Christopher Benson

United States Seafoods is a leading producer in Alaska’s multispecies groundfish fisheries. The company owns a fleet of two factory trawlers and four trawl catcher vessels, including the largest head and gut factory trawler in the United States. This year we are currently fishing the following vessels: F/T Seafreeze America, F/T Seafreeze Alaska, C/V Alaska Endeavor, C/V Alaska Knight, C/V Alaska Provider, and C/V Alaska Chieftain. US Seafoods fishes in the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Gulf of Alaska for flatfish, rockfish, Pacific cod, and Atka mackerel under a number of management programs including the Amendment 80 and Gulf of Alaska rockfish catch share programs, license limitation program, and the Community Development Quota (CDQ) program. The company’s breadth of operations in Alaska fisheries is unique. US Seafoods employs approximately 350 people on an annual basis, including Wheelhouse crew, deck crew, engineering staff, factory management, galley, fish processors, office management and administrative personnel. Our vessels operate in Alaska approximately 10 months a year. They return to Seattle each year for a 2 month shipyard period for regular repairs and maintenance. United States Seafoods has a significant presence in the Seattle maritime community through its recent acquisition of the NOAA Eastlake facility with almost one-half mile of pier face for moorage of large vessels. USS operations also extend to marine services, as it has taken a leading role in the groundfish surveys of the North Pacific, including the groundfish surveys for the Eastern Bering Sea shelf, Gulf of Alaska, Aleutian Islands, and Chukchi Sea.