Shrimping is important to the Mitkof Island town of Petersburg.  The state's first shrimp processor was founded in 1916 and now is part of Trident Seafoods.

Dennis Sperl knows the whole experience of harvesting shrimp around Petersburg.  He has been doing it since 1969 and both his sons have grown up in the business, as well.   Dennis started shrimping and selling product off the dock.   Later he started freezing the product at sea and later harvesting the product on board.     His markets are still local, but he also sells to distributors who ship his product around Alaska, the country and world.   One of his primary, long-standing markets is Japan, where they prefer a  head on shrimp product.    

While we have written many times about harvesters who are developing new technologies and processes to raise the bar on quality, we were impressed with Dennis and his depth of knowledge on quality processing and handling of seafood and in this case - shrimp.      Before "cool chain" became cool to use as a phrase as it relates to the supply chain of food, Dennis pioneered shipping in a van produced in Japan, especially designed to keep and maintain his products at consistently cold temperatures.  

The shrimp harvest is a short season around Petersburg.  It normally starts October 1 and ends November 30th. Dennis runs most of his commercial product through Coastal Cold Storage, however, his sons do sell direct and can be contacted for more information at the contact below.

Jess Sims at seafoodfas@yahoo.com
Dan Sims 772-9219
STAR F/V
PO BOX 896
Petersburg, AK 99833
Phone: (907) 772-9219
Fax: (907) 772-2385