Ocean Fresh Seafood Products history

The Pocatello, Idaho, distribution operation was launched in 1956 as Idaho Fish & Poultry and served customers in southeast Idaho.

As the issue lingered in the court system, the problem of land claims only worsened after Alaska was granted statehood in 1959, because the terms of the act allowed Alaska the right to take possession of 100 million acres of land for development.

Ocean Beauty moved into the Montana market in 1964, when it opened an office in Helena to distribute the company's seafood products that were either flown in or trucked in.

In 1965, the Natives scored a major victory when United States Interior Secretary Stewart Udall granted a freeze on all land transfers pending a resolution to the Native claims.

Perhaps the most important factor that led to a settlement was the 1968 discovery of oil on Alaska's North Slope.

In 1978, Ocean Beauty opened a production plant in Cordova, Alaska, a remote town situated on Prince William Sound and close to the world-famous Copper River, where some of the more prized salmon in the world thrived.

In 1979, Ocean Beauty was acquired by Sealaska Corporation, an Alaskan regional Native-owned corporation established several years earlier by the United States government.

The situation became so dire that Sealaska was on the verge of declaring bankruptcy by the end of 1982.

Another significant development was the 1989 launch of a processing vessel.

Another smoked fish operation, Boston-based Rite Foods, would be acquired in 1999 to flesh out this specialty division.

Ocean Fresh started off as a private limited company in Malaysia on 22nd January 2002.

Ocean Beauty opened a new distribution operation in Phoenix in July 2004.