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Icicle Seafoods founder passes

One of the founders of the company that became Icicle Seafoods has died. Bob Thorstenson Sr. passed away this week. He was 77 years old.

Icicle Seafoods founder passes

One of the founders of the company that became Icicle Seafoods has died.
Bob Thorstenson Sr. passed away this week. He was 77 years old. Thorstenson was part of a group of Petersburg fishermen who decided to purchase the Pacific American Fisheries cannery in 1965. The new company, owned by fishermen, later became Icicle Seafoods and expanded its processing plants throughout Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. According to Brad Warren’s 2005 book “The Rise of Icicle Seafoods,” Thorstenson worked at PAF plants in King Cove and Petersburg before becoming the company’s youngest cannery superintendent in 1960 at the age of 29. He married Pam Martens of Petersburg in 1963.
When the owners of the PAF cannery planned to shut down the petersburg plant, Thorstenson helped hatch the plan for Petersburg fishermen and residents to buy the cannery. In April of 1965, the couple sold their home in Bellingham and all their possessions, including a herd of beef cattle, and headed north to Petersburg, where they lived for 12 years.
Thorstenson was named to the United Fishermen of Aaska Seafood Industry Hall of Fame earlier this year.
The family is planning a graveside service for Wednesday August 5th at 3:30 p.m. in Petersburg. A reception will follow at the Sons of Norway Hall.

Petersburg pigs problematic pipeline

The water pipeline from the Cabin Creek reservoir into Petersburg should be a little cleaner this week. The city has been scouring the inside of the line with a device called a “pig." It’s meant to scrub away a bacterial growth inside the conduit that may be decreasing the amount of water that flows through the pipe. Joe Viechnicki stopped by the water treatment plant Saturday as officials watched one of the pigs pop out of the pipe.

Random drawing will decide hydro permit

The federal agency that regulates hydro-electric power projects will use a random drawing to decide who gets a federal permit to study hydro potential at one perched lake in Thomas Bay near Petersburg. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission received four competing applications for a hydro plant at Ruth Lake north of Petersburg. It will be a one-in-three chance for the three Southeast communities seeking the federal preliminary permit.

Etolin timber sale decision sent back

The U.S. Forest Service’s top official in Alaska has reversed an agency decision for a large timber sale planned for Etolin Island near Wrangell. The Navy sale could mean a harvest of 72 million board feet of timber and over eight miles of new permanent roads on the island, about 22 miles southwest of Wrangell. But the sale will need further environmental review for the planned harvest to go forward.