Fishermen Get $1 Million Loan
A group of San Pedro fishermen who own the former Star-Kist Foods cannery have received approval from the Los Angeles City Council for a $1-million, low-interest loan to expand their freezer and cold storage facilities.
The Terminal Island cannery, which operates on a for-profit basis under the name United Food Processors Inc., was purchased two years ago by the San Pedro Fishermen’s Cooperative. The cooperative, which represents about two dozen fishermen, bought the cannery just as Star-Kist was about to close it.
United Food Processors will be required to pay back the loans at a rate of 6.5% over 25 years. As it is repaid, the money will go into a revolving loan fund that will be used to finance other projects in Wilmington and San Pedro, according to city officials.
The money, which comes out of federal block grant funds, will supplement a $450,000 loan the city made to the cannery last year. That loan was also used to expand the cannery’s cold storage facilities.
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