Government officials worldwide have released rules and regulations in order to keep people as safe as possible. As the days go by, the need for jobs is becoming crucial as many people are struggling to maintain financial stability. Businesses are declining quickly which can be damaging for the economy. For this reason, many people have decided to go back to work even with all the chaos around us. As many jobs are opening up globally, Alaska is preparing for their fishing season.
Trident Seafood Vessels is the largest seafood company in the USA. It is based in Seattle, Washington. They do a variety of work like shipping fish, operating processing plants, and distributing products to different places within both Washington and Alaska. Due to the virus, employees are taking a different approach to their work lifestyle. Instead of boarding the 316-foot ship in Tacoma, these workers are required to stay in hotels in Seattle and Alaska. They are to be quarantined for the next 14 days where they will have meals delivered to them and experience little to no social interaction. There are about 4,000 workers following this protocol. They are monitored by security guards and nurses who do daily temperature checks to make sure people are in good health and free of illnesses that can cause dilemmas for Alaska’s seafood industry as well as for more than half of the US.
Many other companies have decided it would be best to shut down their company for the time being. For instance, The Seattle Times reports that in South Dakota, the Smithfield Foods pork plant suspended their operations after they discovered over 640 cases. Similarly, in Washington, Benton Franklin district has linked 51 Coronavirus cases to a Tyson Foods meat-packing plant.
Trident seafoods reported finding four of their employees infected with Coronavirus. Trident employees continue to have their temperatures taken and other protocols like swab testing and creating closed facilities where the employees are prohibited from visiting other nearby towns. Protocols and procedures have been put in place to protect the lives of the workers and the towns/villages where Trident’s processing plants are. The conditions of the Island Enterprise aren’t as decent as you might think. It is very cramped with over 120 people working 16 hour shifts. They sleep in bunks so they aren’t able to practice social distancing as often as they’d like. Nevertheless, a maritime company must provide safety measures, otherwise it can be considered negligent and in violation of the warranty of seaworthiness.
