Circle Seafoods Operating in Metlakatla During 2025 Salmon Season
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - June 2, 2025
METLAKATLA, Alaska — Circle Seafoods will buy and process salmon in Metlakatla during the 2025 season as part of its mission to shape the future of the wild seafood industry.
Through innovative handling techniques like freezing round fish to ultra low temperatures and transporting them out of Alaska in bulk, Circle delivers pink salmon to global and domestic markets in formats that have traditionally not been available to the species.
Circle will operate a shorebased facility leased from the Annette Island Packing Company and expanded the plant’s freezer capacity and made other capital investments to improve the efficiency of the operation, compared to the first year Circle leased the plant, 2024. The plant’s production capacity is 200,000 pounds per day, with 200,000 pounds of refrigerated holding tank capacity. Frozen salmon will ship direct to market in low temperature containers, making good on Circle’s promise of creating a year-round supply.
In addition, Circle will send its first floating processor, cold storage and transportation barge, Circle I, from Aberdeen, WA to Metlakatla. The barge is scheduled to sail at the end of June and will buy and process all species of salmon by the peak of the southeast season in mid to late July. Circle I has an estimated processing capacity of 500,000 pounds per day, as well as 600,000 pounds of refrigerated holding tank capacity. After salmon is whole-round frozen, Circle I has more than 10M pounds of cold storage capacity.
Leading the Way for a Prosperous Fishery
The price of fish has not kept up with the costs and expertise it takes to maintain and operate a fishing vessel, and the variable supply and quality of wild salmon leads to inconsistent prices.
Circle Seafoods aims to change that by freezing round salmon to ultra low temperatures and transporting it out of Alaska through a large-scale, unbroken cold chain. This cold chain delivers a more consistent product to buyers than traditional models. Whole round salmon is then processed on-demand to buyers’ specifications and schedules, without the time pressure of peak-season volumes. This leads to a reliably higher quality product which commands a higher and more stable price on the market.
Redefining Pink Salmon
For many consumers, pink salmon is the entry point to purchasing seafood in the grocery store, driven by its affordability and salmon’s position as a healthy, approachable choice. Making a good first impression is crucial. Delivering a top-quality product to consumers at this entry point can turn them into consistent seafood buyers and creates greater demand for all of Alaska’s seafood products.
Above, Pink salmon from the 2024 season, refreshed in May 2025
Circle Seafoods Ultra Low Temp Pink Salmon Fillets are available at a price point that is appealing for these entry-level consumers. The fillets are available in 2,400 retail stores across the United States, including H-E-B and Sprouts Farmers Market. Putting the Circle brand on a premium salmon product demonstrates their commitment to bringing a high-quality product to the market which drives a high-quality price.
Circle-branded packs of individual pre-cooked pink salmon fillets are another innovation made possible through a consistent supply of premium quality salmon. This product introduces wild salmon to a new audience of consumers in grab-and-go settings, where healthy, high-protein options are rare. These portions maximize the value available in each fish by utilizing portions that are too small to be an entreé fillet and traditionally would become mince or waste.
Through Circle’s improved quality practices and innovative logistics that serve markets across North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, a new class of pink salmon products has been discovered by the market, delivering wins from catchers to consumers and raising the value of the Alaskan salmon fishery as a whole.
Leading the Market on Price
Higher and consistent quality = higher and consistent pricing
Circle proved their model in 2024 when the first fish that had been through their unbroken cold chain and quality program hit the market. The quality of these fish reintroduced competitive pricing for pink salmon. Fishers for Circle received a $0.48/lb retro for their pinks—an almost 50% increase over the base price set in July of $0.25/lb. Circle was the first salmon processor in Southeast to release their retroactive prices in 2024, driving the first substantive positive price change in several years.
Paying this price for pinks isn’t based on speculation. It is grounded in the market’s reaction to and appetite for high-quality and mild-tasting protein sources. It also reflects the experience and investments it takes to harvest the resource.
There is untapped value in the pink salmon fishery in Southeast Alaska—for fishers and for consumers. Realizing that value will take process innovations and a commitment to quality practices at scale, and Circle Seafoods shows that it’s possible.
Call for Fleet
If you are a seiner in Southeast Alaska and interested in being part of the change that the wild seafood industry needs—now or in the future—contact Kit Culbert at fleet@circleseafoods.com to learn more about Circle Seafoods and selling your catch to their operation in Metlakatla.
About Circle Seafoods
Circle Seafoods is shaping the future of wild seafood. Our processing approach adds efficiency and fair treatment to the supply chain to make harvesting wild salmon more profitable, while raising the fishery’s quality and value. Long-term, this means economically viable harvesting, thriving communities, and strong fisheries. We’re committed to prosperity, from fishermen to families, for generations.
