Silver Bay Seafoods has purchased a Tri Marine seafood processing plant in the Los Angeles area of California, U.S.A. from Tri Marine, giving Silver Bay its first plant in Southern California.
Tri Marine had owned and operated the San Pedro processing facility and adjacent wharf on Terminal Island, in the Port of Los Angeles, since the business was founded in 1997. Its sale price or other terms of the deal were not disclosed, though Tri Marine choose to retain the fleet servicing the facility, which operates under its affiliate, Cape Fisheries.
Typically, the plant unloads and freezes squid, sardines (when quota allows), mackerel, and tuna, with most of the product then being exported, according to a spokesperson for the companies. It has a capacity to unload and freeze about 300 metric tons per day, though its operations are dependent on local fishing conditions. Employment at the facility is less than 100 and varies with the production needs, the spokesperson said.
“For Silver Bay, this acquisition is a strategic growth move that completes the company’s vision of owning and operating unloading and processing facilities in both Northern and Southern California,” the company said in a press release. “The facility is highly regarded for its location, operating efficiency and product quality.”
Founded in 2007, Seattle, Washington-based Silver Bay Seafoods is an integrated processor of frozen salmon, herring, and squid products for domestic and export markets. The company operates six domestic processing facilities in Alaska and on the U.S. West Coast.
Tri Marine, based in Bellevue, Washington, is one of the world’s largest tuna companies, with more than 5,000 employees involved in fishing processing, trading and distributing tuna worldwide. It averages more than USD 1 billion (EUR 877 million) in sales annually.
The sale of the San Pedro plant is subject to approval of the facility’s ground lease by the Port of Los Angeles. If approval is granted, Silver Bay said it has plans to undertake a “substantial expansion” of the freezing, processing, and storage capacity of the plant at an unspecified future date.
“I have great respect for the Tri Marine operation in Terminal Island. The organization’s boats and this plant are the best in class in terms of preserving fish quality and efficiency,” Silver Bay Seafoods CEO Troy Denkinger said in the press release. “Moving forward, we plan to use the existing Tri Marine operation as the benchmark for quality and best practices. Also, we expect to be able to retain all of the company’s dedicated managers and employees.”
Tri Marine will retain control of the three-vessel Cape Fisheries pelagic purse seine fleet, which includes the Barbara H, the Cape Blanco, and Ferrigno Boy. All three contracted to the plant as part of the transaction, according to the company spokesperson.
“We’re very proud of the business we’ve built over the past 20 years, thanks in large part to the expertise, professionalism and hard work of our management and factory workers,” Tri Marine CEO Renato Curto said. “I’m delighted that we’ve reached an agreement to sell to a highly regarded, strategic and successful company like Silver Bay. The sale of our California coastal pelagic assets and business will enable Tri Marine to concentrate our efforts and our resources on our core business – global tuna supply.”
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