When we squint real hard, we see moments in the woods. Like the day we knew we had lost all of our customers due to COVID-related shutdowns and the ensuing sleepless nights, wondering whether we would survive our first year in business. Conversations with our dear chef friends who were similarly stricken and with our distributor partners who had to painfully furlough or lay off as much as 75% of their staff. We also see the day Brendan broke the winch, and another day when he broke the overhead door, and then the day Kat killed the van, and that one time….
And then we open our eyes wide, and we see the forest.
What comes into clear focus is a lot bigger than those moments. We see an amazing team of hardworking people and a community who surrounded our small company like a warm hug, totally committed to supporting local fishermen and revolutionizing the Gulf of Maine seafood industry. Home cooks, now friends, who have gone out of their way to buy our seafood, tried new recipes, shared pictures, and marveled at what our local waters have to offer.
We remember a local benefactor who purchased fish for us to give to out-of-work restaurant workers and our friends at Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association who raised funds to purchase fish from local boats to be donated to food banks.
We have forged new partnerships, employed more staff, leased a new facility, and continued to pay premium prices to local boats with the ultimate goal of realizing a more economically sustainable fishing industry.
We are not out of the woods yet. Nobody is. But, as the leaves have fallen off the trees for 2020, we see the light shining through.
