Yakobi Fisheries is a family owned & operated, based out of Pelican, AK, in the remote wilderness of Chichagof Island. Here we process all of our locally hand-caught fish and send it to our warehouse in Juneau for shipping & distribution, run by our partner Chris McDowell. We recently also partnered with Tyson Fick to acquire Taku River Reds.
Seth Stewart, who founded Yakobi Fisheries, grew up right here in Pelican, and fished with family and on his own boat for over 20 years. He learned, starting at age 11, first hand how fresh, wild caught fish can improve your quality of life. He had the dream and goal of sharing this knowledge by providing people with the highest quality salmon at the lowest price possible. With the help of a B.S. in business and the support of his entire family and some local friends, Seth stopped fishing full time, and founded Yakobi Fisheries in 2010. Around the same time, Pelican Seafoods, which had been operating at full capacity for many years, closed its doors.
Together with his wife Anna, they continued fishing their own boat part time. Every hook-and-line caught wild fish was processed and marketed in a small processing facility owned by a friend and shipped out via seaplane. They were soon able to expand, and in 2015, made the move to our current facility, The Old Crab Plant, previously operated by Pelican Seafoods. Seth & Anna soon began buying the same high quality fish from a select group of local fishermen. Friends & family! These guys share the same passion for providing a high quality product for your table.
In the last few years, Yakobi has continued to expand its space in the Old Crab Plant. We hire around twenty seasonal employees every year, in addition to our year-round employees, including a core group of our own family. We continue to buy troll and longline fish selectively from about ten local fisherman (including Seth's brother).
With the acquisition of Taku River Reds in 2018, we are able to additionally offer gillnet caught wild salmon, as well as support many local gillnet fishermen in the Juneau area. We pay our fisherman a premium price, and in return, they provide us with a premium product. This is how we produce an exceptional quality product with a transparent supply chain that our customers have grown to expect from Yakobi Fisheries. We know exactly who caught your dinner, and by supporting us, you’re supporting our fishermen as well.
To read more about the history of Pelican, Alaska, click here.