Several workers at a Trident Seafoods’ facility in Akutan, Alaska tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week. Those infected were evacuated for treatment in Anchorage. The facility typically employs between 700 and 1,400 people and is a seafood processing hub for pollock, crab, and cod from the Bering Sea. It operates as a closed campus with living accommodations for employees in bunkhouses.
The present extent of the outbreak at the plant is unclear. However, Trident announced that it plans to shut down the facility for three weeks as a precaution. Suspension of operations will also impact the fleet of fishing vessels that normally delivers winter harvest catch to the plant.
The outbreak at Trident demonstrates the continued dangers faced by commercial fishermen and other shoreside personnel in the Alaska seafood industry due to the spread of COVID-19. BOATLAW, LLP has represented commercial fishermen throughout the pacific northwest for over forty years. The firm’s admiralty lawyers stand ready to assist.
Sources:
“Coronavirus cases detected at Alaska seafood plant owned by Seattle-based Trident Seafoods”
“Trident Seafoods to close Alaska plant for three weeks after COVID-19 outbreak“
