January 12, 2014 — GOULDSBORO, Maine — Maine Fair Trade Lobster, the lobster processor that last year took over operations at the former Stinson Seafood and Live Lobster plant in the local village of Prospect Harbor, is shutting down the facility temporarily in order to add more capacity at the site, according to company officials.
In a prepared statement released Friday, the firm said the project is expected to increase capacity at the plant by 50 percent. The company did not specifically say how long the project might take to complete but did indicate the plant is expected to be fully operational this spring.
“As winter months are historically slow for the lobster industry and with most production facilities normally closed, the company looks forward to a timely execution of this exciting project,” company officials said in the statement. “The focus must be on the coming spring and substantial increases in production and employment for the local area of Maine.”
Most production employees will be given notice of temporary layoffs, the statement indicated.
Maine Fair Trade Lobster officials said that the plant employed more than 130 people and processed more than 4 million pounds of lobster in 2013, its first year of operations. The enterprise is a joint operation between Connecticut-based Garbo Lobster and East Coast Seafood of Topsfield, Mass.
Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News