Maruha Nichiro-owned Westward Seafoods has temporarily halted production at Alaska pollock processing plant Alyeska Seafoods, based on a cluster of positive cases of COVID-19 identified during surveillance testing of the workforce at the facility last week. The company is the third major Alaska Bering Sea pollock processor to have shut down in the past week over COVID outbreaks, just as the critical A fishing season begins. The Alaska pollock fishery is the second largest fishery in the world, worth an estimated $1.9 billion (€1.6 billion), according to NOAA. A and B fishing seasons are the primary time for vessels to catch and harvest fish in the state, with Unalaska's Dutch Harbor serving as a hub for production.