Eastern Fisheries Inc. has temporarily suspended operations at its Hassey Street plant for renovations to meet the requirements for BRC certification, the company said in a news release Wednesday night.
British Retail Consortium certification "is the global standard for food safety today," said Eastern's Executive Vice President Joe Furtado in the news release. "... To move forward and make the necessary adjustments to our plant ... (and) to enhance our internal systems so we can continue to produce a quality product more efficiently, we needed to temporarily suspend operations at our Hassey Street location."
Furtado continued that "Our decision to temporarily shut down operations during the 'natural' break between the Northern and Southern seasons was made only after exhausting other viable alternatives and searching for other suitable locations to accommodate our needs during the renovation period."
There was no immediate word on how many workers are affected. Eastern Fisheries has three New Bedford facilities. All three locations are in the process of being renovated to meet BRC standards and Eastern plans to have renovations completed in time for the opening of the new season in the spring of 2013, the release said.
Also in the statement, Roy Enoksen, president and co-founder of Eastern Fisheries, said: "There is no best time to shut down operations. We looked at all of our options in order to make the improvements needed to operate effectively and efficiently, meeting all the quality and safety standards that our customers expect.
"As a family business with roots in New Bedford that extend 30-plus years, it is never easy to the make the kind of decisions that you know may have an impact on the community."
Furtado said the company is trying to place workers in other jobs and employees who had been with the company for a year or more received severance pay.
