A US company that supplies scallops to Cooke-owned Wanchese Fish Company has expanded its operating capacity thanks to vessels it acquired from Blue Harvest Fisheries, a group backed by private equity firm Bregal Partners.
Daniels Trawlers, a company that has an exclusive supply agreement with Wanchese for its seafood operations, has acquired five double-dredge scallop vessels formerly owned by Blue Harvest since the start of this year. Daniel's Trawlers now owns 17 scallop harvest vessels in New Bedford, according to the companies.
Blue Harvest is capped in terms of it participation in the scallop fishery, restricting its ability to grow through its scallop business. As a result the company has been selling off its scallop harvesting assets, building a brand-new, nine-boat fleet of groundfish trawlers.
Daniels Trawlers uses the Port of New Bedford as its primary landing port while using local businesses for required goods and services, the companies said.
Terms of the transactions have been disclosed.
Cooke acquired Wanchese Fish from the Daniels family in 2015, and Daniels Trawlers has an exclusive supply agreement with Wanchese for its seafood operations, according to the companies.
A vertically integrated seafood harvester, processor, and distributor, Wanchese Fish Company is capable of harvesting over 4,000 tons of wild scallops, shrimp, oysters, southern king crab, and other seafood products each year.
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