Alaskan Leader Seafood’s is the most progressive, innovative and vertically integrated “Hook & Line“ fishing company in Alaska!
What sets us apart from other fishing companies is that our fleet is outfitted with a custom designed and patented Norwegian longline system that places single hooks along the ocean floor. This “one hook, one fish“ method of harvesting our catch is the most ecologically responsible and least intrusive on other species habitats. OUR CAPTAINS At the helm of our vessels are Coast Guard licensed “Masters“ with an average of over 20 years fishing experience. They are medically trained and tasked to preserve safety at all costs, read technologically advanced electronic equipment that find the fish and are trained in meteorology. Their reaction skills must be razor sharp, but patient. THE FISHING DECK At the rail of each of our vessels stands the skillful “Gaffer“. His hand to eye coordination and instincts must be as sharp as a Tack. He and the Captain work together through hand signals and electronic communications and he must have impeccable timing. Often, he faces all that Mother Nature can give him, and he prevails by keeping our company well below the allowable by-catch species standards. At his sea level position, he can catch and release live untargeted fish and carefully land the ones we are fishing for. This renders us as the absolute cleanest and healthiest method of harvesting Alaska Cod than any other commercial fishing technique. THE PROCESSING Once over the rail, the fish go through an automated bleeding, cleaning and processing system designed by master food equipment technicians in Iceland learned from generations of tradition and research and development. The fish are thoroughly inspected by our onboard and HAACP trained Quality Control staff, then size graded into stainless steel freezing pans and quickly frozen to 30 degrees below zero so as to capture that “deep white and sweet ocean fresh” flavor.
Thanks Ken for having me. Hey, why don't we start off with having you share a little bit about Alaska Leader, what the company is all about and a little bit about your So Alaska Leader Seafoods is a fis We're 50% owned by the original seven fis So what we do is we fish, We have four vessels that use hook and line gear. So individually baited hooks that are on a continuous line that we lay down on the ocean floor. So it's a very environmental friendly way of fis It has premi Alaska Leader Fisheries has grown to be one of the largest and most productive fis Talk a little bit more about your investment in your fleet and using latest technology and harvesting and processing Alaska Seafood. Sure. So our fleet is all state of the art when we t Our latest vessel, the Northern Leader, is actually powered by electricity. So although we do have main engines, we power five generators on board that then power the entire vessel from power to hydraulics to lights that are throughout the boat. So we really try to be environmentally friendly, have a low carbon footprint, so saving fuel costs, and then again, trying to use technology on board the boat to utilize 100% of that fish that we catch. So not only are we bringing beautiful skinless bonus fillets to the marketplace, we're also trying to capture all the ancillary parts of that fish from stomachs, livers, collars, heads, milks, skins, frames, trim, everyt Alaska Leader is recognized for your commitment to sustainability. Why is that so important to your company? Sustainability is so important to us because we want to be fis We use the hook and line catch method to really be able to regulate how much fish we're catc If a fish comes on board to the side of the vessel that we're not supposed to keep, because it's caught the individually baited hooks, it's able to shake off the hook and swim away free, perfectly unharmed. Sustainability for us is just so key because we want to bring this beautiful product to the marketplace and have it, We use a lot of science. We'regulated by the National Marine Fish Series. We're on a quota-based system. We do a lot of regulatory pieces in our fis One of the great stories about the fis Talk about career opportunities that there are with Alaska leader. Alaska leader obviously has a lot of career opportunities on board our vessels or out at sea. We're always looking for bringing on new fishermen who want to be part of the industry, to want to get involved, and then provide career opportunities and stepping stones to work your way up through the crew of that vessel all the way up to officer levels, engineers, and then of course the top of the pyramid would be captains. For us, we really We also have a lot of shore side opportunities, not only here in the offices where I am working on the sail side and production side, but in our value added processing facility, w So both water and shore side, there's a lot of opportunities to work here with Alaska leader. And then not to forget is that there's a lot of supporting businesses that we rely heavily on to move our products to market from the fuel companies, insurance, trucking, packaging, there's just a lot of additional businesses that support the fis So just the economic impact from catc Talk a little bit about why you're so optimistic about the future of the seafood and fis I t We're managing it for years to come. So I'm excited to continue to develop new markets, to bring more of a domestic presence to our fish and get it into more homes. I t One of our goals here is to get cod out of that classic fish and c Because it's just such a versatile fish that, like I said, kind of covers all the spectr We'really doing our best to get t Wow. Time for me to You're welcome. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.
