Vice President of Sales

Canastra Fishing Company is a family-owned seafood business built by fishermen, for fishermen. Our roots are grounded in hard work, respect for the sea, support for the commercial fishing industry, and a commitment to preserving New Bedford’s working waterfront. We operate an expanding fleet and work with a diverse range of seafood species and products. Our business includes vessel landings, auction sales, direct customer sales, seafood trading, product development, packing, processing partnerships, and domestic and international distribution. As the company continues to grow, we are seeking an experienced commercial leader who can turn our access to high-quality seafood into lasting customer relationships, stronger markets, and profitable new business opportunities. Position Overview The Vice President of Sales will lead Canastra Fishing Company’s overall commercial strategy. This person will be responsible for developing and executing sales plans across the company’s seafood portfolio, expanding direct-sales channels, identifying new markets, and helping guide product and processing decisions. This is a hands-on executive role requiring strategic thinking, strong seafood-market knowledge, and the ability to respond quickly to changing landings, pricing, customer demand, seasonality, and market conditions. The Vice President of Sales will work directly with the CEO, COO, vessel-management team, procurement, operations, logistics partners, processors, and customers. The successful candidate will help determine the best commercial path for each product while respecting the company’s longstanding relationship with the seafood auction and the broader New Bedford fishing community. Key Responsibilities Sales Strategy and Leadership Develop and manage a comprehensive annual sales and business-development plan Establish commercial strategies for individual species, products, seasons, and customer segments Evaluate daily landings, market prices, inventory, customer demand, and product availability Determine the most effective balance between auction sales, direct sales, processing, freezing, storage, and other value-added opportunities Build pricing strategies that improve margins while maintaining dependable, long-term customer relationships Create sales forecasts, market reports, account plans, and performance updates for company leadership Establish clear priorities and accountability across the sales function Business Development Identify and develop new domestic and international markets for fresh and frozen seafood Expand relationships with seafood processors, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, foodservice companies, restaurants, importers, exporters, and other buyers Develop new customers for underutilized species and products with strong market potential Build programs that convert lower-value or overlooked products into profitable commercial opportunities Identify strategic partnerships in processing, packing, cold storage, distribution, exporting, and product development Represent Canastra Fishing Company at trade shows, industry meetings, customer visits, and market-development events Travel to meet customers, evaluate markets, and develop new business opportunities Product and Market Development Work with leadership, operations, and procurement to evaluate new products and commercial programs Help design product specifications, pack styles, case formats, quality standards, and customer programs Evaluate opportunities involving fresh, frozen, whole, processed, value-added, bait, and byproduct categories Support the development of processing and packing capabilities when market demand justifies investment Monitor seafood trends, competitive activity, imports, exports, supply conditions, regulatory changes, and shifting customer preferences Develop strategies for products affected by seasonality, quota limitations, inconsistent supply, or price volatility Help position emerging and underutilized sp…

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