An unnamed seafood company would like to buy National Fish & Seafood, Gloucester, Massachusetts, U.S.A. Mayor Gloucester Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken told SeafoodSource on Monday, 20 May.
NFS closed abruptly on 10 May, and its approximately 180 employees were each given a 60-day severance.
Romeo Theken declined to name the company interested in purchasing NFS.
“Someone is trying to work on it, to keep it as it is, and hire everyone back,” she told SeafoodSource. “[But] I’m not holding my breath until I get confirmation.”
In 2017, Vernon, California, U.S.A.-based Red Chamber seafood, one of North America’s largest seafood companies, looked into buying NFS, but a deal was never consummated.
Without a purchase, NFS is headed towards a sale through bankruptcy, Romeo Theken said.
“A lot of people are waiting for NFS to file for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy to buy the equipment, but it would be nice if someone would just take the whole thing and make something of it,” she said.
After NFS’s closing, several entities said they are owned funds – including the landlord of NFS’s office building, the City of Gloucester, and transport companies, Romeo Theken said.
“I’m disappointed by how National Fish & Seafood has handled the situation,” Romeo Theken said immediately after the closing.
The City of Gloucester has helped to organize a job fair for displaced NFS employees and for other members of the public. The fair will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on 21 May in the Kyrouz Auditorium at Gloucester City Hall.
Channel Fish Processing Company, Stavis Seafood, John Nagle Co., and Intershell International are among the seafood companies looking to hire former NFS employees at the job fair. Nearly 30 companies in total are represented at the fair.
Photo courtesy of the Office of the Mayor of Gloucester
