchorage and 350 miles west of Dutch Harbor, in the Aleutian Chain.

A land exchange between the Aleut Corp., the U.S. Navy and Interior Department previously transferred most of the naval facilities, including the warehouse now housing the fish processing plant, to the Aleut Corp. A portion of the island also remains within the National Maritime Wildlife Refuge. Adak provides a fueling port and crew transfer facility for foreign fishing fleets.

"Both sides had a long list of complaints about the other, but when they went into negotiations on a new lease they resolved it all," Shoup said. "Both sides recognized that they wanted to get a deal in place and they did."

Margaret Bauman can be reached at margie.bauman@alaskajournal.com.