The Alaska Department of Labor recently released its annual top 100 list of the state’s largest employers, and seven seafood companies made the 2008 list.
Seattle-based Trident Seafoods led the seafood companies, ranked No. 6. UniSea came in at No. 30, Icicle Seafoods at No. 32, Westward Seafoods at No. 37, Peter Pan Seafoods at No. 40, Ocean Beauty Seafoods at No. 45 and North Pacific Seafoods at 71.
Ocean Beauty was the second-biggest mover on the list, jumping 18 places from No. 63 in 2007.
Seafood processing has a strong presence in the state, not surprising considering the small size of many of the areas and the importance fishing plays in most of the state’s coastal communities.
Trident is the largest private-sector employer in three of the 29 boroughs and census areas — Aleutians East Borough, Bristol Bay Borough and Kodiak Island Borough — and Icicle is the largest in the Dillingham and Petersburg census areas.
The full report is published in the July 2009 issue of Alaska Economic Trends, available at the department of labor’s Web site.
