Peter Pan Seafoods is facing a fine from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and another lien from a vendor claiming it hasn’t been paid.
As part of a consent decree filed 24 May in the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska, Peter Pan faces USD 750,000 (EUR 694,000) in fines for violations of the U.S. Clean Water Act at its processing facilities in Valdez and King Cove, Alaska. The company agreed to pay the fines without admitting any wrongdoing, and also agreed to institute source control procedures and monitor seafood waste outflows at the Valdez facility, to cease using a decommissioned outflow at its King Cove facility, and to conduct annual seafloor surveys until the decree is withdrawn. The company also promised to conduct an audit of each of its Alaska plants and file annual status reports on its waste management systems.
Silver Bay Seafoods, which made a deal in April to take over Peter Pan Seafoods’ Alaska operations, was also included in the consent decree. It was ordered to limit discharge to less than 250,000 pounds of waste annually at the Valdez plant, and to hire two vessels to remove seafood processing waste from the Valdez facility and dispose of it offshore during the 2024 season. Additionally, it was ordered to transport seafood processing products from the Valdez facility to its adjacent plant for processing or freezing for the 2024 seafood processing season, and to install and use piping between the Valdez facility and its adjacent facility by 15 June 2025. In 2028, it must conduct a benthic assessment, and if a waste pile is found that exceeds a half-acre, it must submit a remediation plan to the EPA for review and approval.
Under the consent decree, the terms of the deal will be automatically transferred along with any ownership change of either plant.
On 25 April, Bellevue, Washington, U.S.A. Peter Pan entered receivership after Wells Fargo, its biggest lender, filed a receivership petition in King County Superior Court on 22 April. Peter Pan has fallen into increasingly dire financial straits in recent years. It has faced numerous liens recently filed by its partners, after coping with a previous set of claims in 2023.
On 16 April, the owner of the F/V Arctic Lady filed a lien against Peter Pan for more than USD 348,000 (EUR 322,000), alleging it was not paid for deliveries of pollock and Pacific cod made to the King Cove facility between January and October 2023.
And on 25 April, the owner of the F/V Pacific Mariner filed a lien against Peter Pan for more than USD 49,000 (EUR 45,000), alleging it was not paid for deliveries made to the King Cove plant.
Rodger May, who could not be reached for comment, acquired Peter Pan in 2021 from Japanese seafood conglomerate Maruha Nichiro. The current ownership group includes Northwest Fish Co., the McKinley Alaska Private Investment-managed Na’-Nuk Investment Fund, and the RRG Global Partners Fund.
The Stapleton Group, a specialist in maximizing the recovery of capital for creditors headquartered in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., has been appointed as controller of Peter Pan’s assets.
