UniSea Inc.: a key player in Alaska's fishing industry, Dutch Harbor's economy.

• Author: Stricker, Julie
• Position: SPECIAL SECTION: Corporate 100

Terry Shaft loves fish. In fact, it's the only kind of "meat" he eats.

Shaff has collected hundreds of fish recipes and dined at seafood restaurants all over the world. His favorite? It's the Wednesday night seafood buffet in the Chart Room at the Grand Aleutian Hotel.

For most people, traveling to the Grand Aleutian Hotel, located in Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island midway down the Aleutian Island chain, is a bit out of the way even with the appeal of great seafood. But Shaft, president and CEO of UniSea Inc. since 1991, has an inside track on great seafood. And Dutch Harbor, the gateway to the icy Bering Sea, is the epicenter of a business that produces seafood products that are distributed around the world.

UniSea, a subsidiary of Japanese firm Nippon Suisan Kaisha Ltd., was formerly known as Universal Seafoods. It was founded in 1974 and is based in Redmond, Wash., but its primary processing facilities are in Dutch Harbor. A secondary processing facility is located in Redmond. Nippon Suisan Kaisha purchased Universal Seafoods in 1979 and the name was changed to UniSea in 1985.

Seasons of the Fish

UniSea produces pollock, Pacific cod, king and snow crab, halibut, black cod and various secondary products such as fish meal, fish oil and bones. In 1987, UniSea began processing surimi, a ground fish blend that is often used to mimic other seafood such as crab or molded into fish sticks. Overall, it processes more than 100 kinds of fish and crab, but pollock fillet block, surimi and crab are the company's mainstays. UniSea is McDonald's largest provider for its Filet-O-Fish sandwiches, according to the company website.

UniSea operates a cold storage facility in Redmond, where it reprocesses seafood to customer specifications. It also owns and operates the Grand Aleutian Hotel and the UniSea Inn in Dutch Harbor.

It is a vital part of the economy of Dutch Harbor/Unalaska, a booming fishing community 800 miles southwest of Anchorage. The town, with a permanent population of about 5,000, is centered on a deep-draft, ice-free port in the heart of the North Pacific and Bering Sea fisheries.

UniSea's Unalaska operations are a self-contained complex that includes the processing facilities, housing, bunkhouses and a cafeteria, says Todd Shoup, Dutch Harbor production director.

UniSea employs from 1,000 to 1,200 people during its peak seasons, which last from January until April for pollock, with a second pollock season from June to October. Crab season...