Juneau, Alaska, U.S.A.-based Alaska Glacier Seafoods has acquired Triad Fisheries, the owner of the Bruce Gore brand of Alaska salmon products.
Alaska Glacier Seafoods, which specializes in high-quality Alaska seafood, was founded in 1996 as a one-boat operation catching shrimp and halibut in Alaska. It opened a 10,000-square-foot processing plant in Auke Nu Cove, near Juneau, in 2005, and today, the company processes over 10 million pounds of fish annually and employs nearly 150 people during the peak season.
Vancouver, Washington, U.S.A.-based Triad Fisheries was founded by fisherman Bruce Gore in 1978. Gore pioneered a bleeding and freezing process that resulted in higher-quality fish reaching the markets the company sold to, which eventually came to include Europe and Japan. Gore also pioneered the use of traceability tags for individual salmon that identified the boat that caught it and the location where it was caught, according to Triad Fisheries Co-Owner Mark Tupper.
Tupper and his wife, Beth Tupper, purchased Triad from Gore in 2008 and grew the company’s fleet from eight to 16 vessels, fishing in Southeast Alaska for coho and king salmon and selling it under the Bruce Gore brand.
"For over 20 years, Triad/Bruce Gore brand has set the benchmark in terms of quality for Alaskan caught salmon. It's our goal to continue this tradition to the same standards Bruce Gore and Mark Tupper have developed over the years,” Alaska Glacier Seafoods Vice President Jim Erickson said in a press release. “We are excited to work with their established customer base and their fleet of frozen-at-sea trollers, who in our opinion put up the highest-grade, sustainable wild-caught salmon there is. Even though the Alaska salmon industry has experienced some very challenging times in the past 18 months, we feel optimistic about the future. Alaska Glacier Seafoods will be looking to integrate this brand into our existing high-end customer base, as well as continue to support the longstanding customers Triad has supplied over the years."
Mark Tupper told SeafoodSource he and his wife are retiring and were looking to sell the business to a like-minded family. He said Mike, Bonnie, Jim, and Kristie Erickson, who own Alaska Glacier Seafoods, share “the same values and commitment to quality” as he and Beth Tupper. Tupper declined to reveal the sale price.
"After many discussions with the Ericksons, we knew we were placing Triad Fisheries in the right hands to continue the legacy that Bruce Gore started in 1978," Tupper said. “We are confident that Alaska Glacier Seafoods will continue to honor the exceptional fishermen who dedicate their livelihoods to meeting the exacting standards that make the Bruce Gore brand synonymous with the highest-quality salmon from the state of Alaska."
