American shrimp-farming company American Mariculture, along with American Penaeid and Sun Shrimp Gourmet, have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection citing financial difficulties following multiple hurricanes and business downturns.
Co-founded by Robin Pearl in 2013, the three companies’ original plan was to raise shrimp for consumption, but after operational issues early on, the company switched to producing broodstock for other shrimp farmers.
According to the company’s bankruptcy case management filing, at one point, sales reached USD 25 million (EUR 24.3 million) as it became the largest producer of broodstock in the world, with significant increases in international sales – the majority of which were to Chinese companies.
The company took a significant hit when the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the Chinese market, drastically lowering its sales. The company said sales began to increase post-Covid, and the owners tried to sell the company but failed – which they attributed to three main reasons.
“First, ...