Nation’s oldest lobster processor files for bankruptcy relief, seeks new owner

A person stands on a dock with boats behind.

FILE PHOTO / TIM GREENWAY John Norton, president and co-founder of Cozy Harbor Seafood, is seen here in 2015 outside the Portland waterfront facility.

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By Laurie Schreiber

Citing financial challenges since the pandemic, Portland-based Cozy Harbor Seafood and its companies Art’s Lobster Co. Inc. and Casco Bay Lobster Inc., have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

In Wednesday's announcement, the company said it had initiated the process to keep operating as it restructures its debt and pursues a court-supervised sale to a new owner.

"Despite the many challenges we've faced over the last 45 years, our business is woven into the social, cultural and economic fabric of Maine — and that is worth saving, which is why we have made this difficult, yet important decision,” said John Norton, the company’s president and co-founder. “Chapter 11 is a proven process that will help us to continue doing what we do best — processing, packing and selling premium-quality seafood — while we position the company for long-term success, potentially under a new owner."

The company is represented by Portland-based Bernstein Shur as legal counsel and Corporate Finance Associates as investment banking merger and acquisition advisor. The latter is headquartered in California with a regional office in Portland.

Financial challenges

Headquartered in Maine's largest city, Cozy Harbor has its processing and packing facilities at 75 St John St. and additional locations at the Portland Fish Exchange and 35 Union Wharf.

Established in 1980, Cozy Harbor is a seafood processor, distributor and supplier providing live and frozen Maine lobster and local fish to major supermarket chains, wholesalers, importers and distributors. It claims the title of the nation’s oldest lobster processor.

The facilities will continue to operate, receive lobster and whitefish deliveries from suppliers, employ staff and fulfill customer orders, according to a news release. The company said it expects its workforce to remain intact.

Cozy Harbor has 110 employees, including 73 seasonal workers, a spokesman told Mainebiz.

The company said its decision is best understood in the context of broader market forces that have strained the sector in recent years.

Challenges during and since the pandemic have included labor shortages, what the industry has said is government overregulation of the commercial fishing, aquaculture and fish processing industries and competitive trade from Canada.

“In this environment, even well-established processors have struggled to manage sustained external pressures and market instability,” the company said.