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A week in Dutch Harbor, Alaska

By Kirsten Dobroth | Published Sept. 6, 2023

Dutch Harbor, in southwestern Alaska, is perpetually among the US's top commercial fishing ports by volume and value. As much as 613.5 million pounds of seafood worth nearly $160m was landed there in 2022, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Undercurrent News visited Dutch Harbor near the end of the pollock B season, as processors – including Maruha Nichiro’s Westward Seafoods and Alyeska Seafoods, and UniSea, which is the one of largest subsidiaries of Nissui Corporation – were turning Bering Sea pollock into filets, surimi, fish meal, and fish oil.

Photo credits: Kirsten Dobroth

By Kirsten Dobroth

Published Sept. 6, 2023

Pollock from the Bering Sea goes through multiple phases of a drying process to create surimi at the Unisea plant in Dutch Harbor, Alaska; August, 2023

Fishing vessels docked in the Carl E. Moses Boat Harbor, which is owned by the City of Unalaska; August, 2023

Looking down on the Port of Dutch Harbor and Unisea's processing facility from nearby Bunker Hill; August, 2023

Overlooking Captain's Bay from the top of nearby Bunker Hill. The bay is where Westward's processing facility is located, and where Trident's new plant is under construction; August, 2023

A fishing vessel leaving the mouth of Captain's Bay on its way to Bering Sea fishing grounds; August, 2023

Unalaska's Carl E. Moses Boat Harbor has 52 slips with moorage space available for vessels up to 150 feet long; August, 2023

A series of computer screens and cameras monitor work in the processing part of the ship, and operate the net; August, 2023

The wheelhouse of the American Dynasty, a 282-foot, two-level factory trawler owned by American Seafoods Group; August, 2023

The factory trawler American Dynasty unloads boxes of pollock to a nearby cold storage facility after returning from Bering Sea fishing grounds; August, 2023

Fishing vessels unloading pollock at the Unisea plant in Dutch Harbor, Alaska; August, 2023

The American Dynasty is one of seven fishing vessels owned and operated by American Seafoods Group (ASG) in the Bering Sea and North Pacific; August, 2023

Boats docked at the City of Unalaska's Carl E. Moses Harbor; August, 2023

Local plants process pollock harvested from the Bering Sea into surimi, fish meal, fish oil and filets, like the ones seen here at Unisea's plant; August, 2023

Pollock filets are frozen and packed by workers at Unisea's plant before heading to cold storage; August, 2023

Workers at Unisea's plant in Dutch Harbor inspect pollock fillets before they're frozen and packaged; August, 2023

Warehouse facilities along the waterfront near the Northern Victor, a processing vessel owned by Westward Seafood that's permanently docked nearby; August, 2023

Fishing vessels, including the Northern Eagle, which is owned by American Seafoods Group, docked at the Port of Dutch Harbor; August, 2023

From the top of Westward Seafoods' Northern Victor, overlooking the Port of Dutch Harbor; August, 2023

The 380-foot Northern Victor is owned by Westward Seafoods and processes pollock filets that are harvested from the Bering Sea; August, 2023

The Port of Dutch Harbor is owned by the City of Unalaska, and is made up of several bays, harbors and islands; August, 2023

Fields of fireweed in bloom near the waterfront. Fireweed blooms in late summer in Alaska, and is said to be a sign that the first snow of the season is on the way; August, 2023

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