With a few exceptions, Alaska’s 2016 salmon season was tough on both buyers and sellers. But having less fish available for market means wild salmon is moving well through sales channels at home and abroad, and plans are already underway for ramping up sales for next year, said Robin Samuelson, president of Ocean Beauty Seafoods which has operated in Alaska since 1910.

“Our freezers will be empty by spring and we will be processing and buying very aggressively throughout the state,” Samuelson said, referring to the company’s six processing plants in Petersburg, Excursion Inlet near Juneau, Cordova, Kodiak and Bristol Bay.

That’s contrary to recent rumors on the docks that Ocean Beauty is closing up shop, likely stemming from a big move being planned at its major office headquarters near Seattle.

“We are closing our Union Street facility in Ballard and moving north,” Samuelson explained, adding that it also houses a plant where value added processing is done. “We’ve outgrown that facility and are experiencing substantial growth, and we are looking for a larger building that can accommodate that.”

“We are always looking for more opportunities,” Samuelson said. “We know how much fishermen rely on us and we will be working with them for years to come.”