Alaska Native corporation closing in on Clipper and Blue North

Alaska-based Bristol Bay Native Corporation's (BBNC) acquisition of Clipper Seafoods and Blue North Fisheries, two of the largest harvesters and marketers of hook-and-line Pacific cod in the United States, could happen within the next two weeks, sources familiar with the situation told IntraFish.

BBNC is slated to combine the two fishing operations and will own the majority stake in the new venture, a source with knowledge of the deal told IntraFish. BBNC, though based in Dillingham, Alaska, home of the world's largest sockeye salmon run, has no operational experience in the fisheries sector, which is why terms of the deal include Clipper's management team having operational control over the combined operations, a source told IntraFish.