verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . october 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message type private industry fishery founded 1973 headquarters seattle washington key people chuck bundrant chairman and founder kaare ness founder joe bundrant ceo products seafood slogan from the source to the plate website official website trident seafoods is the largest seafood company in the united states . 1 it is based in seattle washington . it manages a network of fishing ships processing plants and a vertically integrated distributorship of its products . it sells frozen canned smoked and ready to eat seafood products for the wholesale retail and food service markets under a variety of different brand names . it is a member of the pacific whiting conservation cooperative . 2 contents 1 history 1.1 key people 1.2 exxon valdez oil spill settlement 2 environmental record 3 references and notes 4 external links history edit the company was founded in 1973 . in 1986 it merged with conagra s northwest pacific seafood unit retaining the trident name and with conagra holding a 45 % stake in the new company . in 1995 conagra sold most of its interest to trident s original private owners . a leader in the consolidation of the seafood industry since the 1990s the company has made numerous acquisitions increasing its operations and market presence . some of these acquisitions with their associated brands are conagra 1986 see above . along with the merger came conagra s sea alaska and lily brands . farwest fisheries 1992 along with its faust prelate rubinstein s 3 tulip and whitney canned seafood primarily salmon brands . sealegs surimi brand 1999 from nichirei foods . tyson seafood group 1999 along with its arctic ice and pubhouse frozen seafood brands . norquest seafoods 2004 along with its norquest silver lining and portlock brands of frozen canned and smoked salmon . royal pride and sno tip canned salmon brands 2004 from north pacific processors . conagra seafood brands 2006 including louis kemp surimi and captain jac . bear & wolf salmon co. 2008 producer of skinless and boneless canned salmon . kasilof fish co. 2010 producer of smoked salmon products . key people edit vic scheibert president alaska operations john matelich president domestic value added operations randy furtner chief financial officer allen kimball executive vice president international sales joe plesha chief legal & regulatory officer larry dutton executive vice president quality brant rigby vice president human resources exxon valdez oil spill settlement edit in 1991 trident seafoods and six other seattle based fish processors finalized a secret deal with exxon over damages from the 1989 exxon valdez oil spill in prince william sound alaska . 4 5 6 7 the agreement between exxon and the so called seattle seven came to light after anchorage based attorney david w. oesting the lead plaintiffs counsel in exxon shipping company et al. v. baker grant et al. submitted a preliminary plan of allocation or damage matrix to federal judge h. russel holland in february 1997 . 4 the seattle seven responded by filing suit against oester and other plaintiffs attorneys . 4 in court it was revealed that trident and the other processors had accepted a settlement of between 63.75 and 76 million dollars from exxon for agreeing to return to exxon their share of any punitive damages awarded by the court . 4 6 7 the processors agreed to be exxon s front in recovering punitive damages and exxon agreed to pay their ongoing legal fees . 4 judge holland called the deal an astonishing ruse and accused exxon of acting as jekyll and hyde ... behaving laudably in public and deplorably in private . 4 5 even though they had already settled with exxon the seattle seven filed 745 million in punitive damage claims to be secretly given back to exxon . 4 5 judge holland voided the agreement and said that neither exxon nor the seafood processors would share in the punitive damages . 5 7 the judge wrote public policy will not allow exxon to use a secret deal to undercut the jury system the court s numerous orders upholding the punitive verdict and society s goal in punishing exxon s recklessness . 4 5 however in 2000 a three judge panel of the ninth circuit court of appeals overturned holland s decision and reinstated the agreement . 6 7 the appeals court ruled that judge holland had abused his discretion and characterized the secret settlement as an innovative way to encourage settlements in large class action cases that was in the public interest . 6 7 environmental record edit in 2011 as part of a consent decree united states of america v. trident seafoods corporation civil action no. 11 1616 trident seafoods agreed to pay a 2.5 million fine the largest clean water act penalty ever assessed by the us environmental protection agency to an alaska fish processor . 8 9 10 according to the epa trident had illegally dumped fish processing waste into the ocean for years creating at one site near its akutan plant a massive carpet of gelatinous goo covering an area of sea floor the size of 38 football fields or more than 50 acres in size . 8 9 the agreement also required trident to invest an estimated 30 40 million in source control and waste pile remediation measures at its facilities in naknek akutan cordova st. paul and ketchikan alaska . 9 10 the 2011 agreement finalized in 2012 settled more than 480 alleged violations of the clean water act that took place between 2005 and 2009 at fourteen of the company s onshore and offshore plants . 8 11 the epa press release announcing the 2011 consent decree noted that in the previous ten years trident has been a party to multiple administrative enforcement agreements and judicial consent decrees resolving similar violations at many of the same facilities . 9 references and notes edit seafood business magazine . seafood business.com . 2010 05 01 . archived from the original on 24 march 2012 . retrieved 2011 10 04 . about pwcc . pacific whiting conservation cooperative s pwcc website . the rubinstein s brand has been in use since 1960 by whitney fidalgo seafoods predecessor of farwest and named for its founder sam rubinstein . the star of david in its logo was to indicate that the canned salmon or tuna was kosher in contrast to the canned crab that was also marketed under the rubinstein s brand . a b c d e f g h ott riki 2008 . not one drop betrayal and courage in the wake of the exxon valdez oil spill 1st ed . . white river junction vermont chelsea green publishing . pp. 171 173 . isbn 1933392584 . a b c d e salpukas agis 1996 06 14 . exxon is accused of astonishing ruse in oil spill trial . new york times . retrieved 2015 03 05 . a b c d carter mike 2000 10 13 . court ruling means exxon may save millions . seattle times . retrieved 2015 03 05 . a b c d e erb george 2000 11 05 . exxon valdez case still twisting through courts . puget sound business journal . retrieved 2015 03 05 . a b c trident seafoods agrees to 2.5 m pollution fine from epa . the anchorage daily news . 2011 09 29 . retrieved 2015 02 25 . a b c d trident seafoods corp. to pay 2.5 million to resolve clean water act violations and spend more than 30 million to upgrade processing plants . environmental protection agency . 2011 09 28 . retrieved 2015 02 25 . a b us v. trident seafoods amended consent decree . noticeandcomment.com . 2013 10 21 . retrieved 2015 02 25 . trident seafoods corp. clean water act settlement . environmental protection agency . 2011 09 28 . retrieved 2015 02 25 . external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title trident seafoods & oldid 742422762 categories 1973 establishments in the united states2011 in the environmentcommercial fishing in alaskacompanies based in seattleexxonmobil litigationexxon valdez oil spillseafood companies of the 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