May 13, 2019 — National Fish and Seafood announced that it was immediately ceasing operations on Friday, 10 May, marking the end of its long history in the seafood business and putting 150 employees out of work.
Founded in 1979, the Gloucester, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based seafood processor, which sells the Matlaw’s stuffed clam line, had been reeling financially since owner Pacific Andes filed for bankruptcy in 2016. NFS put itself up for sale, and several companies – including Red Chamber – considered purchasing it, but ultimately never did.
“Unfortunately, despite great strides we made in improving operating performance, National Fish just had too many legacy issues that prevented us from consummating a sale,” NFS President Todd Provost said in a press release.
In January 2019, NFS demanded payment from Pacific Andes, which owes NFS USD 30 million (EUR 28 million), according to court documents. Plus, NFS was paying out legal fees for its trade secrets lawsuit against Tampa Bay Fisheries for the latter half of 2018 and early 2019, before both suppliers agreed to settle the case in mid-March. And former NFS President Jack Ventola was convicted of fraudulently diverting money from the company and then not paying taxes on the income.
Read the full story at SeafoodSource