Jackie Ventola, National Fish & Seafood President, Indicted for Tax Fraud; Todd Provost Replaces Him
On Friday the US Dept. of Justice accused National Fish & Seafood President Jackie Ventola of tax fraud in not reporting over $2 million in income. On the same day, National announced that Ventola was leaving, and would be replaced by Todd Provost. Reports suggest Provost was part of a long-term succession plan prior to the indictment. According to the US Attorney for Massachusetts, the indictment alleges that Ventola was president and part owner of a temporary labor company called Continental Labor Team, which was used--with the help of an unnamed co-conspirator and another shell company- to defraud the IRS.
Commercial Dungeness fishing in Oregon and Washington was officially postponed on late Friday for high levels of domoic acid in the fishery. The season was slated to start on December 1 but will be delayed until at least December 15. The region’s managers reminded the industry how this isn’t the first delay to December Dungeness fishing; that tribal landings will help to plug inventories; and once landings do resume the crabs are full of meat.
In other news Red Lobster will permanently increase the size of the shrimp used in its signature Scampi and Skewers dishes through a "Bigger, Better Shrimp" initiative. Sizes will be increased anywhere between 47 and 86 percent depending on the dish. "We started to hear from them that our shrimp had become somewhat ordinary," said Salli Setta, President of Red Lobster. "Our guests shared they wanted Shrimp Scampi and Shrimp Skewers to be bigger, so we increased the size.
Finally, lobster continues to be used to signal upscale values to shoppers in many markets. Aldi and Lidl, two retail discounters in the UK, have used lobster promotion to great effect, bringing in a raft of supermarket competitors selling small whole frozen popsicle lobsters at GBP5.00. But actual consumer experience may leave something to be desired, if the Times food critic is to be believed."
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