About Blue Marlin Brand Seafood by Fleet Fisheries

  Fishing is in the blood of the Vinjerud family. A self-made businessman, Lars Vinjerud II worked his way up from deckhand to a captain on boats out of New Bedford.  His father Lars and himself legally emigrated from Norway in 1951. Today, the next generation is learning how to fill in their father's shoes. Lars's two sons Leif 20, Lars III 23, and daughter Lisa 24 are learning management skills from the processing floor up. Lars believes too often that children of executives move into upper management positions before they are ready. 

  Lars, along with wife Virginia, are putting the finishing touches on the new 65,000 square-foot Fleet Fishers facility in New Bedford's South End. According to Lars," This new building is bigger than most fish companies on the South Coast, and is certainly more modernized than all the other" .Scallops and lobsters caught by eight of his privately owned vessels will account for 60 percent of the plant's volume; halibut and salmon flown from Alaska along with tuna and swordfish from international waters will constitute for the other 40 percent. Processed and sold under the Blue Marlin brand will be sent to distributors in California, Florida and Las Vegas.

  Fleet Fisheries began with only four employees, and now has upwards to 30 employees  to run the new plant . Along with 9 more employees needed to run his office. In addition to that  each of his 8 boats require 7 crew aboard at all times. All of the boats were built after 2000 and the newest named Alaska will be finished in Alabama soon.