Unalaska, AK – The Seattle-based seafood company Wards Cove continues to shrink.

The company is selling seven trawlers and one crab vessel to the Norton
Sound Economic Development Corporation and the Coastal Villages Region
Fund. These community development quota groups will also take over 4 percent of the pollock quota from Wards Cove. The sale was finalized Tuesday, and the price has not been disclosed.

Wards Cove also owns interesting Alyeska Seafoods, but no announcements have yet been made regarding its intentions for Alyeska. Alyeska Seafoods is not offering comment on the asset sale at this time.

Wards Cove has an extensive history of operating in Alaska. It was founded in Ketchikan in 1928, and had a significant stake in the salmon market. In 2002, it pulled out of that fishery, causing significant job losses in Southeast.