Tag Archives: John Lees
‘I don’t want to be a Wal-Mart fisherman’: Scallopers sound off about permit leasing/consolidation
The New England Fisheries Management Council held a scoping meeting Wednesday at the New Bedford Whaling Museum on its proposed Scallop Fishery Management Plan adjustment. Should it go through, the plan would allow scallopers to lease out portions of their days at sea license to other boats, causing concern among small fisherfolk and portside business-owners alike. “I was born a fisherman’s daughter and became a fisherman’s wife,” said Evelyn Sklar at the meeting. “And now I’m a fisherman’s mother and a fisherman’s grandmother. “I hope I can die in peace, because this doesn’t belong in the fishing family industry.” “When consolidation happened [in the groundfish fleet], the community dried up around it,” “As consolidation happened with draggers, they were forced out of business,” said Justin Mello, captain of the Temptress. “I can see the same thing happening. >click to read< 08:12
New Bedford Scallopers tell fishery managers they don’t want leasing
More than 110 attendees, a mix of fishermen, shoreside business owners, marine scientists, attorneys and vessel owners, filled a meeting room at the Whaling Museum on Wednesday for the first of two public meetings in New Bedford on the leasing proposal. Those who spoke in opposition drew loud applause, while those who spoke in support drew little or none. “There was a time in this industry when a father owned a boat and he taught his son, and his son was able to rise up … buy and operate his own boat, and you know, those days are gone,” said Tyler Miranda, a New Bedford captain of two scallopers. “I think that if [leasing] does move forward and is developed, it will take even further away from the family and community dynamic that fishing is and always was — and will make it more corporate.” >click to read< 13:50
From boat to table: Family starts direct-to-consumer scallop business
At the beginning of the pandemic and over 1,000 miles from New Bedford, Britt St. George and Madison Lees quarantined in Florida with their father, John Lees, founder of Mar-Lees Seafood and current president of New England Marine; their mother; and their significant others, Zack St. George and Edward Smith. It was a time in which scallops were a part of nearly every conversation, Madison Lees said, and not just because their father is in the business. It was because the family business was growing. They also figured it would be the perfect time to sell scallops directly to consumers online as restaurants were either closed or running at limited capacity, he said. “Now or never, now is the time to do it,” >click to read< 07:57
Lees used Shahin as ‘pawn against Mar-Lees’
US scallop supplier Mar-Lees Seafood claims its current president and CEO was used as a pawn against the company by John Lees, co-founder and twice former top executive, who is now being accused of racketeering. In a Dec. 4 response to Lees’ Nov. 20 call for the federal lawsuit brought under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) on Oct. 26 to be dismissed, or, at the very least, stayed, Mar-Lees legal council states this should be denied. Mar-Lees council also states the allegations in the RICO case are different to the other state case, which has been partially stayed for arbitration. more@undercurrent 15:51
Another top exec out of ‘revolving door’ at Mar-Lees
Rick Marino’s exit comes as the defendants in the latest federal legal action against the company are served with the action, giving 60 days for a response. Marino, who joined Mar-Lees in February 2013 from fellow New Bedford-based Northern Wind, where he had been for nine years, ending as vice president of sales, is understood to have left the company in the past few weeks. more@undercurrent 16:52
