Tag Archives: Wanchese Fish Company

Vessel Review: F/V ERIN BRUCE II – Wanchese Argentina adds Scallop Trawler to the Fleet

Wanchese Argentina, a subsidiary of Cooke Seafood USA’s Wanchese Fish Company, took delivery of a new scallop trawler built by Armon Shipyard of Spain at its recently acquired Astilleros Ria de Vigo facilities. F/V Erin Bruce II will be used for year-round trawling and processing of Patagonian scallops off Argentina primarily for export to Europe and North America. Cooke Seafood USA said it is the biggest newbuild factory trawler to be operated in Argentina and the first to be constructed specifically for the domestic scallop fishery. Ross Butler, CEO of the company, remarked that the vessel is designed to be fuel-efficient and to offer modern crew accommodations. Photos, more, >>click to read<<07:48

Captain William Tyndale “Punk” Daniels of Wanchese, North Carolina has passed away

William Tyndale “Punk” Daniels, 77, of Wanchese, North Carolina, died on Sunday, April 23, 2023, at Chesapeake Health and Rehabilitation Center. As a commercial fishing boat captain with Wanchese Fish Company, Punk spent countless hours on the water, providing for his family, and contributing to the local economy. In addition to his work as a captain, Punk was a co-owner of Wanchese Fish Company. Punk’s expertise in the fishing industry was legendary, and he was widely known in fishing ports on both coasts of the United States. Punk was also well known for his trademark whistle; if you heard it, you knew it was him and that he would “see you around like a donut.” >click to read< 09:24

New Shrimp Trawler for Wanchese Fish Company

Wanchese Fish Company, a division of Cooke Seafood USA, is launching its newest shrimp trawler, F/V Destiny for operations in southern Argentine waters for the 2022 season. Built by the Astilleros Armon shipyard in Spain, at a value of $15 million CAD, the Destiny will be one of the newest and most modern fishing vessels in the Argentine shrimp industry. The Destiny is 42.93 meters in total length and 11.10 meters in total width and has a maximum deadweight tonnage of 885.  >click to read< 11:41

Captain Horatio “Raish” Beck, of Rodanthe, NC, has passed away

Captain Horatio “Raish” Beck, 81, of Rodanthe, NC passed away at home on Friday, November 12, 2021. Born August 17, 1940, in Rodanthe to Walter Henry Beck and Laura Etta Scarborough, he was the grandson of Levene Westcott Midgett and Lucretia Midgett. Raish fished all of his life and was a scallop boat captain for Wanchese Fish Company for 30 years. He was devoted to his family and a faithful man of God. He has numerous friends up and down the East Coast. >click to read< 11:45

Canada’s Cooke Aquaculture buy’s Wanchese Fish Company, launches new company

Canada WancheseThis deal and investment into the wild fishery comes in tandem with the creation of a new company,Cooke Seafood USA Inc, which “will provide another platform for future growth within the capture fishery”, the Cooke family, owners of Canada-based Cooke Aquaculture, said in a release on Friday morning. Wanchese is a harvester, processor and distributor with the capacity to harvest 4,000 tons of wild scallops, flounder and other seafood products each year. Founded in 1936, it owns a fleet of 15 vessels capable of providing product fresh to the US,,, Read the rest here 14:56

Carlos Rafael in talks to sell scallop vessels to Canadian Cooke Aquaculture

In a deal put together by Sam Daniels, currently president of Wanchese and one of the owning families, Canadian salmon farmer Cooke is also in talks to buy Rafael’s 12 New Bedford-based scallop vessels, sources said. For Rafael, part of the deal is that the vessels leave Massachusetts. “I don’t want them to bring in $1 for this state again.” He then plans to sell his fleet of 37 working groundfish vessels, he said. This would leave only 11 left in the port. What a guy! Read the rest here 17:46

Wanchese’s Daniels family in agreement on sale to Canadian Cooke Aquaculture – What about the US Quota?

Canada WancheseSources have questioned how Cooke, also family-owned and based in Blacks Harbor, New Brunswick, is going to structure buying some or all of Wanchese, seeing as non-Americans can only own 25% of US fishing quotas. The company owns 11 fishing vessels in the US, catching scallops, fish, and shrimp up and down the East Coast, as well as two operating for sea scallops in Argentina. One source said maybe Glenn Cooke, co-founder and CEO of Cooke, means to keep some of the Daniels family on to be the face of the US entity used to acquire other US quota assets. “Interesting and very tricky,” he said of this. Read the rest here 14:01

Sale process is reportedly underway for family-owned US scallop and fish supplier Wanchese Fish Company

Previous attempts to sell have been held back by differing viewpoints from the family members, sources said. Wanchese has a fleet of 13 vessels catching scallops and fish, 11 in the US and two in Argentina. The company also has three packing plants, for unloading the fresh catches from its vessels, which are either then trucked to market or to its value-added plant and coldstorage in Suffolk  Read the rest here 14:03

Outer Banks Watermen call for emergency action on inlet

Men and women employed in the commercial fishing, charter boat and boat building industries on the Outer Banks lined the perimeter of the Dare County Board of Commissioners meeting room at the board’s Jan. 7 meeting, waiting for their opportunity to speak during public comment. Read more