Unalaska, AK – State officials are asking the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to look into a planned merger that would consolidate much of the Alaska seafood processing industry in the hands of a single company.

The Anchorage Daily News reported Monday that state Fish and Game Commissioner Denby Lloyd is asking the council to review the plans by the Maruha Group and the Nichiro Corporation to consolidate their business. Maruha owns both Alyeska and Westward Seafoods, and is already the largest seafood company in Japan. The proposed Maruha Nichiro Holdings Incorporated would be the fifth-largest Japanese food company.

The company would also control a huge share of the Alaskan seafood processing business, joining Alyeska, Westward and Peter Pan Seafoods, as well as a majority of the pollock mothership sector, under a single owner. That's why Lloyd is concerned; although he couldn't be reached for comment today, he told the Daily News over the weekend that he wants the North Pacific Council to look at how the merger would impact federal fishery regulations that prohibit any single company from controlling too much of the Bering Sea crab and pollock fisheries.

The council meets in Anchorage through today.