Todd Cannery is a historical settlement and abandoned fish processing facility located on Lindenberg Harbor in Peril Strait, on the southern coast of Chichagof Island, about 9 miles (14 km) west of Chatham Strait and 32 miles (51 km) north-northeast of Sitka, Alaska. Lindenberg Harbor was named in 1883 by Russian navigator Ensign Ivan Vasilevich, in honor of G. Lindenberg, a Finnish captain employed by the Russian-American Company who conducted surveys in the area in 1838.

In 1917, 118 canneries operated in Alaska, packing over half the world’s salmon supply. However, production outpaced demand, prompting cannery owners to reorganize and consolidate the industry. The original cannery at Lindenberg Harbor closed in 1921 and was sold to Nick Bez in 1927, with financial backing from August Buschmann, to form the Peril Straits Packing Company. In 1942, it reorganized with J.H. Todd & Sons as Todd Packing Company to process pink salmon caught at a fish trap at Cube Point on Admiralty Island. Shortly after Alaska gained statehood in 1959, fish traps were outlawed, leading to the cannery’s closure.

Nick Bez, born Nikola Bezmalinovic in 1895 in Croatia, emigrated to the United States at age 15. He borrowed $50 to book passage on an Italian ship. In 1919, he Americanized his name, became a U.S. citizen, and soon owned three purse seiners operating out of Gig Harbor, Washington, and later Seattle. Bez became influential in Washington state politics and the national Democratic Party. In 1951, he sold his stock in Astoria‘s Columbia River Packers Association and acquired P.E. Harris, one of the largest salmon-packing and distributing companies in the Northwest. He renamed it Peter Pan Seafoods, Inc., which operated canneries in Alaska, Puget Sound, and Astoria. In 2024, Peter Pan Seafood Co. ceased operations due to financial troubles. Read more here and here. Explore more of Todd Cannery and Peril Strait here: