UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM
(Mark One)
| ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For
the fiscal year ended:
or
| TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
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most recently completed second fiscal quarter was $
As of April 17, 2023, there were shares of the registrant’s common stock outstanding.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Except for historical information, this report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Such forward-looking statements include, among others, those statements including the words “believes”, “anticipates”, “expects”, “intends”, “estimates”, “plans” and words of similar import. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding our business, potential target businesses, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, by their nature, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Our actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. We caution you therefore that you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements as statements of historical fact or as guarantees or assurances of future performance. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include changes in local, regional, national or global political, economic, business, competitive, market (supply and demand) and regulatory conditions and the following:
| ● | Our ability to raise capital when needed and on acceptable terms and conditions; | |
| ● | Our ability to make acquisitions and integrate acquired businesses into our company; | |
| ● | Our ability to attract and retain management with experience in the business of importing, packaging and selling of seafood; | |
| ● | Our ability to negotiate, finalize and maintain economically feasible agreements with suppliers and customers; | |
| ● | The availability of crab meat and other premium seafood products we sell; | |
| ● | The intensity of competition; | |
| ● | Changes in the political and regulatory environment and in business and fiscal conditions in the United States and overseas; and | |
| ● | The effect of COVID-19 on our operations and the capital markets. |
These risks and others described under the section “Risk Factors” below are not exhaustive.
Given these uncertainties, readers of this Annual Report on Form 10-K (“Annual Report”) are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. We disclaim any obligation to update any such factors or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect future events or developments.
All references in this Annual Report to the “Company”, “we”, “us”, or “our”, are to Blue Star Foods Corp., a Delaware corporation, and its consolidated subsidiaries, John Keeler & Co., Inc., d/b/a Blue Star Foods, a Florida corporation (“Keeler & Co.”) and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Coastal Pride Seafood, LLC, a Florida limited liability company (“Coastal Pride”) and Taste of BC Aquafarms, Inc., a corporation formed under the laws of the Province of British Columbia, Canada (“TOBC”).
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PART I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
History
We were incorporated on October 17, 2017 in the State of Delaware as a blank check company to be used as a vehicle to pursue a business combination with an unidentified target. Following the Merger (as described below), we changed our name from “AG Acquisition Group II, Inc.” to “Blue Star Foods Corp.” and succeeded to the business of Keeler & Co.
Merger
On November 8, 2018 (the “Closing Date”), we entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger and Reorganization (the “Merger Agreement”), with Keeler & Co., Blue Star Acquisition Corp., our newly formed, wholly-owned Florida subsidiary (“Acquisition Sub”), and John Keeler, Keeler & Co’s sole stockholder (the “Sole Stockholder”). Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, Acquisition Sub merged with and into Keeler & Co, which was the surviving corporation and thus became our wholly-owned subsidiary (the “Merger”).
At the Closing Date, each of the 500 shares of common stock of Keeler & Co issued and outstanding immediately prior to the closing of the Merger were converted into 30,000 shares of our common stock. As a result, an aggregate of 15,000,000 shares of our common stock were issued to the Sole Stockholder.
At the effective time of the Merger, the Company redeemed an aggregate of 9,250,000 shares of common stock from the pre-Merger stockholders of the Company (the “Pre-Merger Holders”) for cancellation by the Company (the “Share Redemption”) and, as a result, the Pre-Merger Holders retained an aggregate of 750,000 shares of common stock after the Merger, representing a value of $1.5 million. The shares were redeemed in consideration for the direct benefit the Pre-Merger Holders will receive in connection with the consummation of the Merger.
Offering
Concurrently with the closing of the Merger, we closed a private placement offering (the “Offering”) in which we sold an aggregate of 725 units of our securities (the “Units”) at a purchase price of $1,000 per Unit, for aggregate gross proceeds of $725,000. Each Unit consisted of one share of the Company’s 8% Series A convertible preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Series A Stock”) and a three-year warrant (the “Warrant”) to purchase one-half of one share of common stock for every share of common stock that would be received upon conversion of a share of Series A Stock (the “Warrant Shares”), at an exercise price of $2.40. The Series A Stock is convertible into shares (the “Conversion Shares”) of the Company’s common stock, at a conversion rate of $2.00 per share (the “Conversion Rate”). We issued 353,250 Warrant Shares in the Offering, which Warrant Shares are exercisable independently of any conversion of Series A Stock. The net proceeds of the Offering were used by the Company for general corporate purposes. All of the Series A Stock have been converted to shares of the Company’s common stock.
Company Settlement
Effective upon the closing of the Merger, we issued an aggregate of 688 Units to eleven “accredited investors” (the “Settlement Parties”) for each such individual or entity entering into a settlement and mutual general release agreement (the “Settlement Agreement”) with the Company in full and complete settlement and satisfaction and release of claims such Settlement Parties may have against the Company (the “Company Settlement”).
Upon the closing of the Merger, (i) options to purchase an aggregate of 104 shares of Keeler & Co’s common stock at an exercise price of $10,000 per share, which were outstanding immediately prior to the closing of the Merger, were converted into a ten-year immediately exercisable options to purchase an aggregate of 3,120,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $0.333 (which option was subsequently terminated unexercised), and (ii) a ten-year option to purchase 3,120,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.00, which vested one-year from the date of grant.
Changes to the Board of Directors and Executive Officers
On the Closing Date of the Merger, the then-current directors and Chief Financial Officer and Chief Executive Officer of the Company resigned from all such positions as directors and officers of the Company and were replaced by new officers and directors.
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Lock-ups
In connection with the Merger, each of our executive officers and directors after giving effect to the Merger (the “Restricted Holders”) and each of the Pre-Merger Holders, holding at the closing date of the Merger an aggregate of 750,000 shares of our common stock, entered into lock-up agreements (the “Lock-Up Agreements”), whereby the Restricted Holders were restricted for a period of 18 months and the Pre-Merger Holders were restricted for 12 months, after the Merger (the “Restricted Period”), from sales or dispositions (including pledges) in excess of 50% of all of the common stock held by (or issuable to) them and at a price below $2.20 per share (such restrictions together the “Lock-Up”). Notwithstanding such restrictions, during the Restricted Period (i) the Restricted Holders may transfer up to 10% of their shares to a charitable organization which agrees to be bound by such Lock-Up restrictions and (ii) the Pre-Merger Holders may transfer up to 10% of their shares to a third party which agrees to be bound by such Lock-Up restrictions. From and after the Restricted Period, neither the Restricted Holders nor the Pre-Merger Holders may sell, dispose or otherwise transfer more than one-third of the common stock held by such Holder in any two-month period.
Redemption from Pre-Merger Holders
In connection with the Merger, the Company redeemed an aggregate of 9,250,000 shares of common stock from the Company’s Pre-Merger Holders for cancellation by the Company (the “Share Redemption”) and, as a result, the stockholders retained an aggregate of 750,000 shares of common stock after the Merger (the “Retained Shares”), representing a value of $1.5 million. The shares were redeemed in consideration for the direct benefit the Pre-Merger Holders will receive in connection with the consummation of the Merger.
Our authorized capital stock currently consists of 100,000,000 shares of common stock, and 5,000,000 shares of the preferred stock, of which 10,000 shares have been designated as Series A Stock. Our common stock is not traded on any exchange. Our common stock was quoted on the OTC pink sheets under the symbol “BSFC” since February 18, 2020. Our common stock was approved for listing on NASDAQ under the symbol “BSFC” and began trading on November 3, 2021.
Coastal Pride Acquisition
On November 26, 2019, Keeler & Co., Inc. (the “Purchaser”) entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger and Reorganization (the “Coastal Merger Agreement”) with Coastal Pride Company, Inc., a South Carolina corporation, Coastal Pride Seafood, LLC, a Florida limited liability company and newly-formed, wholly-owned subsidiary of Keeler & Co. (the “Acquisition Subsidiary” and, upon the effective date of the Coastal Merger, the “Surviving Company), and The Walter F. Lubkin, Jr. Irrevocable Trust dated 1/8/03 (the “Trust”), Walter F. Lubkin III (“Lubkin III”), Tracy Lubkin Greco (“Greco”) and John C. Lubkin (“Lubkin”), constituting all of the shareholders of Coastal Pride Company, Inc. immediately prior to the Coastal Merger (collectively, the “Coastal Sellers”). Pursuant to the terms of the Coastal Merger Agreement, Coastal Pride Company, Inc. merged with and into the Acquisition Subsidiary, with the Acquisition Subsidiary being the surviving company (the “Coastal Merger”).
Coastal Pride is a seafood company, based in Beaufort, South Carolina, that imports pasteurized and fresh crabmeat sourced primarily from Mexico and Latin America and sells premium branded label crabmeat throughout North America.
Pursuant to the terms of the Coastal Merger Agreement, the following consideration was paid by Keeler & Co.: (i) an aggregate of $394,622 in cash; (ii) a five-year 4% promissory note in the principal amount of $500,000 (the “Lubkin Note), issued by Keeler & Co. to Walter Lubkin Jr. (“Walter Jr.”); (iii) three-year 4% convertible promissory notes in the aggregate principal amount of $210,000 (collectively, the “Sellers Notes” and together with the Lubkin Note, the “Notes”), issued by Keeler & Co. to Greco, Lubkin III and Lubkin, pro rata to their ownership of Coastal Pride Company, Inc. immediately prior to the Coastal Merger; (iii) 500,000 shares of common stock of the Company, issued to Walter Lubkin, Jr. (the “Walter Jr. Shares”); and (iii) an aggregate of 795,000 shares of common stock of the Company, issued to Greco, Lubkin III and Lubkin, pro rata to their ownership of Coastal Pride Company, Inc. immediately prior to the Coastal Merger (together with the Walter Jr. Shares, the “Consideration Shares”).
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The Notes are subject to a right of offset against the Coastal Sellers’ indemnification obligations as described in the Coastal Merger Agreement and are subordinate and subject to prior payment of all indebtedness of John Keeler under the Loan Agreement with Lighthouse Financial Corp., a North Carolina corporation (“Lighthouse”).
Principal and interest under the Lubkin Note are payable quarterly, commencing February 26, 2020, in an amount equal to the lesser of (i) $25,000 and (i) 25% of the Surviving Company’s quarterly earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization.
One-sixth of the principal and interest under the Sellers Notes are payable quarterly commencing on August 26, 2021. The Sellers Notes are convertible into shares of common stock of the Company at the Seller’s option, at any time after the first anniversary of the date of the Note, at the rate of one share for each $2.00 of principal and/or interest so converted (the “Conversion Shares”).
Keeler & Co. has the right to prepay the Notes in whole or in part at any time without penalty or premium.
On April 15, 2021, the Company issued an aggregate of 16,460 shares of common stock to the Seller’s in lieu of payment in cash of accrued interest in the aggregate amount of $39,504 under the Sellers’ Notes.
At the effective time of the Coastal Merger, the Coastal Sellers entered into leak-out agreements (each, a “Leak-Out Agreement”) pursuant to which the Coastal Sellers and Walter Jr. may not directly or indirectly pledge, sell, or transfer any of the Consideration Shares or Conversion Shares, or enter into any swap or other arrangement that transfers any of the economic consequences of ownership of any such shares for one year from the date of the Coastal Merger. Thereafter, each Seller and Walter Jr. may transfer up to 25% of the aggregate of the Consideration Shares and the Conversion Shares held by such person, in each successive six-month period.
In connection with the Coastal Merger, Lubkin III and Greco agreed to serve as president and chief financial officer, respectively, of the Surviving Company.
ACF Finco I, LP (“ACF”) and Keeler & Co. were parties to a loan and security agreement, originally dated as of August 31, 2016. As a condition to ACF’s waiver of certain events of default under the Loan Agreement, and consent to the formation of the Acquisition Subsidiary and the Coastal Merger, the Acquisition Subsidiary and Keeler & Co. entered into the Joinder and Seventh Amendment to the Loan Agreement which resulted, among other things, in Coastal Pride becoming an additional borrower under the Loan Agreement. On March 31, 2021, Keeler & Co. and Coastal Pride entered into a loan and security agreement (the “Loan Agreement”) with Lighthouse Financial Corp., a North Carolina corporation (“Lighthouse”), and the loan with ACF was extinguished.
Taste of BC Aquafarms Acquisition
On April 27, 2021, we entered into a stock purchase agreement (the “SPA”) with TOBC, and Steve Atkinson and Janet Atkinson (the “TOBC Sellers”), the owners of all of the capital stock of TOBC (the “TOBC Shares”) pursuant to which we acquired all of the TOBC Shares from the TOBC Sellers for an aggregate purchase price of CAD$4,000,000, subject to adjustment based upon the amount of TOBC’s working capital on the closing date (the “Purchase Price”) as follows: (i) CAD$1,000,000 in cash, pro rata with each TOBC Seller’s ownership of TOBC (ii) by the issuance to each TOBC Seller of a non-interest bearing promissory note in the aggregate principal amount of CAD$200,000, with a maturity date of November 30, 2021, with the principal amount of each note to be pro rata with each TOBC Seller’s ownership of TOBC, and secured by a Company guarantee and a general security agreement creating a security interest over certain assets of the Company, and (iii) 987,741 shares of common stock, (representing CAD$2,800,000 of shares based on USD$2.30 per share) with each TOBC Seller receiving a pro rata portion of such shares based upon the total number of TOBC shares held by such TOBC Seller.
On June 24, 2021, the SPA was amended to increase the purchase price to an aggregate of CAD$5,000,000 and the TOBC acquisition closed. Pursuant to the amendment, on August 3, 2021, an aggregate of 344,957 shares of common stock (representing CAD$1,000,000 of additional shares calculated at USD$2.30 per share) was put in escrow until the 24-month anniversary of the closing. If, within 24 months of the closing, TOBC has cumulative revenue of at least CAD$1,300,000, the TOBC Sellers will receive all of the escrowed shares. If, as of the 24-month anniversary of the closing, TOBC has cumulative revenue of less than CAD$1,300,000, the TOBC Sellers will receive a prorated number of the escrowed shares based on the actual cumulative revenue of TOBC as of such date.
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In addition to the foregoing consideration, at the time of the closing, the Company provided CAD$488,334 to TOBC for the extinguishment of certain of TOBC’s existing debt.
The shares of common stock received by the TOBC Sellers are subject to a leak-out restriction commencing on the date of issuance, as follows: (i) up to 25% may be sold after 12 months; (ii) up to 50% may be sold after 18 months; (iii) up to 75% may be sold after 24 months; and (iv) up to 100% may be sold after 30 months.
The TOBC Seller’s non-interest-bearing promissory notes were paid in full at maturity.
In connection with the TOBC acquisition, the TOBC Sellers entered into four-year confidentiality, non-competition and non-solicitation agreements with the Company.
Gault Seafood Asset Acquisition
On February 3, 2022, Coastal Pride entered into an asset purchase agreement with Gault Seafood, LLC, a South Carolina limited liability company ( “Gault Seafood”), and Robert J. Gault II, President of the Seller (“Gault”) pursuant to which Coastal Pride acquired all of Gault Seafood’s right, title and interest in and to assets relating to Gault Seafood’s soft-shell crab operations, including intellectual property, equipment, vehicles and other assets used in connection with the soft-shell crab operations. Coastal Pride did not assume any liabilities in connection with the acquisition. The purchase price for the assets consisted of a cash payment in the amount of $359,250 and the issuance of 167,093 shares of common stock of the Company with a fair value of $359,250.
Coastal Pride also entered into a consulting agreement with Gault under the terms of which Gault will provide consulting services to Coastal Pride at the rate of $100 per hour, however, the first 45 days of services will be provided at no cost. Gault also agreed not to compete with Coastal Pride and its affiliates for a period of five years in any market in which Coastal Pride is operating or is considering operating or solicit employees, consultants, customers or suppliers or in any way interfere with Coastal Pride’s business relationships for a five-year period, Gault is also bound by customary confidentiality provisions. The Consulting Agreement may be terminated by either party upon five days written notice and by Costal Pride immediately for cause.
In connection with the asset acquisition, Coastal Pride will lease 9,050 square feet from Gault for $1,000 per month under a one-year lease agreement and will continue to operate the acquired soft-shell crab operations at such location in Beaufort, South Carolina unless a new facility is earlier completed.
Business Overview
We are an international seafood company based in Miami, Florida that imports, packages and sells refrigerated pasteurized crab meat, and other premium seafood products. Our current source of revenue is from importing blue and red swimming crab meat primarily from Indonesia, the Philippines and China and distributing it in the United States and Canada under several brand names such as Blue Star, Oceanica, Pacifika, Crab & Go, First Choice, Good Stuff and Coastal Pride Fresh, and steelhead salmon and rainbow trout fingerlings produced under the brand name Little Cedar Farms for distribution in Canada. The crab meat which we import is processed in 13 plants throughout Southeast Asia. Our suppliers are primarily via co-packing relationships, including two affiliated suppliers. We sell primarily to food service distributors. We also sell our products to wholesalers, retail establishments and seafood distributors.
Strategy
Our long-term strategy is to create a vertically integrated seafood company that offers customers high quality products while maintaining a focus on our core values of delivering food safety, traceability and certified resource sustainability.
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We plan to grow the Company organically by continuing to increase our customer base and by introducing new high-value product lines and categories, as well as strategically acquiring companies that focus on additional species and proprietary technologies that we believe we can integrate into a larger, diversified company.
Operating Companies
We operate through the following subsidiary companies:
Keeler & Co., doing business as Blue Star Foods, is an international seafood company that imports, packages and sells refrigerated pasteurized crab meat sourced primarily from Southeast Asia and other premium seafood products.
Keeler & Co. purchases the majority of our crab product (Portunus Pelagicus and Portunus Haanii) from processors which source the crab meat from local fishermen in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and India, to whom we pay a premium in order to outfit their boats with a proprietary GPS-based system. This system allows us to trace where the crab product originates and ensure that only mature crabs are being harvested by the use of collapsible traps and not gill nets.
The crab meat is purchased directly from processors with whom we have long-standing relationships, that have agreed to source their product in a sustainable manner. All crab meat is sourced under the Company’s U.S Food & Drug Administration (“FDA”) approved Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (“HACCP”) Plan. Additionally, all suppliers are certified by the British Retail Consortium (the “BRC”) and are audited annually to ensure safety and quality of our product.
The imported crab meat is processed in six out of the ten plants available throughout Southeast Asia. Our suppliers are primarily via co-packing relationships, including two affiliated suppliers. We sell primarily to food service distributors. We also sell our products to wholesalers, retail establishments and seafood distributors.
We have created a technology platform that tracks the product through its entire chain of custody and collects and transmits various data to the Company in real-time, from the loading site to the packing plant, through the sorting and pasteurization process and the exporting process to the end customer. Our technology allows our customers access to their “Scan on Demand” QR code-enabled traceability application.
Our premium proprietary brands, Blue Star, Pacifika and Oceanica are differentiated in terms of quality and price point.
We believe that we utilize best-in-class technology, in both resource sustainability management and ecological packaging.
Coastal Pride is a seafood company, based in Beaufort, South Carolina, that imports pasteurized and fresh crab meat (Portunus Pelagicus, Portunus Haanii and Callinectes) sourced primarily from Mexico and Latin America and sells premium branded label crab meat throughout North America.
It has three premium branded label products, First Choice, Good Stuff and Coastal Pride Fresh.
TOBC is a land-based recirculating aquaculture system (“RAS”) farming operation located in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada with an annual production capacity of approximately 100 tons. It produces steelhead salmon and rainbow trout fingerlings under the brand name Little Cedar Farms for distribution in Canada.
TOBC’s RAS facility has been operated as a model farm for the development of salmon RAS technology. We currently intend to refine this model farm into a 150-ton standardized module that will be replicated in the development of future farms. The next facility we hope to build, subject to sufficient resources, will have 10 such modules, for a total production capacity of 1,500 tons.
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The current RAS facility is in an insulated, bio-secure structure in which culture conditions are controlled. The primary RAS system is composed of thirteen culture tanks, a drum filter, a fluidized sand bed biofilter and a low head oxygenator and employs an efficient gravity fed low head arrangement which reduces energy use as compared to other RAS designs. Additionally, there are two independent partial reuse finishing tank systems.
Weekly harvests of approximately two tons of salmon are stunned and bled at the farm and then processed as fresh iced head on gutted (“HOG”) fish at a Canadian Food Inspection Agency approved processing facility. Currently, TOBC sells its salmon mainly to two wholesale seafood distributors in Canada.
Eggs are purchased from two primary suppliers and are hatched approximately every eight weeks. TOBC’s hatchery is composed of a recirculating system that utilizes an upwelling “heath stack” incubator and five tanks with moving bed biofiltration. The fish are then transferred to the main RAS system approximately 12 weeks post hatch. TOBC’s feed is largely terrestrial based from grains and other non-marine ingredients.
We believe that the faster life cycle from birth to harvesting of our salmon, as compared to conventional salmon, allows it to be produced more economically in contained, land-based RAS farms. Although RAS farms require greater capital investment than the sea cage approach, we believe that the higher costs are offset by more efficient growth and a shorter transportation distance to market.
Branded Products
We distribute our imported blue and red swimming crabmeat in the United States under the brand names Blue Star, Pacifika, Oceanica, Crab & Go Premium Seafood, First Choice, Good Stuff and Coastal Pride Fresh and steelhead salmon and rainbow trout fingerlings produced by TOBC under the brand name Little Cedar Falls.
Blue Star is packed with only high quality Portunus Pelagicus species crab and is produced under exacting specifications and quality control requirements.
Pacifika is a quality brand for the price conscious end user. The Portunus Haanii crab meat is packed in China and is ideal for upscale plate presentations.
Oceanica is made from the Portunus Haanii crab, which is caught and processed in Vietnam. It is an affordable choice to help reduce food cost without sacrificing the look/taste of dishes.
Crab + Go Premium Seafood is geared towards millennials as part of the trend toward pre-packaged, grab-and-go items. The product is packaged in flexible foil pouches.
Lubkin Brand is packed with quality Portunus Pelagicus species crab in the Philippines and Indonesia.
First Choice is a quality brand packed with Portunus Haanii crab meat from Malaysia.
Good Stuff is a premium brand packed with high quality Callinectes species crab from Mexico.
Coastal Pride Fresh is packed with Callinectes Sapidus from Venezuela and the United States.
Steelhead salmon and rainbow trout fingerlings are produced by TOBC under the Little Cedar Falls brand. The fish are sashimi grade and only sold as a fresh item, usually reaching end users within days of harvest.
Competitive Strengths
Sustainable and Traceable Product Sourcing. We believe that our greatest point of differentiation from other seafood companies is our efforts to ensure that our seafood products are ethically sourced in a method that is consistent with our core values and those of our customers.
Proprietary Brands. We have created several brands of crab meat that are well regarded amongst our customers and are differentiated by product quality and price point.
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Eco-Friendly Packaging. Another major point of differentiation from our competitors is our use of sustainable and ethical packaging. Our green pouches for Eco-Fresh crab meat are patented in the United States, Europe, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia under patent Nos.1526091 B1 and US Patents 8,337,922 and 8,445,046. We believe since their introduction in 2003, these pouches have saved in excess of a million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions versus metal can packaging material.
Growth Strategy
We intend to grow our business in several ways, including:
Growing our existing businesses. The three current existing businesses each have different pathways to organic growth, including by increasing their reliable access to sustainably sourced marine product and supplying to a larger and more diversified customer base. Our key objective is to optimize the management of the companies across all companies, specifically in the marketing, sourcing and financing departments.
Strategic Acquisitions. We will continue to seek opportunities to acquire companies that allow us to expand into new territories, diversify our species product categories, and where operational synergies with our existing companies may exist. We believe that we may have the ability to layer on a sustainability model to certain companies that operate in a more traditional way, with an opportunity to increase margins by selling a more premium product.
Scaling the RAS Business. We have an internal goal to reach production of 21,000 metric tons of steelhead salmon by 2028. If we can successfully access the necessary funding through the equity capital markets and through certain debt facilities, we hope to build a series of 1,500 metric ton and 3,000 metric ton facilities throughout strategic locations in British Columbia, Canada, where TOBC is currently based.
Industry Overview
The international seafood industry is going through a period of rapid change as it strives to meet the needs of a growing population around the world, where food consumption habits are evolving. We believe there are powerful trends emerging in the developing world (including a growing demand for animal-based protein) as well as in the developed world (where there is an increased awareness and focus on sustainable sourcing and protecting marine ecosystems).
Changes in Population Growth and Global Seafood Consumption:
The United Nations latest projections suggest that the global population could grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050 and 10.4 billion in 2100(1).
As the population has grown, so has per capita fish consumption. Per capita food fish consumption grew from 9.0 kg (live weight equivalent) in the 1960s to 20.2 kg in 2020, at an average annual rate of 3% compared with a population growth rate of 1.6%(2).
Rising incomes and urbanization, improvements in post-harvest practices and changes in dietary trends are projected to drive a 15% increase in aquatic food consumption, to supply on average 21.4 kg per capita in 2030(3).
Aquaculture Has Developed as a Major Source to Meet Global Seafood Demand:
In 2020, fisheries and aquaculture production reached an all-time record of 214 million tons, worth about $424 billion. Production of aquatic animals in 2020 was more than 60% higher than the average in the 1990s, considerably outpacing world population growth, largely due to increasing aquaculture production(4).
Total production of aquatic animals is expected to reach 202 million tons in 2030, mainly due to sustained growth of aquaculture, projected to reach 100 million tons for the first time in 2027 and 106 million tons in 2030(5).
We believe that the growth in consumption drives the increased growth of aquaculture and the need for recirculatory aquatic systems.
(1) United Nations – Department of Economic and Social Affairs – World Population Prospects (2022)
(2)(3)(4)(5) Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations “The State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture – 2022.
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Suppliers
We purchase crab meat directly from six processors with which we have long-standing relationships, that have agreed to source their product in a sustainable manner. All crab meat is sourced under the Company’s FDA approved HACCP Plan. Additionally, all suppliers are certified grade A by the BRC and are audited annually to ensure safety and quality.
The Company had five major suppliers located in the United States, Indonesia, Vietnam and China which accounted for approximately 76% of the Company’s total purchases during the year ended December 31, 2022. The Company’s largest supplier is located in Indonesia and accounted for 29% of the Company’s total purchases in the year ended December 31, 2022.
Sales, Marketing and Distribution
The Company’s products are sold in the United States and Canada. Its primary current source of revenue is importing blue and red swimming crab meat primarily from Indonesia, the Philippines and China and distributing it in the United States and Canada under several brand names such as Blue Star, Oceanica, Pacifika, Crab & Go, Lubkin’s Coastal Pride, First Choice, Good Stuff, Coastal Pride Fresh and TOBC steelhead salmon and rainbow trout fingerlings produced under the brand name Little Cedar Falls.
The Company stores its crab meat inventory at a third-party facility in Miami, Florida and distribution takes place from this facility.
The Company has a sales team based throughout the United States who sell directly to customers, most of whom are in the food service and retail industry and also manage a network of regional and national brokers, that cover both the retail and wholesale segments. The sales team and brokers help to pull the products through the system by creating demand at the end user level and pulling the demand through our distributor customers. The Company sells to retail customers either directly or via distributors that specialize in the retail segment.
The Company does not own its own fleet of trucks and utilizes less than truckload freight shipping (“LTL”) national freight carriers to deliver its products to its customers. LTL is used for the transportation of small freight or when freight does not require the use of an entire trailer. When shipping LTL, the Company pays for a portion of a standard truck trailer, and other shippers and their shipments fill the unoccupied space.
Customers
Our customer base is comprised of some of the largest companies in the food service and retail industry throughout the United States. We sell our crab meat to our customers through purchase orders. For the year ended December 31, 2022, sales to food distributors and retail and wholesale clubs accounted for 59% of our revenue. The balance of our revenue is derived from smaller seafood distributors and value-added processors.
The Company had nine customers which accounted for approximately 59% of revenue during the year ended December 31, 2022. One customer accounted for 36% of revenue during the year ended December 31, 2022. The loss of any major customer could have a material adverse impact on the Company’s results of operations, cash flows and financial position.
Competition
In general, the international seafood industry is intensely competitive and highly fragmented. We compete with local and overseas manufacturers and importers engaged in similar products.
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The Company’s primary competitors in its traditional sustainable seafood businesses are Tri Union Frozen Products, Inc. (Chicken of the Sea Frozen Foods), Phillips Foods, Inc., Harbor Seafood, Inc., Newport International and Twin Tails Seafood Corp.
The Company’s primary competitors in its RAS business are Aquabounty, Atlantic Sapphire, Aquaco, Nordic Aquafarms, Whole Oceans, West Coast Salmon and Pure Salmon.
Intellectual Property
Our intellectual property is an essential element of our business. We use a combination of patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret and other intellectual property laws and confidentiality agreements to protect our intellectual property. Our policy is to seek patent protection in the United States and in certain foreign jurisdictions for our products, processes and other technology where available and when appropriate. We also in-license technology, inventions and improvements we consider important to the development of our business.
In addition to our patents, we also rely upon trade secrets, know-how, trademarks, copyright protection and continuing technological and licensing opportunities to develop and maintain our competitive position. We monitor the activities of our competitors and other third parties with respect to their use of intellectual property. We require our employees to execute confidentiality and non-competition agreements upon commencing employment with us. Despite these safeguards, any of our know-how or trade secrets not protected by a patent could be disclosed to, or independently developed by, a competitor.
It is our standard practice to require our employees to sign agreements acknowledging that all inventions, trade secrets, works of authorship, developments and other processes generated by them on our behalf are our property, and assigning to us any ownership in those works. Despite our precautions, it may be possible for third parties to obtain and use without consent intellectual property that we own. Unauthorized use of our intellectual property by third parties and the expenses incurred in protecting our intellectual property rights, may adversely affect our business.
Borrowings under our loan and security agreement with Lighthouse are secured by substantially all of our personal property, including our intellectual property.
The following is a list of our patents:
| Title | Country | Patent No. OR Publication No |
Issue Date | Application No. | Application Date | |||||
| POUCH-PACKAGED CRABMEAT PRODUCT AND METHOD | US | 2015/0257426 A1 | 14/205,742 | 3/12/2014 | ||||||
| METHOD FOR PACKAGING CRABMEAT | US | 8445046 B2 | 5/21/2013 | 13/681,027 | 11/19/2012 | |||||
| METHOD FOR PACKAGING CRABMEAT | US | 8337922 B2 | 12/25/2012 | 10/691,480 | 10/21/2003 | |||||
| METHOD FOR PACKAGING CRABMEAT | EPC | 1526091 B1 | 10/21/2004 | |||||||
| TH | 28,256 | |||||||||
| PH | 1-2005-000216 | |||||||||
| ID | 20261 |
Our patents expire 20 years from the date of issuance which range from year 2007 to 2015.
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The following is a list of our registered trademarks and trademarks for which we have filed applications.
| Mark | Registration No | Registration Date | Application No. | Application Date | ||||
| AMERICA’S FAVORITE CRABMEAT | 2961590 | 6/7/05 | 78344059 | 12/22/03 | ||||
| ECO-FRESH | 4525998 | 5/6/14 | 77922376 | 1/28/10 | ||||
 |
3858522 | 10/5/10 | 77885209 | 12/3/09 | ||||
 |
3818057 | 7/13/10 | 77885203 | 12/3/09 | ||||
| OCEANICA | 3711200 | 11/17/09 | 77595180 | 10/17/08 | ||||
 |
2419060 | 1/9/01 | 75855876 | 11/19/19 | ||||
| Lubkin’s Coastal Pride | 2879531 | 8/31/04 | 78289067 | 8/19/03 | ||||
| Lubkin’s Good Stuff | N/A | N/A | 87919629 | 5/14/18 | ||||
| Lubkin’s First Choice | H/A | N/A | 88645685 | 10/8/19 |
Canadian Intellectual Property Office registered trademarks:
Little Cedar Falls – Registration #1766337- Expiration: June 20, 2032
Taste of BC – Registration #1561871 - Expiration: January 31, 2034
Government Regulation
Our third-party distribution facilities and our international suppliers are certified in accordance with the HACCP, standards for exporting aquatic products to the United States. The HACCP standards are developed by the FDA, pursuant to the FDA’s HACCP regulation, Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, part 123, and are used by the FDA to help ensure food safety and control sanitary standards.
Food Safety and Labeling
We are subject to extensive regulation, including, among other things, the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, as amended by the Food Safety Modernization Act (“FSMA”), the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder by the FDA. The FSMA was enacted in order to aid the effective prevention of food safety issues in the food supply. This comprehensive and evolving regulatory program impacts how food is grown, packed, processed, shipped and imported into the United States and it governs compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices regulations. The FDA has finalized seven major rules to implement FSMA, recognizing that ensuring the safety of the food supply is a shared responsibility among many different points in the global supply chain. The FSMA rules are designed to make clear specific actions that must be taken at each of these points to prevent contamination. Some aspects of these laws use a strict liability standard for imposing sanctions on corporate behavior. If we fail to comply with applicable laws and regulations, we may be subject to civil remedies, including fines, injunctions, recalls, or seizures, and criminal sanctions, any of which could impact our results of operations.
In addition, the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 prescribes the format and content of certain information required to appear on the labels of food products.
Our operations and products are also subject to state and local regulation, including the registration and licensing of plants, enforcement by state health agencies of various state standards, and the registration and inspection of facilities. Compliance with federal, state and local regulation is costly and time-consuming. Enforcement actions for violations of federal, state, and local regulations may include seizure and condemnation of products, cease and desist orders, injunctions or monetary penalties. We believe that our practices are sufficient to maintain compliance with applicable government regulations.
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Trade
For the purchase of products harvested or manufactured outside of the United States, and for the shipment of products to customers located outside of the United States, we are subject to customs laws regarding the import and export of shipments. Our activities, including working with customs brokers and freight forwarders, are subject to regulation by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, part of the Department of Homeland Security.
TOBC
TOBC’s aquafarms facility in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada with an annual production capacity of approximately 100 tons are licensed under the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Harvests of steelhead salmon and rainbow trout fingerlings are processed as iced HOG fish locally at a Canadian Food Inspection Agency approved processing facility.
Federal Trade Commission
We are subject to certain regulations by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Advertising of our products is subject to such regulation pursuant to the Federal Trade Commission Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder.
Employee Safety Regulations
We are subject to certain health and safety regulations, including regulations issued pursuant to the Occupational Safety and Health Act. These regulations require us to comply with certain manufacturing, health, and safety standards to protect our employees from accidents.
Anticorruption
Because we are organized under the laws of a state and our principal place of business is in the United States, we are considered a “domestic concern” under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) and are covered by the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA. The provisions prohibit any domestic concern and any officer, director, employee, or agent, acting on behalf of the domestic concern from paying or authorizing payment of anything of value to (i) influence any act or decision by a foreign official; (ii) induce a foreign official to do or omit to do any act in violation of his/her lawful duty; (iii) secure any improper advantage; or (iv) induce a foreign official to use his/her influence to assist the payor in obtaining or retaining business, or directing business to another person.
Environmental Regulation
We are subject to a number of federal, state, and local laws and other requirements relating to the protection of the environment and the safety and health of personnel and the public. These requirements relate to a broad range of our activities, including the discharge of pollutants into the air and water; the identification, generation, storage, handling, transportation, disposal, recordkeeping, labeling, and reporting of, and emergency response in connection with, hazardous materials (including asbestos) associated with our operations; noise emissions from our facilities; and safety and health standards, practices, and procedures that apply to the workplace and the operation of our facilities.
Employees
As of April 17, 2023, we had thirty-five full time employees and no part-time employees. We believe that our future success will depend, in part, on our continued ability to attract, hire and retain qualified personnel.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
This Annual Report contains certain statements relating to future events or the future financial performance of our Company. You are cautioned that such statements are only predictions and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual events or results may differ materially. In evaluating such statements, you should specifically consider the various factors identified in this annual report, including the matters set forth below, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements.
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An investment in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the following risk factors before deciding to invest in our Company. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects for growth would likely suffer.
Risks Relating to Our Company and Business
Future acquisitions may have an adverse effect on our ability to manage our business.
Selective acquisitions currently form part of our strategy to further expand our business. If we are presented with appropriate opportunities, we may acquire additional businesses, services or products that are complementary to our core business. Future acquisitions and the subsequent integration of new companies into ours would require significant attention from management. Future acquisitions would also expose us to potential risks, including risks associated with the assimilation of new operations, services and personnel, unforeseen or hidden liabilities, the diversion of resources from our existing businesses and technologies, the inability to generate sufficient revenue to offset the costs and expenses of acquisitions and potential loss of, or harm to, relationships with employees as a result of integration of new businesses. The diversion of our management’s attention and any difficulties encountered in any integration process could have a material adverse effect on our ability to manage our business.
Our obligations to Lind Global Fund II LP, a Delaware limited partnership (“Lind”) pursuant to a $5,750,000 convertible note are secured by a first priority security interest in all of our assets, so if we default on those obligations, Lind could foreclose on, liquidate and/or take possession of our assets. If that were to happen, we could be forced to curtail, or even to cease, our operations.
On January 24, 2022, we entered into a securities purchase agreement with Lind pursuant to which we issued to Lind a senior secured, two-year, interest free convertible promissory note in the principal amount of $5,750,000. Simultaneously, we entered into a security agreement with Lind pursuant to which Lind was granted a first priority security interest and lien on all of the assets of the Company including a pledge on its shares in Keeler & Co., its wholly-owned subsidiary, pursuant to stock pledge agreement with Lind, dated January 24, 2022. Each subsidiary of the Company also granted a second priority security interest in all of its respective assets. As a result, if we default on our obligations under the note, Lind could foreclose on their security interest and liquidate or take possession of some or all of the assets of the Company and its subsidiaries, which would harm our business, financial condition and results of operations and could require us to curtail, or even to cease our operations.
The value of crab meat is subject to fluctuation which may result in volatility of our results of operations and the value of an investment in the Company.
Our business is dependent upon the sale of a commodity which value is subject to fluctuation. Our net sales and operating results vary significantly due to the volatility of the value of the crab meat that we sell which may result in the volatility of the market price of our common stock.
A material decline in the population and biomass of crab meat that we sell in the fisheries from which we obtain our crab meat would materially and adversely affect our business.
The population and biomass of crab meat are subject to natural fluctuations which are beyond our control and which may be exacerbated by disease, reproductive problems or other biological issues and may be affected by changes in weather and the global environment. The overall health of a crab or other fish is difficult to measure, and fisheries management is still a relatively inexact science. Since we are unable to predict the timing and extent of fluctuations in the population and biomass of our products, we are unable to engage in any measures that might alleviate the adverse effects of these fluctuations. Any such fluctuation which results in a material decline in the population and biomass in the fisheries from which we obtain our crab meat would materially and adversely affect our business. Our operations are also subject to the risk of variations in supply.
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We are subject to the risk of product contamination and product liability claims.
The sales of our products may involve the risk of injury to consumers. Such injuries may result from tampering by unauthorized personnel, product contamination or spoilage, including the presence of foreign objects, substances, chemicals, or residues introduced during the packing, storage, handling or transportation phases. While we are subject to governmental inspection and regulations and believe our facilities comply in all material respects with all applicable laws and regulations, including internal product safety policies, we cannot be sure that consumption of our products will not cause a health-related illness in the future or that we will not be subject to claims or lawsuits relating to such matters. Even if a product liability claim is unsuccessful, the negative publicity surrounding any assertion that our products caused illness or injury could adversely affect our reputation with existing and potential customers and our brand image.
A significant portion of our revenues are derived from a single product, crab meat, and therefore we are highly susceptible to changes in market demand, which may be affected by factors over which we have limited or no control.
A significant portion of our revenues are derived from a single product, crab meat. We therefore are highly susceptible to changes in market demand, which may be impacted by factors over which we have limited or no control. Factors that could lead to a decline in market demand for crab meat include economic conditions and evolving consumer preferences. A substantial downturn in market demand for crab meat may have a material adverse effect on our business and on our results of operations.
Risks Related to Our Industry and TOBC’s RAS Operations
Regulation of the fishing industry may have an adverse impact on our business.
The international community has been aware of and concerned with the worldwide problem of depletion of natural fish stocks. In the past, these concerns have resulted in the imposition of quotas that subject individual countries to strict limitations on the amount of seafood that is allowed to be caught or harvested. Environmental groups have been lobbying for additional limitations. If international organizations or national governments were to impose additional limitations on crab meat or the seafood products we sell, this could have a negative impact on our results of operations.
Segments of the seafood industry in which we operate are competitive, and our inability to compete successfully could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We compete with major integrated seafood companies such as Tri Union Frozen Products, Inc. (Chicken of the Sea Frozen Foods), Phillips Foods, Inc., Harbor Seafood, Inc., and Twin Tails Seafood Corp. in our traditional sustainable seafood business and our primary competitors in our RAS business are Aquabounty, Atlantic Sapphire, Aquacon, Nordic Aquafarms, Whole Oceans, West Coast Salmon and Pure Salmon. Some of our competitors have the benefit of marketing their products under brand names that have better market recognition than ours or have stronger marketing and distribution channels than we do. Increased competition as to any of our products could result in price reduction, reduced margins and loss of market share, which could negatively affect our profitability. An increase in imported products in the United States at low prices could also negatively affect our profitability.
Our insurance coverage may be inadequate to cover losses we may incur or to fully replace a significant loss of assets.
Our involvement in the fishing industry may result in liability for pollution, property damage, personal injury or other hazards. Although we believe we have obtained insurance in accordance with industry standards to address such risks, such insurance has limitations on liability and/or deductible amounts that may not be sufficient to cover the full extent of such liabilities or losses. In addition, such risks may not, in all circumstances, be insurable or, in certain circumstances, we may choose not to obtain insurance to protect against specific risks due to the high premiums associated with such insurance or for other reasons. The payment of such uninsured liabilities would reduce the funds available to us. If we suffer a significant event or occurrence that is not fully insured, or if the insurer of such event is not solvent, we could be required to divert funds from capital investment or other uses towards covering any liability or loss for such events.
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Our operations, revenue and profitability could be adversely affected by changes in laws and regulations in the countries where we do business.
The governments of countries into which we sell our products, from time to time, consider regulatory proposals relating to raw materials, food safety and markets, and environmental regulations, which, if adopted, could lead to disruptions in distribution of our products and increase our operational costs, which, in turn, could affect our profitability. To the extent that we increase our product prices as a result of such changes, our sales volume and revenues may be adversely affected.
Furthermore, these governments may change import regulations or impose additional taxes or duties on certain imports from time to time. These regulations and fees or new regulatory developments may have a material adverse impact on our operations, revenue and profitability. If one or more of the countries into which we sell our products bars the import or sale of crab meat or related products, our available market would shrink significantly, adversely impacting our results of operations and growth potential.
A decline in discretionary consumer spending may adversely affect our industry, our operations and ultimately our profitability.
Luxury products, such as premium grade crab meat, are discretionary purchases for consumers. Any reduction in consumer discretionary spending or disposable income may affect the crab meat industry significantly. Many economic factors outside of our control could affect consumer discretionary spending, including the financial markets, consumer credit availability, prevailing interest rates, energy costs, employment levels, salary levels, and tax rates. Any reduction in discretionary consumer spending could materially adversely affect our business and financial condition.
Our business is affected by the quality and quantity of the salmon that is harvested by TOBC.
We sell our products in a highly competitive market. The ability of TOBC to successfully sell its salmon and the price therefor, is highly dependent on the quality of the salmon. A number of factors can negatively affect the quality of the salmon sold, including the quality of the broodstock, water conditions in the farm, the food and additives consumed by the fish, population levels in the tanks, and the amount of time that it takes to bring a fish to harvest, including transportation and processing. Optimal growing conditions cannot always be assured. Although fish grown in RAS production systems are not subject to the disease and parasite issues that can affect salmon grown in ocean pens, there is the potential for organisms that are ubiquitous to freshwater environments to become pathogenic if the fish are subjected to stressful conditions or there is an issue with biomass management.
High standards for the quality of the product are maintained and if we determine that a harvest has not met such standards, we may be required to reduce inventory and write down the value of the harvest to reflect net realizable value. Sub-optimal conditions could lead to smaller harvests and or lower quality fish. Conversely, if we experience better than expected growth rates, we may not be able to process and bring our fish to market in a timely manner, which may result in overcrowding that can cause negative health impacts and/or require culling our fish population.
Furthermore, if our salmon is perceived by the market to be of lower quality than other available sources of salmon or other fish, we may experience reduced demand for our product and may not be able to sell our products at the prices that we expect or at all.
As we continue to expand our operations and build new farms, we potentially may face additional challenges with maintaining the quality of our products. We cannot guarantee that we will not face quality issues in the future, any of which could cause damage to our reputation, and a loss of consumer confidence in our products, which could have a material adverse effect on our business results and the value of our brands.
A shutdown, damage to any of our farms, or lack of availability of power, fuel, oxygen, eggs, water, or other key components needed for our operations, could result in our prematurely harvesting fish, a loss of a material percentage of our fish in production, a delay in our commercialization plans, and a material adverse effect on our operations, business results, reputation, and the value of our brands.
An interruption in the power, fuel, oxygen supply, water quality systems, or other critical infrastructure of an aquaculture facility for more than a short period of time could lead to the loss of a large number of fish. A shutdown of or damage to our farm due to natural disaster, shortages of key components to our operations due to a pandemic, reduction in water supply, contamination of our aquifers, interruption in services, or human interference could require us to prematurely harvest some or all of the fish or could result in a loss of our fish in production.
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We also are dependent on egg availability If we had a disruption in our ability to purchase eggs, we would not be able to continue to stock our farm. We cannot guarantee that any disruptions might not occur in the future, any of which could cause loss of salmon to sell, damage to our reputation, loss of consumer confidence in our products and company, and lost revenues, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business results.
The successful development of our TOBC business depends on TOBC’s ability to efficiently and cost-effectively produce and sell salmon at large commercial scale.
Our business plans depend on our ability to increase our production capacity through the development of larger farms. We have limited experience constructing, ramping up, and managing such large, commercial-scale facilities, and we may not have anticipated all of the factors or costs that could affect our production, harvest, sale, and delivery of salmon at such a scale. Our salmon may not perform as expected when raised at very large commercial scale, we may encounter operational challenges, control deficiencies may surface, our vendors may experience capacity constraints, or our production cost and timeline projections may prove to be inaccurate. Any of these could decrease process efficiency, create delays, and increase our costs. We are also subject to volatility in market demand and prices, such as the disruption of the salmon market including reduction in market prices for salmon.
In addition, competitive pressures, customer volatility and the possible inability to secure established and ongoing customer partnerships and contracts, may result in a lack of buyers for our fish. Customers of our fish may not wish to follow our terms and conditions of sale, potentially resulting in a violation of labeling or disclosure laws, improper food handling, nonpayment for product, and similar issues. The competitive landscape for salmon may create challenges in securing competitive pricing for our salmon to reach our competitive goals. In addition, it is possible that we may not be able to service our customers to meet their expectations regarding fish quality, ongoing harvest supply availability, order processing fill rate, on time or correct deliveries, potential issues with third party processors, and other factors, which could impact our relationships with customers, our reputation, and our business results.
Risks Related to Our Reliance on Third Parties
We are dependent on third parties for our operations and our business may be affected by supply chain interruptions and delays.
Our business is dependent upon our relationships with vendors in Southeast Asia and Latin America for co-packing, processing and shipping product to us. If for any reason these companies became unable or unwilling to continue to provide services to us, this would likely lead to a temporary interruption in our ability to import our products until we found another entity that could provide these services. Moreover, if supply chain delays occur, our product will arrive late which will adversely impact our revenue. Failure to find a suitable replacement, even on a temporary basis, would have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
We do not have long-term agreements with many of our customers and suppliers.
Many of our customers and suppliers operate through purchase orders. Though we have long-term business relationships with many of our customers and suppliers and alternative sources of supply for key items, we do not have long-term agreements with such customers and suppliers and cannot be sure that any of these customers or suppliers will continue to do business with us on the same basis or on terms that are favorable to us. The termination or modification of any of these relationships may adversely affect our business, financial performance and results of operations.
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Risks Related to Our Financial Condition and Capital Requirements
Our independent registered public accounting firm has included an explanatory paragraph relating to our ability to continue as a going concern in its report on our audited financial statements.
The report from our independent registered public accounting firm for the year ended December 31, 2022 includes an explanatory paragraph stating that the Company has suffered recurring losses from operations and has a net capital deficiency that raises substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern. The Company’s ability to continue as a going concern is dependent on its ability to increase revenues, execute on its business plan to acquire complimentary companies, raise capital and continue to sustain adequate working capital to finance its operations. If we are unable to do so, our financial condition and results of operations will be materially and adversely affected and we may be unable to continue as a going concern.
Our loan and security agreement with Lighthouse contains operating and financial covenants that may restrict business and financing activities of our subsidiaries, Keeler & Co. and Coastal Pride.
Borrowings under our loan and security agreement with Lighthouse are secured by substantially all of our personal property, including our intellectual property. Our loan and security agreement contains affirmative and negative covenants which restricts our wholly-owned subsidiary, Keeler & Co. and its subsidiary, Coastal Pride’s ability to, among other things:
| ● | dispose of or sell its assets; | |
| ● | make material changes in its business; | |
| ● | merge with or acquire other entities or assets; | |
| ● | incur additional indebtedness; | |
| ● | create liens on its assets; | |
| ● | pay dividends; and | |
| ● | make investments. |
The operating and financial restrictions and covenants in our loan and security agreement, as well as any future financing agreements into which we may enter, may restrict the ability to finance operations and engage in, expand or otherwise pursue business activities and strategies. Our ability to comply with these covenants may be affected by events beyond our control, and future breaches of any of these covenants could result in a default under our loan and security agreement. If not waived, future defaults could cause all of the outstanding indebtedness under our loan and security agreement to become immediately due and payable and terminate all commitments to extend further credit.
If we do not have or are unable to generate sufficient cash available to repay our debt obligations when they become due and payable, either upon maturity or in the event of a default, we may not be able to obtain additional debt or equity financing on favorable terms, if at all, which may negatively impact our ability to operate and continue our business as a going concern.
We face risks related to the current global economic environment which could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The state of the global economy continues to be uncertain. The current global economic conditions and uncertain credit markets, concerns regarding the availability of credit pose a risk that could impact our international relationships, as well as our ability to manage normal commercial relationships with our customers, suppliers and creditors, including financial institutions. Global trade issues and the impositions of tariffs could also have an adverse effect on our international business activities. If the current global economic environment deteriorates, our business could be negatively affected.
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We may need to raise additional capital to fund our existing commercial operations and develop and commercialize new products and expand our operations.
Based on our current business plan, we believe the net proceeds from our underwritten offering, together with our current cash and cash equivalents and cash receipts from sales will enable us to conduct our planned operations for at least the next 12 months. If our available cash balances, net proceeds from the offering and anticipated cash flow from operations are insufficient to satisfy our liquidity requirements including because of lower demand for our products or due to other risks described herein, we may seek to sell common stock or preferred stock or convertible debt securities, enter into an additional credit facility or another form of third-party funding or seek other debt financing.
We may consider raising additional capital in the future to expand our business, to pursue strategic investments, to take advantage of financing opportunities or for other reasons, including to:
| ● | increase our sales and marketing efforts and address competitive developments; | |
| ● | provide for supply and inventory costs; | |
| ● | fund development and marketing efforts of any future products or additional features to then-current products; | |
| ● | acquire, license or invest in new technologies; | |
| ● | acquire or invest in complementary businesses or assets; and | |
| ● | finance capital expenditures and general and administrative expenses |
Our present and future funding requirements will depend on many factors, including:
| ● | our ability to achieve revenue growth and improve gross margins; | |
| ● | the cost of expanding our operations and offerings, including our sales and marketing efforts; | |
| ● | the effect of competing market developments; and | |
| ● | costs related to international expansion. |
The various ways we could raise additional capital carry potential risks. If we raise funds by issuing equity securities, dilution to our stockholders could result. Any equity securities issued also could provide for rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of holders of our common stock. If we raise funds by issuing debt securities, those debt securities would have rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of holders of our common stock. The terms of debt securities issued or borrowings pursuant to a credit agreement could impose significant restrictions on our operations. If we raise funds through collaborations and licensing arrangements, we might be required to relinquish significant rights or grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us.
We incur significant costs as a result of operating as a public company and our management devotes substantial time to public company compliance.
As a public company, we incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses due to our compliance with regulations and disclosure obligations applicable to us, including compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) as well as rules implemented by the SEC, and the OTC Markets. Stockholder activism, the current political environment and the current high level of government intervention and regulatory reform may lead to substantial new regulations and disclosure obligations, which may lead to additional compliance costs and impact, in ways we cannot currently anticipate, the manner in which we operate our business. Our management and other personnel devote a substantial amount of time to monitoring of and compliance with, public company reporting obligations. These rules and regulations cause us to incur significant legal and financial compliance costs and make some activities more time consuming and costly.
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To comply with the requirements of being a public company, we may need to undertake various actions, including implementing internal controls and procedures. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. We are continuing to develop and refine our disclosure controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file with the SEC is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms, and that information required to be disclosed in reports under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 is accumulated and communicated to our principal executive and financial officers. Any failure to develop or maintain effective controls could harm our operating results, cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations or result in a restatement of prior period financial statements. In the event that we are not able to demonstrate compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, that our internal control over financial reporting is perceived as inadequate or that we are unable to produce timely or accurate financial statements, investors may lose confidence in our operating results and the price of our common stock could decline. In addition, if we are unable to continue to meet these requirements, our common stock may not be able to continue to meet the eligibility requirements for the NASDAQ Stock Market.
Our independent registered public accounting firm will not be required to formally attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting until the later of our second annual report or the first annual report required to be filed with the SEC following the date we are no longer an “emerging growth company” as defined in the JOBS Act depending on whether we choose to rely on certain exemptions set forth in the JOBS Act. If we are unable to assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an opinion on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, we could lose investor confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, which could harm our business.
Risks Related to Administrative, Organizational and Commercial Operations and Growth
We may be unable to manage our future growth effectively, which could make it difficult to execute our business strategy.
We anticipate growth in our business operations. This future growth could create a strain on our organizational, administrative and operational infrastructure, including manufacturing operations, quality control, technical support and customer service, sales force management and general and financial administration. Our ability to manage our growth properly will require us to continue to improve our operational, financial and management controls, as well as our reporting systems and procedures. If we are unable to manage our growth effectively, we may be unable to execute our business plan, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and our results of operations.
If we are unable to support demand for our current and our future products, including ensuring that we have adequate resources to meet increased demand and mitigate any supply chain delays our business could be harmed.
As our commercial operations and sales volume grow, we will need to continue to increase our workflow capacity for processing, customer service, billing and general process improvements and expand our internal quality assurance program, and mitigate any supply chain delays we could have with our vendors, among other things. We may also need to purchase additional equipment and increase our manufacturing, maintenance, software and computing capacity to meet increased demand. We cannot assure you that any of these increases in scale, expansion of personnel, purchase of equipment or process enhancements will be successfully implemented.
The loss of our Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer or our inability to attract and retain highly skilled officers and key personnel could negatively impact our business.
Our success depends on the skills, experience and performance of John Keeler, our Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. The individual and collective efforts of such individual will be important as we continue to develop and expand our commercial activities. The loss or incapacity of Mr. Keeler could negatively impact our operations if we experience difficulties in hiring qualified successors. Qualified employees periodically are in great demand and may be unavailable in the time frame required to satisfy our customers’ requirements. Expansion of our business could require us to employ additional personnel. There can be no assurance that we will be able to attract and retain sufficient numbers of skilled employees in the future. The loss of personnel or our inability to hire or retain sufficient personnel at competitive rates could impair the growth of our business.
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If we were sued for product liability or professional liability, we could face substantial liabilities that exceed our resources.
The marketing and sale of our products could lead to the filing of product liability claims alleging that our product made users ill. A product liability claim could result in substantial damages and be costly and time-consuming for us to defend.
We maintain product liability insurance, but this insurance may not fully protect us from the financial impact of defending against product liability claims. Any product liability claim brought against us, with or without merit, could increase our insurance rates or prevent us from securing insurance coverage in the future. Additionally, any product liability lawsuit could lead to regulatory investigations, product recalls or withdrawals, damage our reputation or cause current vendors, suppliers and customers to terminate existing agreements and potential customers and partners to seek other suppliers, any of which could negatively impact our results of operations.
We face risks associated with our international business.
Our international business operations are subject to a variety of risks, including:
| ● | difficulties with managing foreign and geographically dispersed operations; | |
| ● | having to comply with various U.S. and international laws, including export control laws and the FCPA, and anti-money laundering laws; | |
| ● | changes in uncertainties relating to foreign rules and regulations; | |
| ● | tariffs, export or import restrictions, restrictions on remittances abroad, imposition of duties or taxes that limit our ability to import product; | |
| ● | limitations on our ability to enter into cost-effective arrangements with distributors, or at all; | |
| ● | fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; | |
| ● | imposition of limitations on production, sale or export in foreign countries; | |
| ● | imposition of limitations on or increase of withholding and other taxes on remittances and other payments by foreign processors or joint ventures; | |
| ● | imposition of differing labor laws and standards; | |
| ● | economic, political or social instability in foreign countries and regions; | |
| ● | an inability, or reduced ability, to protect our intellectual property, including any effect of compulsory licensing imposed by government action; | |
| ● | availability of government subsidies or other incentives that benefit competitors in their local markets that are not available to us; | |
| ● | difficulties in recruiting and retaining personnel, and managing international operations; | |
| ● | less developed infrastructure; and impositions on operations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. |
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If we expand into other target markets, we cannot assure you that our expansion plans will be realized, or if realized, be successful. We expect each market to have particular regulatory and funding hurdles to overcome and future developments in these markets, including the uncertainty relating to governmental policies and regulations, could harm our business. If we expend significant time and resources on expansion plans that fail or are delayed, our reputation, business and financial condition may be harmed.
Our results may be impacted by changes in foreign currency exchange rates.
Currently, the majority of our international sales contracts are denominated in U.S. dollars. We pay certain of our suppliers in a foreign currency and we may pay others in the future in foreign currency. As a result, an increase in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to foreign currencies could require us to reduce our selling price or risk making our product less competitive in international markets or our costs could increase. Also, if our international sales increase, we may enter into a greater number of transactions denominated in non-U.S. dollars, which could expose us to foreign currency risks, including changes in currency exchange rates.
A larger portion of our revenues may be denominated in other foreign currencies if we expand our international operations. Conducting business in currencies other than U.S. dollars subjects us to fluctuations in currency exchange rates that could have a negative impact on our operating results. Fluctuations in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to other currencies impact our revenues, cost of revenues and operating margins and result in foreign currency translation gains and losses.
We could be negatively impacted by violations of applicable anti-corruption laws or violations of our internal policies designed to ensure ethical business practices.
We operate in a number of countries throughout the world, including in countries that do not have as strong a commitment to anti-corruption and ethical behavior that is required by U.S. laws or by corporate policies. We are subject to the risk that we, our U.S. employees or our employees located in other jurisdictions or any third parties that we engage to do work on our behalf in foreign countries may take action determined to be in violation of anti-corruption laws in any jurisdiction in which we conduct business. Any violation of anti-corruption laws or regulations could result in substantial fines, sanctions, civil and/or criminal penalties and curtailment of operations in certain jurisdictions and might harm our business, financial condition or results of operations. Further, detecting, investigating and resolving actual or alleged violations is expensive and can consume significant time and attention of our senior management.
We depend on our information technology systems, and any failure of these systems could harm our business.
We depend on information technology and telecommunications systems for significant elements of our operations. We have developed propriety software for the management and operation of our business. We have installed and expect to expand a number of enterprise software systems that affect a broad range of business processes and functional areas, including for example, systems handling human resources, financial controls and reporting, contract management, regulatory compliance and other infrastructure operations.
Information technology and telecommunications systems are vulnerable to damage from a variety of sources, including telecommunications or network failures, malicious human acts and natural disasters. Moreover, despite network security and back-up measures, some of our servers are potentially vulnerable to physical or electronic break-ins, computer viruses and similar disruptive problems. Despite the precautionary measures we have taken to prevent unanticipated problems that could affect our information technology and telecommunications systems, failures or significant downtime of our information technology or telecommunications systems or those used by our third-party service providers could prevent us from providing support services and product to our customers and managing the administrative aspects of our business. Any disruption or loss of information technology or telecommunications systems on which critical aspects of our operations depend could harm our business.
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Our operations are vulnerable to interruption or loss due to natural or other disasters, power loss, strikes and other events beyond our control.
We conduct a significant portion of our activities, including administration and data processing, at facilities located in Southern Florida that have experienced major hurricanes and floods which could affect our facilities, significantly disrupt our operations, and delay or prevent product shipment during the time required to repair, rebuild or replace damaged processing facilities. Our suppliers in Southeast Asia and Latin America are also vulnerable to natural disasters which could disrupt their operations and their ability to supply product to us. If any of our customers’ facilities are negatively impacted by a disaster, product shipments could be delayed. Additionally, customers may delay purchases of products until operations return to normal. Even if we and/or our suppliers are able to quickly respond to a disaster, the ongoing effects of the disaster could create some uncertainty in the operations of our business. In addition, our facilities may be subject to a shortage of available electrical power and other energy supplies. Any shortages may increase our costs for power and energy supplies or could result in blackouts, which could disrupt the operations of our affected facilities and harm our business.
Risks Related to Intellectual Property
Our intellectual property rights are valuable, and any inability to adequately protect, or uncertainty regarding validity, enforceability or scope of them could undermine our competitive position and reduce the value of our products, services and brand, and litigation to protect our intellectual property rights may be costly.
We attempt to strengthen and differentiate our product portfolio by developing new and innovative products and product improvements. As a result, our patents, trademarks, trade secrets, copyrights and other intellectual property rights are important assets to us. Various events outside of our control pose a threat to our intellectual property rights as well as to our products and services. For example, effective intellectual property protection may not be available in countries in which our products are sold. Also, although we have registered our trademark in various jurisdictions, our efforts to protect our proprietary rights may not be sufficient or effective. Any significant impairment of our intellectual property rights could harm our business or our ability to compete. Litigation might be necessary to protect our intellectual property rights and any such litigation may be costly and may divert our management’s attention from our core business. An adverse determination in any lawsuit involving our intellectual property is likely to jeopardize our business prospects and reputation. Although we are not aware of any of such litigation, we have no insurance coverage against litigation costs, and we would be forced to bear all litigation costs if we cannot recover them from other parties. All foregoing factors could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Any unauthorized use of our intellectual property could harm our operating results.
We may be exposed to infringement or misappropriation claims by third parties, which, if determined against us, could adversely affect our business and subject us to significant liability to third parties.
Our success mainly depends on our ability to use and develop our technology and product designs without infringing upon the intellectual property rights of third parties. We may be subject to litigation involving claims of patent infringement or violations of other intellectual property rights of third parties. Holders of patents and other intellectual property rights potentially relevant to our product offerings may be unknown to us, which may make it difficult for us to acquire a license on commercially acceptable terms. There may also be technologies licensed to us and that we rely upon that are subject to infringement or other corresponding allegations or claims by third parties which may damage our ability to rely on such technologies. In addition, although we endeavor to ensure that companies that work with us possess appropriate intellectual property rights or licenses, we cannot fully avoid the risks of intellectual property rights infringement created by suppliers of components used in our products or by companies we work with in cooperative research and development activities. Our current or potential competitors may obtain patents that will prevent, limit or interfere with our ability to make, use or sell our products. The defense of intellectual property claims, including patent infringement suits, and related legal and administrative proceedings can be both costly and time consuming, and may significantly divert the efforts and resources of our technical personnel and management. These factors could effectively prevent us from pursuing some or all of our business operations and result in our customers or potential customers deferring, canceling or limiting their purchase or use of our products, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our commercial success will depend in part on our success in obtaining and maintaining issued patents and other intellectual property rights in the United States and elsewhere. If we do not adequately protect our intellectual property, competitors may be able to use our processes and erode or negate any competitive advantage we may have, which could harm our business.
We cannot provide any assurances that any of our patents have, or that any of our pending patent applications that mature into issued patents will include, claims with a scope sufficient to protect our products, any additional features we develop or any new products. Patents, if issued, may be challenged, deemed unenforceable, invalidated or circumvented.
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Furthermore, though an issued patent is presumed valid and enforceable, its issuance is not conclusive as to its validity or its enforceability and it may not provide us with adequate proprietary protection or competitive advantages against competitors with similar products. Competitors may also be able to design around our patents. Other parties may develop and obtain patent protection for more effective technologies, designs or methods. We may not be able to prevent the unauthorized disclosure or use of our knowledge or trade secrets by consultants, suppliers, vendors, former employees and current employees. The laws of some foreign countries do not protect our proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States, and we may encounter significant problems in protecting our proprietary rights in these countries. If any of these developments were to occur, they each could have a negative impact on our sales.
If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our trade secrets, our business and competitive position could be harmed.
We rely upon copyright and trade secret protection, as well as non-disclosure agreements and invention assignment agreements with our employees, consultants and third parties, to protect our confidential and proprietary information. In addition to contractual measures, we try to protect the confidential nature of our proprietary information using physical and technological security measures. Such measures may not, for example, in the case of misappropriation of a trade secret by an employee or third party with authorized access, provide adequate protection for our proprietary information. Our security measures may not prevent an employee or consultant from misappropriating our trade secrets and providing them to a competitor, and recourse we take against such misconduct may not provide an adequate remedy to protect our interests fully. Enforcing a claim that a party illegally disclosed or misappropriated a trade secret can be difficult, expensive and time-consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. In addition, trade secrets may be independently developed by others in a manner that could prevent legal recourse by us. If any of our confidential or proprietary information, such as our trade secrets, were to be disclosed or misappropriated, or if any such information was independently developed by a competitor, our competitive position could be harmed.
We may not be able to enforce our intellectual property rights throughout the world.
The laws of some foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in certain foreign jurisdictions. This could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement or the misappropriation of our intellectual property rights. Many foreign countries have compulsory licensing laws under which a patent owner must grant licenses to third parties. In addition, many countries limit the enforceability of patents against third parties, including government agencies or government contractors. In these countries, patents may provide limited or no benefit. Patent protection must ultimately be sought on a country-by-country basis, which is an expensive and time-consuming process with uncertain outcomes. Accordingly, we may choose not to seek patent protection in certain countries, and we will not have the benefit of patent protection in such countries.
Proceedings to enforce our patent rights in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial costs and divert our efforts from other aspects of our business. Accordingly, our efforts to protect our intellectual property rights in such countries may be inadequate. In addition, changes in the law and legal decisions by courts in the United States and foreign countries may affect our ability to obtain adequate protection for our technology and the enforcement of intellectual property.
Third parties may assert that our employees or consultants have wrongfully used or disclosed confidential information or misappropriated trade secrets.
Although we try to ensure that our employees and consultants do not use the proprietary information or know-how of others in their work for us, we may be subject to claims that we or our employees, consultants or independent contractors have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed intellectual property, including trade secrets or other proprietary information, of a former employer or other third parties. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and other employees.
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Risks Related to Regulatory Matters
Our products and operations are subject to government regulation and oversight both in the United States and abroad, and our failure to comply with applicable requirements could harm our business.
The FDA and other government agencies regulate, among other things, with respect to our products and operations:
| ● | design, development and manufacturing; | |
| ● | testing, labeling, content and language of instructions for use and storage; | |
| ● | product safety; | |
| ● | marketing, sales and distribution; | |
| ● | record keeping procedures; | |
| ● | advertising and promotion; | |
| ● | recalls and corrective actions; and | |
| ● | product import and export. |
The regulations to which we are subject are complex and have tended to become more stringent over time. Regulatory changes could result in restrictions on our ability to carry on or expand our operations, higher than anticipated costs or lower than anticipated sales.
The failure to comply with applicable regulations could jeopardize our ability to sell our products and result in enforcement actions such as:
| ● | warning letters; | |
| ● | fines; | |
| ● | injunctions; | |
| ● | civil penalties; | |
| ● | termination of distribution; | |
| ● | recalls or seizures of products; | |
| ● | delays in the introduction of products into the market; and | |
| ● | total or partial suspension of production. |
We may also be required to take corrective actions, such as installing additional equipment or taking other actions, each of which could require us to make substantial capital expenditures. We could also be required to indemnify our employees in connection with any expenses or liabilities that they may incur individually in connection with regulatory action against them. As a result, our future business prospects could deteriorate due to regulatory constraints, and our profitability could be impaired by our obligation to provide such indemnification to our employees.
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Any of these sanctions could result in higher than anticipated costs or lower than anticipated sales and harm our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.
Product liability claims could divert management’s attention from our business, be expensive to defend and result in sizeable damage awards against us that may not be covered by insurance.
Risks Relating to Our Common Stock
The price of our common stock may be volatile and may be influenced by numerous factors, some of which are beyond our control.
Factors that could cause volatility in the market price of our common stock include:
| ● | actual or anticipated fluctuations in our financial condition and operating results; | |
| ● | actual or anticipated changes in our growth rate relative to our competitors; | |
| ● | commercial success and market acceptance of our products; | |
| ● | success of our competitors in commercializing products; | |
| ● | strategic transactions undertaken by us; | |
| ● | additions or departures of key personnel; | |
| ● | product liability claims; | |
| ● | prevailing economic conditions; | |
| ● | disputes concerning our intellectual property or other proprietary rights; | |
| ● | U.S. or foreign regulatory actions affecting us or our industry; | |
| ● | sales of our common stock by our officers, directors or significant stockholders; | |
| ● | future sales or issuances of equity or debt securities by us; | |
| ● | business disruptions caused by natural disasters; and | |
| ● | issuance of new or changed securities analysts’ reports or recommendations regarding us. |
In addition, the stock markets in general have experienced extreme volatility that have been often unrelated to the operating performance of the issuer. These broad market fluctuations may negatively impact the price or liquidity of our common stock. In the past, when the price of a stock has been volatile, holders of that stock have sometimes instituted securities class action litigation against the issuer. If any of our stockholders were to bring such a lawsuit against us, we could incur substantial costs defending the lawsuit and the attention of our management would be diverted from the operation of our business.
We are an “emerging growth company” and we cannot be certain if the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies will make our common stock less attractive to investors.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act, and may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies,” including not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive because we may rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our stock price may be more volatile.
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In addition, Section 102 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, for complying with new or revised accounting standards. An “emerging growth company” can therefore delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have elected to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period. Our financial statements may therefore not be comparable to those of companies that comply with such new or revised accounting standards.
You may experience dilution of your ownership interests because of the future issuance of additional shares of our common stock or preferred stock or other securities that are convertible into or exercisable for our common stock or preferred stock.
If our existing stockholders exercise warrants or sell, or indicate an intention to sell, substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market, the price of our common stock could decline. The perception in the market that these sales may occur could also cause the price of our common stock to decline.
In the future, we may issue authorized but previously unissued equity securities, resulting in the dilution of the ownership interests of the then current stockholders. We are authorized to issue an aggregate of 100,000,000 shares of common stock and 5,000,000 shares of “blank check” preferred stock. We may issue additional shares of our common stock or other securities that are convertible into or exercisable for our common stock in connection with hiring or retaining employees, future acquisitions, future sales of our securities for capital raising purposes, or for other business purposes. The future issuance of any such additional shares of our common stock may create downward pressure on the trading price of the common stock. We may need to raise additional capital in the near future to meet our working capital needs, and there can be no assurance that we will not be required to issue additional shares, warrants or other convertible securities in the future in conjunction with the capital raising efforts, including at a price (or exercise prices) below the price you paid for your stock.
Management may have broad discretion as to the use of the proceeds from offerings of its securities and may not use the proceeds effectively.
Because the Company may not designate the amount of net proceeds from offerings to be used for any particular purpose, management may have broad discretion as to the application of the net proceeds and could use them for purposes other than those contemplated at the time of such offering. Management may use net proceeds for corporate purposes that may not improve the Company’s financial condition or market value.
If we fail to comply with the NASDAQ Capital Market listing requirements, we will be subject to potential delisting from the NASDAQ Capital Market.
Our common stock has been approved for listing on NASDAQ under the symbol “BSFC.” However, if we fail to comply with NASDAQ’s rules for continued listing, including, without limitation, minimum market capitalization and other requirements, NASDAQ may take steps to delist our shares. Failure to maintain our listing, or de-listing from NASDAQ, would make it more difficult for shareholders to sell our common stock and more difficult to obtain accurate price quotations on our common stock. This could have an adverse effect on the price of our common stock. Our ability to issue additional securities for financing or other purposes, or otherwise to arrange for any financing we may need in the future, may also be materially and adversely affected if our common stock is not traded on a national securities exchange. Additionally, our loan or other agreements, may contain covenants to maintain the listing of our common stock on NASDAQ. Accordingly, failure to maintain such listing may constitute a default under such agreements.
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We are not in compliance with The NASDAQ Capital Market $1.00 minimum bid price requirement and failure to maintain compliance with this standard could result in delisting and adversely affect the market price and liquidity of our common stock.
Our common stock is currently traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “BSFC.” If we fail to meet any of the continued listing standards of NASDAQ, our common stock will be delisted. These continued listing standards include specifically enumerated criteria, such as a $1.00 minimum closing bid price.
On November 17, 2022, we received a letter from NASDAQ advising that the Company did not meet the minimum $1.00 per share bid price requirement for continued inclusion on NASDAQ pursuant to NASDAQ Marketplace Listing Rule 5550(a)(2). We initially have a period of 180 calendar days, or until May 16, 2023, to regain compliance. If at any time before May 16, 2023, the closing bid price of our common stock closes at or above $1.00 per share for a minimum of ten consecutive business days, NASDAQ will provide written notification that the Company has achieved compliance with the minimum bid requirement. If we do not regain compliance with the minimum bid requirement during the initial 180 calendar day period, the Company may be eligible for an additional 180 calendar day compliance period. To qualify, the Company would be required to meet the continued listing requirement for market value of publicly held shares and all other initial listing standards for the Nasdaq Capital Market, with the exception of the minimum bid requirement, and would need to provide written notice of our intention to cure the deficiency during the second compliance period, by effecting a reverse stock split, if necessary.
In order to satisfy this requirement, the Company intends to continue actively monitoring the bid price for its common stock between now and May 16, 2023 and will consider available options to resolve the deficiency and regain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement, including seeking approval from stockholders of an amendment to the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation to effect a reverse stock split of its common stock, by a ratio of no less than 1-for-2 and no more than 1-for-50, with the exact ratio to be determined by its Board of Directors,. While we intend to regain compliance with the minimum bid price rule, there can be no assurance that we will be able to do so, by approval of a reverse stock split or otherwise or to maintain continued compliance with this rule or the other listing requirements of NASDAQ. If we are unable to meet these requirements, we would receive another delisting notice from NASDAQ for failure to comply with one or more of the continued listing requirements. If our common stock were to be delisted from NASDAQ, trading of our common stock most likely will be conducted in the over-the-counter market on an electronic bulletin board established for unlisted securities such as the OTC Markets or in the “pink sheets.” Such a downgrading in our listing market may limit our ability to make a market in our common stock and may impact purchases or sales of our securities.
Our common stock may be deemed a “penny stock” which may reduce the value of an investment in the stock.
Rule 15g-9 under the Exchange Act establishes the definition of a “penny stock,” for the purposes relevant to us, as any equity security that has a market price of less than $5.00 per share or with an exercise price of less than $5.00 per share, subject to certain exceptions. For any transaction involving a penny stock, unless exempt, the rules require: (a) that a broker or dealer approve a person’s account for transactions in penny stocks; and (b) the broker or dealer receive from the investor a written agreement to the transaction, setting forth the identity and quantity of the penny stock to be purchased.
In order to approve a person’s account for transactions in penny stocks, the broker or dealer must: (a) obtain financial information and investment experience objectives of the person and (b) make a reasonable determination that the transactions in penny stocks are suitable for that person and the person has sufficient knowledge and experience in financial matters to be capable of evaluating the risks of transactions in penny stocks.
The broker or dealer must also deliver, prior to any transaction in a penny stock, a disclosure schedule prescribed by the SEC relating to the penny stock market, which, in highlight form: (a) sets forth the basis on which the broker or dealer made the suitability determination; and (b) confirms that the broker or dealer received a signed, written agreement from the investor prior to the transaction. Generally, brokers may be less willing to execute transactions in securities subject to the “penny stock” rules. If our common stock is or becomes subject to the “penny stock” rules, it may be more difficult for investors to dispose of our common stock and cause a decline in the market value of our common stock.
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Disclosure also has to be made about the risks of investing in penny stocks in both public offerings and in secondary trading and about commissions payable to both the broker or dealer and the registered representative, current quotations for the securities and the rights and remedies available to an investor in cases of fraud in penny stock transactions. Finally, monthly statements have to be sent disclosing recent price information for the penny stock held in the account and information on the limited market in penny stocks.
The sales practice requirements of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (“FINRA”) may limit a stockholder’s ability to buy and sell our common stock.
FINRA has adopted rules requiring that, in recommending an investment to a customer, a broker-dealer must have reasonable grounds for believing that the investment is suitable for that customer. Prior to recommending speculative or low-priced securities to their non-institutional customers, broker-dealers must make reasonable efforts to obtain information about the customer’s financial status, tax status, investment objectives and other information. Under interpretations of these rules, FINRA has indicated its belief that there is a high probability that speculative or low-priced securities will not be suitable for at least some customers. If these FINRA requirements are applicable to us or our securities, they may make it more difficult for broker-dealers to recommend that at least some of their customers buy our common stock, which may limit the ability of our stockholders to buy and sell our common stock and could have an adverse effect on the market for and price of our common stock.
Our operating results for a particular period may fluctuate significantly or may fall below the expectations of investors or securities analysts, each of which may cause the price of our common stock to fluctuate or decline.
We expect our operating results to be subject to fluctuations. Our operating results will be affected by numerous factors, including:
| ● | variations in the level of expenses related to future development plans; | |
| ● | fluctuations in value of the underlying commodity; | |
| ● | inability to procure sufficient quantities to meet demand due to the scarcity of the product available from its suppliers; | |
| ● | level of underlying demand for our products and any other products we sell; | |
| ● | any intellectual property infringement lawsuit or opposition, interference or cancellation proceeding in which we may become involved; | |
| ● | regulatory developments affecting us or our competitors; and | |
| ● | the continuing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. |
If our operating results for a particular period fall below the expectations of investors or securities analysts, the price of our common stock could decline substantially. Furthermore, any fluctuations in our operating results may, in turn, cause the price of our common stock to fluctuate substantially. We believe that comparisons of our financial results from various reporting periods are not necessarily meaningful and should not be relied upon as an indication of our future performance
Our executive officers and directors own a significant percentage of our common stock and will be able to exercise significant influence over matters subject to stockholder approval.
As of the date of this filing, our executive officers and directors, together with their respective affiliates, owned approximately 37% of our common stock, including shares subject to outstanding options that are exercisable within 60 days after such date. Accordingly, these stockholders will be able to exert a significant degree of influence over our affairs and matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of our board of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions. This concentration of ownership could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in our control or otherwise discouraging a potential acquirer from attempting to obtain control of us, which in turn could have a material and adverse effect on the fair market value of our common stock.
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Because we became a reporting company under the Exchange Act by means other than a traditional underwritten initial public offering, we may not be able to attract the attention of research analysts at major brokerage firms.
Because we did not become a reporting company by conducting an underwritten initial public offering of our common stock, and because we will not be listed on a national securities exchange, securities analysts of brokerage firms may not provide coverage of our Company. In addition, investment banks may be less likely to agree to underwrite secondary offerings on our behalf than they might if we became a public reporting company by means of an underwritten initial public offering, because they may be less familiar with our company as a result of more limited coverage by analysts and the media, and because we became public at an early stage in our development. The failure to receive research coverage or support in the market for our shares will have an adverse effect on our ability to develop a liquid market for our common stock.
Because the Merger was a reverse merger, certain SEC rules may be more restrictive.
Additional risks may exist as a result of our becoming a public reporting company through a “reverse merger”. Certain SEC rules are more restrictive when applied to reverse merger companies, such as the ability of stockholders to re-sell their shares of Common Stock pursuant to Rule 144.
Historically, the SEC has taken the position that Rule 144 under the Securities Act is not available for the resale of securities initially issued by companies that are, or previously were, blank check companies, to their promoters or affiliates despite technical compliance with the requirements of Rule 144. The SEC has codified and expanded this position in its amendments effective on February 15, 2008, which applies to securities acquired both before and after that date by prohibiting the use of Rule 144 for resale of securities issued by shell companies (other than business transaction related shell companies) or issuers that have been at any time previously a shell company. The SEC has provided an important exception to this prohibition, however, if the following conditions are met:
| ● | the issuer of the securities that was formerly a shell company has ceased to be a shell company; |
| ● | the issuer of the securities is subject to the reporting requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act; |
| ● | the issuer of the securities has filed all Exchange Act reports and material required to be filed, as applicable, during the preceding 12 months (or such shorter period that the issuer was required to file such reports and materials), other than Form 8-K reports; and |
| ● | at least one year has elapsed from the time that the issuer filed current Form 10 type information with the SEC reflecting its status as an entity that is not a shell company. |
In addition, for proposed sales under Rule 144, there must be adequate current information about the issuing company publicly available before the sale can be made. For reporting companies, this generally means that the companies have complied with the periodic reporting requirements of the Exchange Act. As such, due to the fact that we were a shell company until the effective time of the reverse merger, holders of “restricted securities” within the meaning of Rule 144 will be subject to the above conditions.
Issuance of stock to fund our operations may dilute your investment and reduce your equity interest.
We may need to raise capital in the future to fund the development of our seafood business. Any equity financing may have significant dilutive effect to stockholders and a material decrease in our stockholders’ equity interest in us. Equity financing, if obtained, could result in substantial dilution to our existing stockholders. At its sole discretion, our board of directors may issue additional securities without seeking stockholder approval, and we do not know when we will need additional capital or, if we do, whether it will be available to us.
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Provisions of our charter documents or Delaware law could delay or prevent an acquisition of the Company, even if such an acquisition would be beneficial to our stockholders, which could make it more difficult for you to change management.
Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws may discourage, delay or prevent a merger, acquisition or other change in control that stockholders may consider favorable, including transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares. In addition, these provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempt by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult to replace or remove our board of directors.
In addition, Delaware law prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in a business combination with an interested stockholder, generally a person who, together with its affiliates, owns, or within the last three years has owned, 15% or more of our voting stock, for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder, unless the business combination is approved in a prescribed manner. Accordingly, Delaware law may discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of the company. Furthermore, our certificate of incorporation will specify that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for most legal actions involving actions brought against us by stockholders. We believe this provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law by chancellors particularly experienced in resolving corporate disputes, efficient administration of cases on a more expedited schedule relative to other forums and protection against the burdens of multi-forum litigation. However, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers. The enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ certificates of incorporation has been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is possible that, in connection with any applicable action brought against us, a court could find the choice of forum provisions contained in our certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in such action.
We do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future therefore capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock will be your sole source of gain for the foreseeable future.
We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our common stock. We do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings to fund the development and growth of our business. In addition, our current loan and security agreement with Lighthouse contains, and our future loan arrangements, if any, may contain, terms prohibiting or limiting the amount of dividends that may be declared or paid on our common stock. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock will be your sole source of gain for the foreseeable future.
Risks Related to the COVID-19 pandemic
COVID-19 has caused significant disruptions to the global financial markets which severely impacts our ability to raise additional capital.
The full impact of the COVID-19 outbreak continues to evolve and management continues to monitor the situation. The Company recognized impairment losses on goodwill and long-lived assets for Coastal Pride and TOBC due to the lower forecasted revenues and gross losses recognized in the year ended December 31, 2022 as a result of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s business. Additionally, the continued effect of COVID-19 and uncertain market conditions may limit the Company’s ability to access capital.
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and are not required to provide the information under this Item.
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
The Company’s executive offices and warehouse facility are based in Miami, Florida. We leased approximately 16,800 square feet of office/warehouse space for our executive offices and distribution facility for $16,916 per month from John Keeler Real Estate Holding, Inc. (“Keeler Real Estate”), a corporation owned by each trust for each of John Keeler III, Andrea Keeler and Sarah Keeler, each of whom is a child of our Executive Chairman, John Keeler. On December 31, 2020, this facility was sold to an unrelated third-party purchaser and the lease was terminated. In connection with the sale, the Company retained approximately 4,756 square feet of such space, rent-free for 12 months. On January 1, 2022, the Company entered into a verbal month-to-month lease agreement for its executive offices with an unrelated third party. The Company has paid $63,800 to date under this lease. We currently believe these spaces will be adequate for our immediate and near-term needs.
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Coastal Pride leases an aggregate of 1,106 square feet of office space in Beaufort, South Carolina under two leases that expire in 2024 and 9,050 square feet from Gault under a one-year lease that expires in February 2023 where Coastal Pride operates a RAS soft-shell crab operation in Beaufort, South Carolina for $1,000 per month until a new facility is completed. On February 3, 2023, the lease with Gault was renewed for $1,500 per month until February 2024.
The offices and facility of TOBC are located in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada and are on land which was leased to TOBC for approximately $2,500 per month plus taxes, from Steve and Janet Atkinson, the former TOBC owners, under a lease that expired December 1, 2021. On April 1, 2022, TOBC entered into a new five-year lease with Steve and Janet Atkinson for CAD$2,590 per month plus taxes and paid CAD$23,310 for rent for the year ended December 31, 2022, and an additional five-year lease with Kathryn Atkinson, spouse of TOBC’s President, for CAD$2,370 per month plus taxes and paid CAD$21,330 for rent for the year ended December 31, 2022. Both leases are renewable for two additional five-year terms.
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
There are no material pending legal proceedings to which we are a party or in which any director, officer or affiliate of ours, any owner of record or beneficially of more than 5% of any class of our voting securities, or security holder is a party adverse to us or has a material interest adverse to us.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
PART II
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Market Information
Our common stock was quoted on the OTC pink sheets under the symbol “BSFC” from February 18, 2020 until November 2, 2021. Our common stock began trading on the NASDAQ Capital Market on November 3, 2021.
The last reported sales price of our common stock on the NASDAQ Capital Market on April 14, 2023 was $0.13.
Holders
As of April 14, 2023, the Company had 78 stockholders of record.
Lock-up Agreements
In connection with the Merger, holders of 15,750,000 shares of common stock were prohibited, subject to certain exceptions, from disposing of or hedging any shares of common stock or securities convertible or exercisable for shares of common stock during an 18-month period for Restricted Holders and 12-month period for Pre-Merger Holders, after the Merger in excess of 50% of all of the common stock held by (or issuable to) them and at a price below $2.20 per share. Thereafter, neither Restricted Holders or Pre-Merger Holders may sell, dispose or otherwise transfer more than one-third of the common stock held by such Holder in any two-month period.
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In addition, in connection with the Underwriting Agreement entered into with Newbridge Securities Corporation (“Newbridge”), each director, executive officer, and beneficial owners of over 10% of the Company’s common stock (for a period of 180 days after the date of the final prospectus relating to the firm commitment underwritten public offering), have agreed, subject to customary exceptions, not to sell, transfer or otherwise dispose of securities of the Company, without the prior written consent of Newbridge.
In connection with an underwriting agreement entered into with Aegis Capital Corp. (“Aegis”) on February 10, 2023, each director, executive officer and beneficial owner of over 10% of the Company’s shares of outstanding common stock have agreed for 90 days from February 14, 2023, subject to certain exceptions, not to directly or indirectly offer, sell, or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, any shares of the Company or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for the shares of the Company. In addition, the Company has agreed, for a period of ninety days from February 14, 2023, that it will not, without Aegis’ prior written consent, (a) offer, sell, issue, or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, any equity of the Company or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for equity of the Company; (b) file or caused to be filed any registration statement with the SEC relating to the offering of any equity of the Company or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for equity of the Company; or (c) enter into any agreement or announce the intention to effect any of the actions described in subsections (a) or (b) hereof, subject to certain exceptions in the underwriting agreement.
Dividends
We have never paid any cash dividends on our capital stock and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. We intend to retain future earnings to fund ongoing operations and future capital requirements. Our Loan and Security Agreement with Lighthouse contains terms prohibiting or limiting the amount of dividends that may be declared or paid on our common stock. Any future determination to pay cash dividends will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will be dependent upon financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements and such other factors as the board of directors deems relevant.
Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans
The following table provides information regarding our equity compensation plans as of December 31, 2022.
Equity Compensation Plan Information
| Plan category | Number of securities to be issued upon exercise of outstanding options, warrants and rights | Weighted- average exercise price of outstanding options, warrants and rights | Number of securities remaining available for future issuance under equity compensation plans | |||||||||
| Equity compensation plans approved by security holders | 4,461,511 | (1) | 2.00 | 3,575,000 | ||||||||
| Equity compensation plans not approved by security holders | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
| ( 1) | Represents (i) a ten-year option to purchase 3,120,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.00 per share granted to Christopher Constable, the Company’s former chief financial officer and director (ii) ten-year options to purchase an aggregate of 601,250 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.00 per share to certain employees, (iii) ten-year options to purchase an aggregate of 25,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.00 per share to certain contractors under the 2018 Plan; (iv) three-year options to purchase an aggregate of 500,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.00 per share to the Company’s directors; (v) three-year options to purchase an aggregate of 7,013 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $6.00 per share to Silvia Alana, the Company’s Chief Financial Officer (vi) five-year options to purchase an aggregate of 175,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.00 per share to the Company’s directors; (vii) three-year options to purchase an aggregate of 27,552 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $0.86 per share to an employee; and (viii) three-year options to purchase an aggregate of 5,696 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $0.79 per share to an employee. |
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Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities
Except as set forth below, there were no sales of equity securities during the period covered by this Report that were not registered under the Securities Act and were not previously reported in a Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q or a Current Report on Form 8-K filed by the Company.
On October 1, 2022, November 1, 2022 and December 1, 2022, the Company issued 9,524 shares, 6,593 shares and 9,231 shares of common stock, respectively, to a designee of Clear Think Capital for consulting services provided to the Company.
On November 22, 2022, the Company granted an employee a three-year option to purchase 5,696 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $0.79 which vests in equal monthly installments during the term of the option.
On December 31, 2022, the Company issued 62,500 shares of common stock to each of Nubar Herian and John Keeler, 100,000 shares of common stock to each of Timothy McLellan and Trond Ringstad, 43,403 shares of common stock to each of Juan Carlos Dalto and Silvia Alana and 143,750 shares of common stock to Jeffrey Guzy, for serving as directors of the Company.
On December 31, 2022, the Company issued an aggregate of 440,572 shares of common stock to Walter Lubkin Jr., Walter Lubkin III, Tracy Greco and John Lubkin in lieu of $176,228 of outstanding principal and interest under promissory notes issued to them by the Company in connection with the Coastal Pride acquisition.
On January 1, 2023, February 1, 2023, March 1, 2023 and April 1, 2023, the Company issued 15,000 shares, 11,538 shares, 39,216 shares and 47,244 shares of common stock, respectively, to the designee of Clear Think Capital for consulting services provided to the Company.
The above issuances did not involve any underwriters, underwriting discounts or commissions, or any public offering and we believe are exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 by virtue of Section 4(2) thereof.
Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers
None.
ITEM 6. RESERVED
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Forward-Looking Statements
The following discussion of the financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and the notes to those statements appearing in this Annual Report Some of the information contained in this discussion and analysis or set forth elsewhere in this Annual Report, including information with respect to our plans and strategy for our business, includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. You should read the “Risk Factors” section of this Annual Report for a discussion of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results described in or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in the following discussion and analysis. The various sections of this discussion contain forward-looking statements, all of which are based on our current expectations and could be affected by the uncertainties and risk factors described throughout this prospectus as well as other matters over which we have no control. See “Forward-Looking Statements.” Our actual results may differ materially. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this prospectus.
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Overview
We are an international seafood company that imports, packages and sells refrigerated pasteurized crab meat, and other premium seafood products. Our current source of revenue is from importing blue and red swimming crab meat primarily from Indonesia, the Philippines and China and distributing it in the United States and Canada under several brand names such as Blue Star, Oceanica, Pacifika, Crab & Go, First Choice, Good Stuff and Coastal Pride Fresh, and steelhead salmon and rainbow trout fingerlings produced under the brand name Little Cedar Farms for distribution in Canada. The crab meat which we import is processed in six out of the ten plants available throughout Southeast Asia. Our suppliers are primarily via co-packing relationships, including two affiliated suppliers. We sell primarily to food service distributors. We also sell our products to wholesalers, retail establishments and seafood distributors.
COVID-19
The current COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected our business operations, including disruptions and restrictions on our ability to travel or to distribute our seafood products, as well as temporary closures of our facilities. Any such disruption or delay may impact our sales and operating results. In addition, COVID-19 has resulted in a widespread health crisis that adversely affected the economies and financial markets of many other countries.
As a result of the business interruption experienced to date, management has taken steps to reduce expenses across all areas of its operations, including payroll, marketing, sales and warehousing expenses. The extent to which we are affected by COVID-19 will largely depend on future developments and restrictions which may disrupt interactions with customers, suppliers, staff and advisors which cannot be accurately predicted, including the duration and scope of the pandemic, governmental and business responses to the pandemic and the impact on the global economy, our customers’ demand for our products, and our ability to provide our products. We continue to monitor the effects of the pandemic on our business.
Recent Developments
NASDAQ Notice Letter
The Company received a notice letter (the “Notice”) from The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC (“NASDAQ”) notifying the Company that, based upon the closing bid price of the Company’s common stock for the last 30 consecutive business days, the Company was not currently in compliance with the requirement to maintain a minimum bid price of $1.00 per share for continued listing on The NASDAQ Capital Market (the “Minimum Bid Requirement”). The Notice has no immediate effect on the continued listing status of the Company’s common stock on The NASDAQ Capital Market, and, therefore, the Company’s listing remains fully effective. The Company has until May 16, 2023, to regain compliance. If the Company does not regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Requirement during the initial 180 calendar day period, the Company may be eligible for an additional 180 calendar day compliance period. To qualify, the Company would be required to meet the continued listing requirement for market value of publicly held shares and all other initial listing standards for The NASDAQ Capital Market, with the exception of the Minimum Bid Requirement, and would need to provide written notice of its intention to cure the deficiency during the second compliance period, by effecting a reverse stock split, if necessary. The Company will continue to actively monitor the closing bid price of its common stock and will seek to regain compliance with all applicable NASDAQ requirements within the allotted compliance periods. If the Company does not regain compliance within the allotted compliance periods, including any extensions that may be granted by NASDAQ, NASDAQ will provide notice that the Company’s common stock will be subject to delisting. The Company would then be entitled to appeal that determination to a NASDAQ hearings panel.
The Company is currently seeking approval from stockholders of an amendment to the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation to effect a reverse stock split of its common stock, by a ratio of no less than 1-for-2 and no more than 1-for-50, with the exact ratio to be determined by its Board of Directors. There can be no assurance that such approval will be obtained.
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Shelf Registration Statement
The Company filed a registration statement on Form S-3 which was declared effective by the SEC on December 6, 2022 containing a prospectus registering the offering, issuance and sale of up to $25,000,000 of common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, warrants, subscription rights and/or units and a sales agreement prospectus covering the offering, issuance and sale of up to $3,000,000 of common stock that may be issued and sold in an “at the market” offering pursuant to a sales agreement between the Company and Roth Capital Partners, LLC, as placement agent (“Roth”). The Company sold an aggregate of 474,106 shares in the offering for net proceeds of $182,982 and 151,284 shares were repurchased from Roth for $76,463. The offering was terminated on February 2, 2023.
Offering
On February 10, 2023, the Company entered into an underwriting agreement with Aegis, pursuant to which the Company agreed to sell to Aegis, in a firm commitment public offering, (i) 8,200,000 shares of common stock for a public offering price of $0.20 per share and (ii) pre-funded warrants (the “Pre-funded Warrants”) to purchase 800,000 shares of common stock (the “Warrant Shares”), for a public offering price of $0.199 per Pre-funded Warrant to those purchasers whose purchase of common stock in the offering would otherwise result in the purchaser, together with its affiliates and certain related parties, beneficially owning more than 4.99% (or, at the election of the holder, 9.99%) of the Company’s outstanding common stock immediately following the consummation of the offering. The Company also granted Aegis an over-allotment option to purchase up to 1,250,000 shares of common stock. The Pre-funded Warrants have an exercise price of $0.001 per share. The Pre-funded Warrants were issued in registered form under a warrant agent agreement between the Company and VStock Transfer, LLC as the warrant agent.
The offering closed on February 14, 2023 with gross proceeds to the Company of approximately $1.8 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and other estimated expenses payable by the Company. The offering consisted of 9,000,000 shares of common stock and Pre-funded Warrants to purchase common stock at an exercise price of $0.20 per share (or $0.199 per Pre-funded Warrant after reducing $0.001 attributable to the exercise price of the Pre-funded Warrants) and was made pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (No. 333-268564) previously filed with the SEC on November 25, 2022 and declared effective by the SEC on December 6, 2022, as supplemented by a preliminary prospectus supplement dated February 9, 2023 and filed with the SEC on February 9, 2023 and a final prospectus supplement dated February 10, 2023.
Supply Agreement
On January 28, 2023, the Company entered into a one-year supply agreement with Just Food For Dogs, LLC, a California limited liability company (“JFFD”), and manufacturer of dog food and related products, for the purchase of certain seafood products from the Company. Under the agreement, JFFD will provide quarterly forecasts of its supply requirements to be filled by the Company. There is no minimum order requirement and JFFD can cancel the agreement at any time upon notice to the Company. JFFD is also entitled to most favored pricing. The agreement will automatically renew for one-year terms unless terminated by either party within 45 days of the end of the then current term.
Results of Operations
The audited financial statements included in this Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2022 include a summary of our significant accounting policies and should be read in conjunction with the discussion below. In the opinion of management, all material adjustments necessary to present fairly the results of operations for such periods have been included in these audited financial statements. All such adjustments are of a normal recurring nature.
The following discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations of the Company is based upon, and should be read in conjunction with, the audited financial statements and related notes elsewhere in this Annual Report.
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Year Ended December 31, 2022 compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2021
Net Sales. Revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022 increased 28.0% to $12,767,145 as compared to $9,973,264 for the year ended December 31, 2021 as a result of an increase in poundage sold during the year ended December 31, 2022.
Cost of Goods Sold. Cost of goods sold for the year ended December 31, 2022 increased to $13,419,133 as compared to $7,979,830 for the year ended December 31, 2021. This increase is attributable to price increases in inventory affecting its related cost of goods.
Gross (Loss) Profit. Gross loss for the year ended December 31, 2022 is $651,988 as compared to gross profit of $1,993,434 for the year ended December 31, 2021. This increase is attributable to higher cost of goods sold compared to the cost of goods sold in the year ended December 31, 2021.
Gross (Loss) Profit Margin. Gross loss margin for the year ended December 31, 2022 is 5.1% as compared to gross profit margin of 20.0% for the year ended December 31, 2021. This decrease is attributable to sales price decreases of our product and higher cost of inventory purchased.
Commissions Expenses. Commissions expenses decreased to $24,482 for the year ended December 31, 2022 from $42,332 for the year ended December 31, 2021. The decrease is attributable to lower commissionable revenues.
Salaries and Wages Expense. Salaries and wages increased to $2,032,457 for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to $1,827,607 for the year ended December 31, 2021. This increase is primarily attributable to the full year of salaries for TOBC and new employees.
Depreciation and Amortization. Depreciation and amortization expense increased to $584,386 for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to $384,963 for the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase is attributable to higher depreciation and amortization due to the acquisition of TOBC and soft-shell crab operations.
Impairment Loss. Impairment loss increased to $5,797,906 for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to $374,300 for the year ended December 31, 2021. This increase is attributable to the impairments recognized on TOBC and Coastal Pride for goodwill and long-lived assets.
Other Operating Expense. Other operating expenses increased 17.5% to $2,522,764 for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to $2,147,873 for the year ended December 31, 2021. This increase is primarily attributable to legal and professional fees and stock compensation expense associated with the acquisition of the soft-shell crab operations.
Other Income. Other income decreased to $154,196 for the year ended December 31, 2022 from $498,791 for the year ended December 31, 2021. This decrease is primarily attributable to the payroll protection program loan forgiveness granted in 2021.
Loss on Conversion of Debt. Loss on conversion of debt increased to $57,085 for the year ended December 31, 2022 from $0 for the year ended December 31, 2021. This increase is attributable to the additional payments made to Lind by the issuance of common stock due to a decrease in the Repayment Share Price.
Interest Expense. Interest expense increased to $1,678,097 for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to $320,524 for the year ended December 31, 2021. This increase is attributable to the amortization of the Lind convertible debt discount.
Net Loss. The Company had a net loss of $13,194,969 for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to a net loss of $2,605,374 for the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase in net loss is primarily attributable to an increase in salaries and wages, increases in depreciation and amortization, recognition of impairment losses for TOBC and Coastal Pride and other expenses in connection with the acquisition of the soft-shell crab operations and amortization of the Lind convertible debt discount.
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Liquidity and Capital Resources
The Company had cash of $9,262 as of December 31, 2022. At December 31, 2022, the Company had a working capital deficit of $3,013,281, including $893,000 in stockholder loans that were subordinated to its working capital line of credit, as compared to a working capital surplus of $2,839,477 at December 31, 2021, including $960,000 in stockholder loans. The Company’s primary sources of liquidity consisted of inventory of $4,808,152 and accounts receivable of $813,416 at December 31, 2022. The decrease in working capital was due primarily to an increase of inventory of $2,688,711 netted against decreases in accounts receivable of $417,765 and the increase in the maturities of long-term debt of $3,439,557.
The Company has historically financed its operations through the cash flow generated from operations, loans from stockholders and other related parties as well as a working capital line of credit and the sale of equity in private offerings.
As of January 27, 2023, the Company issued an aggregate of 322,822 shares of common stock to Roth for the “at the market” offering pursuant to its sales agreement with Roth.
Cash (Used in) Operating Activities. Cash used in operating activities during the year ended December 31, 2022 was $3,618,811 as compared to cash used in operating activities of $4,833,029 for the year ended December 31, 2021, representing a decrease of $1,214,218. The decrease is primarily attributable to an increase in inventory of $3,431,929 netted against the decreases in deferred income of $62,336, accounts receivable netted against other current assets of $3,448,088 and increase in payables netted against other current liabilities of $356,399 for the year ended December 31, 2022.
Cash (Used in) Investing Activities. Cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $695,275 as compared to $773,410 cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2021. The decrease was attributable to the smaller acquisition of the soft-shell crab operations by Coastal Pride for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the TOBC acquisition in the year ended December 31, 2021.
Cash Provided by Financing Activities. Cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $3,075,400 as compared to cash provided by financing activities of $6,480,540 for the year ended December 31, 2021. This decrease is mainly attributable to private placement offerings in 2021 compared to no such offerings in 2022.
Working Capital Line of Credit
On March 31, 2021, Keeler & Co. and Coastal Pride entered into a loan and security agreement (“Loan Agreement”) with Lighthouse Financial Corp., a North Carolina corporation (“Lighthouse”). Pursuant to the terms of the Loan Agreement, Lighthouse made available to Keeler & Co. and Coastal Pride (together, the “Borrowers”) a $5,000,000 revolving line of credit for a term of thirty-six months, renewable annually for one-year periods thereafter. Amounts due under the line of credit are represented by a revolving credit note issued to Lighthouse by the Borrowers. As of December 31, 2022, the Company was in compliance with all financial covenants under the Loan Agreement, except for the requirement to maintain a greater than $50,000 cash flow in the months of July, August, September, October, November and December. Lighthouse has notified the Borrowers as to this default but has elected not to exercise its rights and remedies under the loan documents.
The advance rate of the revolving line of credit is 85% with respect to eligible accounts receivable and the lower of 60% of the Borrowers’ eligible inventory, or 80% of the net orderly liquidation value, subject to an inventory sublimit of $2,500,000. The inventory portion of the loan will never exceed 50% of the outstanding balance. Interest on the line of credit is the prime rate (with a floor of 3.25%), plus 3.75%. The Borrowers paid Lighthouse a facility fee of $50,000 in three instalments of $16,667 in March, April and May 2021 and paid an additional facility fee of $25,000 on March 31, 2022. In an effort to increase imports to meet customer demand, on January 14, 2022, the maximum inventory advance under the line of credit was adjusted from 50% to 70% until June 30, 2022, 65% until July 31, 2022, 60% until August 31, 2022, 55% until September 30, 2022, at a monthly fee of 0.25% on the portion of the loan in excess of the 50% advance. On July 29, 2022, the Loan Agreement was further amended to set the annual interest rate on the outstanding principal amount at 4.75% above the prime rate and to reduce the monthly required cash flow requirements beginning July 31, 2022. The amendment also updated the maximum inventory advance under the line of credit to 60% from August 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022 and 50% thereafter. As of December 31, 2022, the interest rate was 15.25% which includes a default rate of 3%.
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The line of credit is secured by a first priority security interest on all the assets of each Borrower. Pursuant to the terms of a guaranty agreement, the Company guaranteed the obligations of the Borrowers under the note and John Keeler, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, provided a personal guaranty of up to $1,000,000 to Lighthouse.
The Borrowers utilized $784,450 of the Lighthouse revolving line of credit to repay the outstanding indebtedness owed to ACF as of March 31, 2021. As a result, all obligations owed to ACF were satisfied and the loan agreement with ACF was terminated. The outstanding balance owed to Lighthouse as of December 31, 2022 was $1,776,068.
John Keeler Promissory Notes
From January 2006 through May 2017, Keeler & Co issued 6% demand promissory notes in the aggregate principal amount of $2,910,000 to John Keeler, our Chief Executive Officer and Executive Chairman. As of December 31, 2022, approximately $893,000 of principal remains outstanding and approximately $55,350 of interest was paid under the notes during the year ended December 31, 2022. These notes are subordinated to the Lighthouse note. After satisfaction of the terms of the subordination, the Company may prepay the notes at any time first against interest due thereunder. If an event of default occurs under the notes, interest will accrue at 18% per annum and if not paid within ten days of payment becoming due, the holder of the note is entitled to a late fee of 5% of the amount of payment not timely made. The Company made principal payments of $67,000 during the year ended December 31, 2022.
Underwritten Offering
On November 2, 2021, the Company entered into an underwriting agreement (the “Underwriting Agreement”) with Newbridge Securities Corporation (“Newbridge”), as representative of the underwriters listed therein (the “Underwriters”), pursuant to which the Company agreed to sell to the Underwriters in a firm commitment underwritten public offering (the “Offering”) an aggregate of 800,000 shares of the Company’s common stock, at a public offering price of $5.00 per share. In addition, the Underwriters were granted an over-allotment option (the “Over-allotment Option”) for a period of 45 days to purchase up to an additional 120,000 shares of common stock. The Offering closed on November 5, 2021 and the common stock began trading on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol “BSFC” on November 3, 2021. The Over-allotment Option was not exercised by the Underwriters.
The net proceeds to the Company from the Offering, after deducting the underwriting discount, the underwriters’ fees and expenses and the Company’s estimated Offering expenses, were approximately $3,600,000. The Company is using the net proceeds from the Offering for general corporate purposes, including working capital, operating expenses, and capital expenditures. The Company may also use a portion of the net proceeds to acquire or make investments in businesses, products, and offerings, although the Company does not have agreements or commitments for any material acquisitions or investments at this time.
In addition, pursuant to the terms of the Underwriting Agreement and related “lock-up” agreements, each director, executive officer, and beneficial owners of over 10% of the Company’s common stock (for a period of 180 days after the date of the final prospectus relating to the Offering), have agreed, subject to customary exceptions, not to sell, transfer or otherwise dispose of securities of the Company, without the prior written consent of Newbridge.
On November 5, 2021, in connection with the Offering, the Company issued a warrant to purchase an aggregate of 56,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $5.00 per share to Newbridge. Such warrant expires on November 11, 2024.
Lind Global Fund II LP investment
On January 24, 2022, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement with Lind Global Fund II LP, a Delaware limited partnership (“Lind”), pursuant to which the Company issued to Lind a secured, two-year, interest free convertible promissory note in the principal amount of $5,750,000 and a five-year warrant to purchase 1,000,000 shares of common stock of the Company at an exercise price of $4.50 per share, subject to customary adjustments. The warrant provides for cashless exercise and for full ratchet anti-dilution if the Company issues securities at less than $4.50 per share. In connection with the issuance of the note and the warrant, the Company paid a $150,000 commitment fee to Lind and approximately $87,000 of debt issuance costs.
| 40 |
The outstanding principal under the note is payable commencing July 24, 2022, in 18 consecutive monthly installments of $333,333, at the Company’s option, in cash or shares of common stock at a price (the “Repayment Share Price”) based on 90% of the five lowest volume weighted average prices (“VWAP”) during the 20-days prior to the payment date with a floor price of $1.50 per share (the “Floor Price”), or a combination of cash and stock provided that if at any time the Repayment Share Price is deemed to be the Floor Price, then in addition to shares, the Company will pay Lind an additional amount in cash as determined pursuant to a formula contained in the note.
In connection with the issuance of the note, the Company granted Lind a first priority security interest and lien on all of its assets, including a pledge on its shares in John Keeler & Co. Inc., its wholly-owned subsidiary, pursuant to a security agreement and a stock pledge agreement with Lind, dated January 24, 2022. Each subsidiary of the Company also granted a second priority security interest in all of its respective assets.
The note is mandatorily payable prior to maturity if the Company issues any preferred stock (with certain exceptions described in the note) or, if the Company or its subsidiaries issues any indebtedness other than certain amounts under the current line of credit facility with Lighthouse. The Company also agreed not to issue or sell any securities with a conversion, exercise or other price based on a discount to the trading prices of the Company’s stock or to grant the right to receive additional securities based on future transactions of the Company on terms more favorable than those granted to Lind, with certain exceptions.
If the Company fails to maintain the listing and trading of its common stock, the note will become due and payable and Lind may convert all or a portion of the outstanding principal at the lower of the then current conversion price and 80% of the average of the 3-day VWAP during the 20 days prior to delivery of the conversion notice.
If the Company engages in capital raising transactions, Lind has the right to purchase up to 10% of the new securities.
The note is convertible into common stock at $5.00 per share, subject to certain adjustments, at any time after the earlier of six months from issuance or the date the registration statement is effective; provided that no such conversion may be made that would result in beneficial ownership by Lind and its affiliates of more than 4.99% of the Company’s outstanding shares of common stock. If shares are issued by the Company at less than the conversion price, the conversion price will be reduced to such price.
Upon a change of control of the Company, as defined in the note, Lind has the right to require the Company to prepay 10% of the outstanding principal amount of the note. The Company may prepay the outstanding principal amount of the note, provided Lind may convert up to 25% of the principal amount of the note at a price per share equal to the lesser of the Repayment Share Price or the conversion price. The Note contains certain negative covenants, including restricting the Company from certain distributions, stock repurchases, borrowing, sale of assets, loans and exchange offers.
Upon an event of default as described in the note, the note will become immediately due and payable at a default interest rate of 125% of the then outstanding principal amount. Upon a default, all or a portion of the outstanding principal amount may be converted into shares of common stock by Lind at the lower of the conversion price and 80% of the average of the three lowest daily VWAPs.
During the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company made principal payments on the note totaling $1,666,666 through the issuance of an aggregate of 666,666 shares of common stock and cash payments of $1,175,973 which included $899,999 principal payments and additional payments requested by Lind pursuant to the terms of the note.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Valuation of Goodwill and Long-Lived Assets
Goodwill and long-lived assets include the cost of the acquired business in excess of the fair value of the net assets recorded in connection with an acquisition. Long-lived assets include customer relationships, non-compete agreements, trademarks and fixed assets. For goodwill, our policy is to assess for impairment at year-end or whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. For long-lived assets, we assess for impairment only if events occur that indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable.
| 41 |
Annually, we assess the recoverability of goodwill and long-lived assets by determining whether the fair values exceed the carrying values of these assets. For long-lived assets, we use the income method, which uses a forecast of the expected future net cash flows associated with each asset. These cash flows are then adjusted to present value by applying an appropriate discount rate that reflects the risk factors associated with the cash flow streams. Our goodwill testing may be performed utilizing either a qualitative or quantitative assessment; however, if a qualitative assessment is performed and we determine that the fair value of a reporting unit is more likely than not (i.e., a likelihood of more than 50 percent) to be less than its carrying amount, a quantitative test is performed.
When using a quantitative test, we arrive at our estimates of fair value using a discounted cash flow analysis. Our assessment for impairment of goodwill and long-lived assets compared the fair value of the reporting unit to the corresponding carrying value. If the carrying value of the asset exceeds its fair value, an impairment loss is recognized in an amount equal to the excess. An annual impairment analysis for goodwill and long-lived assets was completed for Coastal Pride and TOBC due to the lower forecasted revenues and gross losses recognized in the year ended December 31, 2022 as a result of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s business. Based on our year-end 2022 annual impairment analysis for goodwill and long-lived assets, we recorded an impairment loss on customer relationships, trademarks, non-compete agreements and fixed assets of $1,595,677, $1,006,185, $78,116 and $1,873,619, respectively, related to Coastal Pride and TOBC. For goodwill, the analysis concluded an impairment of $1,244,309 related to Coastal Pride and TOBC for year ended December 31, 2022.
The fair value conclusions as of December 31, 2022 are highly sensitive to changes in the assumptions used in the income approach, which include forecasted revenues, perpetual growth rates, among others, all of which require significant judgments by management.
Fair value of the reporting unit is therefore determined using significant unobservable inputs, or level 3 in the fair value hierarchy. The Company has used recent historical performance, current forecasted financial information, and broad-based industry and economic statistics as a basis to estimate the key assumptions utilized in the forecasted cash flow model. These key assumptions are inherently uncertain and require a high degree of estimation and judgment and are subject to change based on future changes, industry and global economic and geo-political conditions, and the timing and success of the implementation of current strategic initiatives.
Inventories
Substantially all of the Company’s inventory consists of packaged crab meat located at a public cold storage facility and merchandise in transit from suppliers. The Company also has eggs and fish in process inventory from TOBC. The cost of inventory is primarily determined using the specific identification method for crab meat. Fish in process inventory is measured based on the estimated biomass of fish on hand. The Company has established a standard procedure to estimate the biomass of fish on hand using counting and sampling techniques. Inventory is valued at the lower of cost or net realizable value, cost being determined using the first-in, first-out method for crab meat and using various estimates and assumptions in regard to the calculation of the biomass, including expected yield, market value of the biomass, and estimated costs of completion.
Merchandise is purchased cost and freight shipping point and becomes the Company’s asset and liability upon leaving the suppliers’ warehouse. The Company had in-transit inventory of approximately $1,598,000 and $1,182,000 as of December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively.
The Company periodically reviews the value of items in inventory and records an allowance to reduce the carrying value of inventory to the lower of cost or net realizable value based on its assessment of market conditions, inventory turnover and current stock levels. Inventory write-downs are charged to cost of goods sold. For the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company recorded an inventory adjustment to reduce the carrying value of inventory to the lower of cost or net realizable value in the amount of $743,218 which was charged to cost of goods sold.
Revenue Recognition
The Company recognizes revenue in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, as such, we record revenue when our customer obtains control of the promised goods or services in an amount that reflects the consideration which the Company expects to receive in exchange for those goods or services. The Company’s source of revenue is from importing blue and red swimming crab meat primarily from Mexico, Indonesia, the Philippines and China and distributing it in the United States and Canada under several brand names such as Blue Star, Oceanica, Pacifika, Crab & Go, First Choice, Good Stuff and Coastal Pride Fresh and steelhead salmon and rainbow trout fingerlings produced by TOBC under the brand name Little Cedar Farms for distribution in Canada. We sell primarily to food service distributors. We also sell our products to wholesalers, retail establishments and seafood distributors.
| 42 |
To determine revenue recognition for the arrangements that the Company determines are within the scope of Topic 606, the Company performs the following five steps: (1) identify the contract(s) with a customer by receipt of purchase orders and confirmations sent by the Company which includes a required line of credit approval process, (2) identify the performance obligations in the contract which includes shipment of goods to the customer FOB shipping point or destination, (3) determine the transaction price which initiates with the purchase order received from the customer and confirmation sent by the Company and will include discounts and allowances by customer if any, (4) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract which is the shipment of the goods to the customer and transaction price determined in step 3 above and (5) recognize revenue when (or as) the entity satisfies a performance obligation which is when the Company transfers control of the goods to the customers by shipment or delivery of the products.
The Company elected an accounting policy to treat shipping and handling activities as fulfillment activities. Consideration payable to a customer is recorded as a reduction of the arrangement’s transaction price, thereby reducing the amount of revenue recognized, unless the payment is for distinct goods or services received from the customer.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
ASU 2020-06, Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40).
In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-06, Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40). The ASU simplifies the accounting for certain financial instruments with characteristics of liabilities and equity. The FASB reduced the number of accounting models for convertible debt and convertible preferred stock instruments and made certain disclosure amendments to improve the information provided to users. In addition, the FASB amended the derivative guidance for the “own stock” scope exception and certain aspects of the earnings per share (“EPS”) guidance. The guidance is effective for smaller reporting companies for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted, but no earlier than fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company adopted the ASU effective January 1, 2022 and applied the provisions of the ASU to the convertible note issued during the year ended December 31, 2022.
ASU 2016-13 Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326)
In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, which requires entities to use a forward-looking, expected loss model to estimate credit losses. It also requires entities to consider additional disclosures related to credit quality of trade and other receivables, including information related to management’s estimate of credit allowances. ASU 2016-13 was further amended in November 2018 by ASU 2018-19, Codification Improvements to Topic 236, Financial Instrument-Credit Losses. For public business entities that are U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filers excluding smaller reporting companies, the amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods within those fiscal years. For all other public business entities, the amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020, including interim periods within those fiscal years. On October 16, 2019, FASB voted to delay implementation of ASU No. 2016-13, “Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326) - Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments.” For all other entities, the amendments are now effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022. On November 15, 2019, FASB issued an Accounting Standard Update No. 2019-10 to amend the implementation date to fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2018. As this ASU became effective on January 1, 2023, the Company continues to evaluate the impact of these amendments to the Company’s financial position and results of operations and currently expects no material impact of the adoption of the amendments on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
Off Balance Sheet Arrangements
We currently have no off-balance sheet arrangements.
ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information under this Item.
| 43 |
ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
Blue Star Foods Corp.
Index to Audited Financial Statements
| 44 |
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Shareholders and Board of Directors of
Blue Star Foods Corp.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Blue Star Foods Corp. and its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company”) as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, and the related consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss, changes in stockholders’ equity (deficit), and cash flows for the years then ended, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for the years then ended, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Going Concern Matter
The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 3 to the financial statements, the Company has suffered recurring losses from operations and has a net capital deficiency that raises substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 3. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/
www.malonebailey.com
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2014.
April 17, 2023
| F-1 |
Blue Star Foods Corp.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
| DECEMBER 31, 2022 | DECEMBER 31, 2021 | |||||||
| ASSETS | ||||||||
| CURRENT ASSETS | ||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | $ | ||||||
| Accounts receivable, net | ||||||||
| Inventory, net | ||||||||
| Advances to related parties | ||||||||
| Other current assets | ||||||||
| Total Current Assets | ||||||||
| RELATED PARTY LONG-TERM RECEIVABLE | ||||||||
| FIXED ASSETS, net | ||||||||
| RIGHT OF USE ASSET | ||||||||
| INTANGIBLE ASSETS, net | ||||||||
| Trademarks | ||||||||
| Customer relationships | ||||||||
| Non-compete agreements | ||||||||
| Total Intangible Assets | ||||||||
| GOODWILL | ||||||||
| ADVANCES TO RELATED PARTY | ||||||||
| OTHER ASSETS | ||||||||
| TOTAL ASSETS | $ | $ | ||||||
| LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY | ||||||||
| CURRENT LIABILITIES | ||||||||
| Accounts payable and accruals | $ | $ | ||||||
| Working capital line of credit | ||||||||
| Deferred income | ||||||||
| Current maturities of long-term debt, net of discounts | ||||||||
| Current maturities of lease liabilities | ||||||||
| Current maturities of related party long-term notes | ||||||||
| Loan payable | ||||||||
| Related party notes payable - subordinated | ||||||||
| Other current liabilities | ||||||||
| Total Current Liabilities | ||||||||
| LONG-TERM LIABILITIES | ||||||||
| Lease liability, net of current portion | ||||||||
| Debt, net of current portion and discounts | ||||||||
| Related party notes, net of current portion | ||||||||
| TOTAL LIABILITIES | ||||||||
| STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY | ||||||||
| Series A | ||||||||
| Common stock, $ par value, shares authorized; shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2022, and shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2021 | ||||||||
| Additional paid-in capital | ||||||||
| Accumulated other comprehensive loss | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Accumulated deficit | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| TOTAL STOCKHOLDERS’ (DEFICIT) EQUITY | ( | ) | ||||||
| TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY | $ | $ | ||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these audited consolidated financial statements
| F-2 |
Blue Star Foods Corp.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE LOSS
| Year Ended December 31 | ||||||||
| 2022 | 2021 | |||||||
| REVENUE, NET | $ | $ | ||||||
| COST OF REVENUE | ||||||||
| GROSS (LOSS) PROFIT | ( | ) | ||||||
| COMMISSIONS | ||||||||
| SALARIES AND WAGES | ||||||||
| DEPRECIATION AND AMORTIZATION | ||||||||
| IMPAIRMENT LOSS | ||||||||
| OTHER OPERATING EXPENSES | ||||||||
| LOSS FROM OPERATIONS | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| OTHER INCOME | ||||||||
| LOSS ON CONVERSION OF DEBT | ( | ) | ||||||
| INTEREST EXPENSE | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| NET LOSS | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| DIVIDEND ON PREFERRED STOCK | ||||||||
| NET LOSS ATTRIBUTABLE TO COMMON STOCKHOLDERS | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | ||
| COMPREHENSIVE LOSS: | ||||||||
| CHANGE IN FOREIGN CURRENCY TRANSLATION ADJUSTMENT | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| COMPREHENSIVE LOSS | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| COMPREHENSIVE LOSS ATTRIBUTABLE TO BLUE STAR FOODS CORP. | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | ||
| Loss per common share: | ||||||||
| Net loss per common share - basic and diluted | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | ||
| Weighted average common shares outstanding - basic and diluted | ||||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these audited consolidated financial statements
| F-3 |
Blue Star Foods Corp.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2022
| Series A Preferred Stock $.0001 par value | Common Stock $.0001 par value | Additional Paid-in | Accumulated | Accumulated Other Comprehensive | Total Stockholder’s Equity | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares | Amount | Shares | Amount | Capital | Deficit | Income | (Deficit) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| December 31, 2020 | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stock based compensation | - | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common stock issued to settle related party interest | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common stock issued for cash | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common stock issued for service | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common stock issued for Taste of BC acquisition held in escrow | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common stock issued for Taste of BC Acquisition | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series A preferred 8% dividend issued in common stock | - | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preferred Stock conversion to Common Stock | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common stock issued from exercise of warrants | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net Loss | - | - | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Comprehensive loss | - | - | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| December 31, 2021 | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stock based compensation | - | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Warrants issued on long-term debt | - | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common stock issued for service | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common stock issued for asset acquisition | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common stock issued from exercise of warrants | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common stock issued for note payment | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common stock issued to settle related party notes payable and accrued interest | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net Loss | - | - | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cumulative translation adjustment | - | - | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| December 31, 2022 | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these audited consolidated financial statements
| F-4 |
Blue Star Foods Corp.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
| Year Ended December 31 | ||||||||
| 2022 | 2021 | |||||||
| CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES: | ||||||||
| Net Loss | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | ||
| Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash (used in) operating activities: | ||||||||
| Stock based compensation | ||||||||
| Common stock issued for service | ||||||||
| PPP loan forgiveness | ( | ) | ||||||
| Impairment of goodwill | ||||||||
| Impairment of intangible assets | ||||||||
| Impairment of fixed assets | ||||||||
| Depreciation of fixed assets | ||||||||
| Amortization of intangible assets | ||||||||
| Amortization of debt discounts | ||||||||
| Lease expense | ||||||||
| Write down of inventory | ||||||||
| Bad debt expense | ||||||||
| Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | ||||||||
| Accounts receivables | ( | ) | ||||||
| Inventories | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Advances to related parties | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Other current assets | ( | ) | ||||||
| Right of use liability | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Other assets | ( | ) | ||||||
| Accounts payable and accruals | ||||||||
| Deferred income | ( | ) | ||||||
| Other current liabilities | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Net Cash (Used in) Operating Activities | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES: | ||||||||
| Net cash paid for acquisition | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Proceeds from sale of fixed assets | ||||||||
| Purchases of fixed assets | ( | ) | ||||||
| Net Cash (Used in) Investing Activities | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES: | ||||||||
| Proceeds from common stock offering | ||||||||
| Proceeds from common stock warrants exercised | ||||||||
| Proceeds from working capital line of credit | ||||||||
| Proceeds from PPP loan | ||||||||
| Proceeds from convertible debt | ||||||||
| Repayments of working capital line of credit | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Principal payments of convertible debt | ( | ) | ||||||
| Repayments of related party notes payable | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Principal payments of long-term debt | ( | ) | ||||||
| Payment of loan costs | ( | ) | ||||||
| Net Cash Provided by Financing Activities | ||||||||
| Effect of Exchange Rate Changes on Cash | ( | ) | ||||||
| NET (DECREASE) INCREASE IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS | ( | ) | ||||||
| CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS – BEGINNING OF PERIOD | ||||||||
| CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS – END OF PERIOD | $ | $ | ||||||
| SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURE OF NON-CASH ACTIVITIES | ||||||||
| Common stock issued to settle payable and accrued interest | ||||||||
| Operating lease assets recognized in exchange for operating lease liabilities | ||||||||
| Warrants issued for convertible debt | ||||||||
| Common stock issued for asset acquisition | ||||||||
| Common stock issued for partial settlement of note payable | ||||||||
| Series A preferred 8% dividend issued in common stock | ||||||||
| Preferred shares conversion to common stock | ||||||||
| Common stock issued for interest payment | ||||||||
| Common stock issued for acquisition | ||||||||
| Related party notes recognized from business acquisition | ||||||||
| Supplemental Disclosure of Cash Flow Information | ||||||||
| Cash paid for interest | $ | $ | ||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these audited consolidated financial statements
| F-5 |
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
December 31, 2022 and 2021
Note 1. Company Overview
Blue Star Foods Corp., a Delaware corporation (“we”, “our”, the “Company”), is an international sustainable marine protein company based in Miami, Florida that imports, packages and sells refrigerated pasteurized crab meat, and other premium seafood products. The Company’s main operating business, John Keeler & Co., Inc. (“Keeler & Co.”) was incorporated in the State of Florida in May 1995. The Company’s current source of revenue is importing blue and red swimming crab meat primarily from Indonesia, Philippines and China and distributing it in the United States and Canada under several brand names such as Blue Star, Oceanica, Pacifika, Crab & Go, First Choice, Good Stuff and Coastal Pride Fresh, and steelhead salmon and rainbow trout fingerlings produced under the brand name Little Cedar Farms for distribution in Canada.
On November 26, 2019, Keeler & Co., a wholly-owned direct subsidiary of the Company, entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger and Reorganization (the “Coastal Merger Agreement”) with Coastal Pride Company, Inc., a South Carolina corporation, Coastal Pride Seafood, LLC, a Florida limited liability company and newly-formed, wholly-owned subsidiary of the Purchaser (the “Acquisition Subsidiary” and, upon the effective date of the Merger, the “Surviving Company” or “Coastal Pride”), and The Walter F. Lubkin, Jr. Irrevocable Trust dated 1/8/03 (the “Trust”), Walter F. Lubkin III (“Lubkin III”), Tracy Lubkin Greco (“Greco”) and John C. Lubkin (“Lubkin”), constituting all of the shareholders of Coastal Pride Company, Inc. immediately prior to the Coastal Merger (collectively, the “Sellers”). Pursuant to the terms of the Coastal Merger Agreement, Coastal Pride Company, Inc. merged with and into the Acquisition Subsidiary, with the Acquisition Subsidiary being the surviving company (the “Coastal Pride Merger”).
Coastal Pride is a seafood company, based in Beaufort, South Carolina, that imports pasteurized and fresh crabmeat sourced primarily from Mexico and Latin America and sells premium branded label crabmeat throughout North America.
On April 27, 2021, the Company entered into
a stock purchase agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with TOBC, and Steve Atkinson and Janet Atkinson (the “Sellers”),
the owners of all of the capital stock of TOBC (the “TOBC Shares”), pursuant to which the Company acquired all of the TOBC
Shares from the Sellers for an aggregate purchase price of CAD$
On June 24, 2021, the Purchase Agreement was amended
(the “Amendment”), to increase the Purchase Price to an aggregate of CAD$
TOBC is a land-based recirculating aquaculture systems salmon farming operation, based in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada, which sells its steelhead salmon and rainbow trout fingerlings to distributors in Canada.
| F-6 |
On February 3, 2022, Coastal Pride entered into an
asset purchase agreement with Gault Seafood, LLC, a South Carolina limited liability company (“Gault Seafood”), and Robert
J. Gault II, President of Gault Seafood (“Gault”) pursuant to which Coastal Pride acquired all of the Seller’s right,
title and interest in and to assets relating to Gault Seafood’s soft-shell crab operations, including intellectual property, equipment,
vehicles and other assets used in connection with the soft-shell crab business. Coastal Pride did not assume any liabilities in connection
with the acquisition. The purchase price for the assets consisted of a cash payment in the amount of $
Note 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying financial statements of the Company were prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”).
Principles of Consolidation
The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company, Keeler & Co, Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary, Coastal Pride Seafood, LLC (“Coastal Pride”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Keeler & Co., Inc. and Taste of BC Aquafarms, Inc. (“TOBC”), a wholly owned subsidiary. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets
Goodwill and other intangible assets include the cost of the acquired business in excess of the fair value of the net assets recorded in connection with an acquisition. Other intangible assets include customer relationships, non-compete agreements, and trademarks. The Company reviews its long-lived intangibles and goodwill for impairment annually or whenever events or circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the asset exceeds its fair value and may not be recoverable.
Impairments are recorded as impairment charges
in the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss, and a reduction of the asset’s carrying
value in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets when they occur. In accordance with its policies, an annual impairment
analysis for goodwill was completed for Coastal Pride and TOBC due to the lower forecasted revenues and gross losses recognized for
the year ended December 31, 2022 as a result of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s business, and the Company recognized an impairment
loss on goodwill of $
Long-lived Assets
Management reviews long-lived assets, including finite-lived intangible assets, for indicators of impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. Cash flows expected to be generated by the related assets are estimated over the asset’s useful life on an undiscounted basis. If the evaluation indicates that the carrying value of the asset may not be recoverable, the potential impairment is measured using fair value. Fair value estimates are completed using a discounted cash flow analysis. Impairment losses for assets to be disposed of, if any, are based on the estimated proceeds to be received, less costs of disposal.
Impairments are recorded as impairment charges
in the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss, and a reduction of the asset’s carrying
value in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets when they occur. In accordance with its policies, an annual impairment
analysis for long-lived assets was completed for Coastal Pride and TOBC due to the lower forecasted revenues and gross losses
recognized for the year ended December 31, 2022 as a result of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s business, and the
Company recognized an impairment on customer relationships, trademarks and non-compete agreements of $
| F-7 |
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The Company maintains cash balances with financial institutions in excess of Federal Deposit Insurance Company (“FDIC”) insured limits. The Company has not experienced any losses on such accounts and believes it does not have a significant exposure.
The Company considers all highly liquid investments
with an original maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company had
The Company considers any cash balance in the lender designated cash collateral account as restricted cash. All cash proceeds must be deposited into the cash collateral account, and will be cleared and applied to the line of credit. The Company has no access to this account, and the purpose of the funds is restricted to repayment of the line of credit.
Accounts Receivable
Accounts receivable consist of unsecured obligations due from customers under normal trade terms, usually net 30 days. The Company grants credit to its customers based on the Company’s evaluation of a particular customer’s credit worthiness.
Allowances for doubtful accounts are maintained for potential credit losses based on the age of the accounts receivable and the results of the Company’s periodic credit evaluations of its customers’ financial condition. Receivables are written off as uncollectible and deducted from the allowance for doubtful accounts after collection efforts have been deemed to be unsuccessful. Subsequent recoveries are netted against the provision for doubtful accounts expense. The Company generally does not charge interest on receivables.
Receivables are net of estimated allowances for doubtful
accounts and sales return, allowances and discounts. They are stated at estimated net realizable value. As of December 31, 2022, and 2021,
the Company recorded sales return, allowances, discounts and refund liability of approximately $
Inventories
Substantially all of the Company’s inventory consists of packaged crab meat located at a public cold storage facility and merchandise in transit from suppliers. The Company also has eggs and fish in process inventory from TOBC. The cost of inventory is primarily determined using the specific identification method for crab meat. Fish in process inventory is measured based on the estimated biomass of fish on hand. The Company has established a standard procedure to estimate the biomass of fish on hand using counting and sampling techniques. Inventory is valued at the lower of cost or net realizable value, cost being determined using the first-in, first-out method for crab meat and using various estimates and assumptions in regard to the calculation of the biomass, including expected yield, market value of the biomass, and estimated costs of completion.
Merchandise is purchased cost and freight shipping point and becomes the Company’s asset and liability upon leaving the suppliers’ warehouse.
The Company periodically reviews the value
of items in inventory and records an allowance to reduce the carrying value of inventory to the lower of cost or net realizable value
based on its assessment of market conditions, inventory turnover and current stock levels. Inventory write-downs are charged to cost of
goods sold. For the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company recorded an inventory adjustment to reduce the carrying value of inventory to the lower
of cost or net realizable value in the amount of $
The Company’s inventory as of December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021 consists of:
| December 31, 2022 | December 31, 2021 | |||||||
| Inventory purchased for resale | $ | $ | ||||||
| Feeds and eggs processed | ||||||||
| In-transit inventory | ||||||||
| Inventory allowance | ||||||||
| Inventory, net | $ | $ | ||||||
| F-8 |
Advances to Suppliers and Related Party
In the normal course of business, the Company may advance payments to its suppliers, including Bacolod, a related party. These advances are in the form of prepayments for products that will ship within a short window of time. In the event that it becomes necessary for the Company to return products or adjust for quality issues, the Company is issued a credit by the vendor in the normal course of business and these credits are also reflected against future shipments.
As of December 31, 2022, and December 31, 2021, the
balance due from Bacolod for future shipments was approximately $
Fixed Assets
Fixed assets are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation and are being depreciated using the straight-line method over the estimated useful life of the asset as follows:
| RAS System | ||||
| Furniture and fixtures | ||||
| Computer equipment | ||||
| Warehouse and refrigeration equipment | ||||
| Leasehold improvements | ||||
| Automobile | ||||
| Trade show booth |
The RAS system is comprised of tanks, plumbing, pumps, controls, hatchery, tools and other equipment all working together for the TOBC facility.
Leasehold improvements are amortized using the straight-line method over the shorter of the expected life of the improvement or the remaining lease term.
The Company capitalizes expenditures for major improvements and additions and expenses those items which do not improve or extend the useful life of the fixed assets.
The Company reviews fixed assets for recoverability
if events or changes in circumstances indicate the assets may be impaired. For the year ended December 31, 2022, an impairment was recorded
related to Coastal Pride and TOBC fixed assets of $
Other Comprehensive (loss) Income
The Company reports its comprehensive (loss) income in accordance with ASC 220, Comprehensive Income, which establishes standards for reporting and presenting comprehensive (loss) income and its components in a full set of financial statements. Other comprehensive (loss) income consists of net income (loss) and cumulative foreign currency translation adjustments.
Foreign Currency Translation
The Company’s functional and reporting currency
is the U.S. Dollars. The assets and liabilities held by TOBC have a functional currency other than the U.S. Dollar. The TOBC results were
translated into U.S. Dollars at exchange rates in effect at the end of each reporting period. TOBC’s revenue and expenses were translated
into U.S. Dollars at the average rates that prevailed during the period.
| F-9 |
Revenue Recognition
The Company recognizes revenue in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, as such, we record revenue when our customer obtains control of the promised goods or services in an amount that reflects the consideration which the Company expects to receive in exchange for those goods or services. The Company’s source of revenue is from importing blue and red swimming crab meat primarily from Mexico, Indonesia, the Philippines and China and distributing it in the United States and Canada under several brand names such as Blue Star, Oceanica, Pacifika, Crab & Go, First Choice, Good Stuff and Coastal Pride Fresh and steelhead salmon and rainbow trout fingerlings produced by TOBC under the brand name Little Cedar Farms for distribution in Canada. We sell primarily to food service distributors. The Company also sells its products to wholesalers, retail establishments and seafood distributors.
To determine revenue recognition for the arrangements that the Company determines are within the scope of Topic 606, the Company performs the following five steps: (1) identify the contract(s) with a customer by receipt of purchase orders and confirmations sent by the Company which includes a required line of credit approval process, (2) identify the performance obligations in the contract which includes shipment of goods to the customer at FOB shipping point or destination, (3) determine the transaction price which initiates with the purchase order received from the customer and confirmation sent by the Company and will include discounts and allowances by customer if any, (4) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract which is the shipment of the goods to the customer and transaction price determined in step 3 above and (5) recognize revenue when (or as) the entity satisfies a performance obligation which is when the Company transfers control of the goods to the customers by shipment or delivery of the products.
The Company elected an accounting policy to treat shipping and handling activities as fulfillment activities. Consideration payable to a customer is recorded as a reduction of the arrangement’s transaction price, thereby reducing the amount of revenue recognized, unless the payment is for distinct goods or services received from the customer.
Deferred Income
The Company recognizes deferred income for advance payments received from customers for which sales have not yet occurred.
Leases
The Company accounts for its leases under ASC 842, Leases, which requires all leases to be reported on the balance sheet as right-of-use assets and lease obligations. The Company elected the practical expedients permitted under the transition guidance that retained the lease classification and initial direct costs for any leases that existed prior to adoption of the standard.
The Company categorizes leases with contractual terms longer than twelve months as either operating or finance. Finance leases are generally those leases that would allow the Company to substantially utilize or pay for the entire asset over its estimated life. Assets acquired under finance leases are recorded in property and equipment, net. All other leases are categorized as operating leases. The Company did not have any finance leases as of December 31, 2022. The Company’s leases generally have terms that range from three years for equipment and six to seven years for real property. The Company elected the accounting policy to include both the lease and non-lease components of its agreements as a single component and accounts for them as a lease.
Lease liabilities are recognized at the present value of the fixed lease payments using a discount rate based on similarly secured borrowings available to us. Lease assets are recognized based on the initial present value of the fixed lease payments, reduced by landlord incentives, plus any direct costs from executing the leases. Lease assets are tested for impairment in the same manner as long-lived assets used in operations. Leasehold improvements are capitalized at cost and amortized over the lesser of their expected useful life or the lease term.
| F-10 |
When the Company has the option to extend the lease term, terminate the lease before the contractual expiration date, or purchase the leased asset, and it is reasonably certain that the Company will exercise the option, it considers these options in determining the classification and measurement of the lease. Costs associated with operating lease assets are recognized on a straight-line basis within operating expenses over the term of the lease.
The table below presents the lease-related assets and liabilities recorded on the balance sheets.
| December 31, 2022 | ||||
| Assets | ||||
| Operating lease assets | $ | |||
| Liabilities | ||||
| Current | $ | |||
| Operating lease liabilities | ||||
| Noncurrent | ||||
| Operating lease liabilities | $ | |||
Supplemental cash flow information related to leases were as follows:
| Year Ended December 31, 2022 | ||||
| Cash used in operating activities: | ||||
| Operating leases | $ | |||
| ROU assets recognized in exchange for lease obligations: | ||||
| Operating leases | $ | |||
The table below presents the remaining lease term and discount rates for operating leases.
| December 31, 2022 | ||||
| Weighted-average remaining lease term | ||||
| Operating leases | ||||
| Weighted-average discount rate | ||||
| Operating leases | % | |||
Maturities of lease liabilities as of December 31, 2022, were as follows:
| Operating Leases | ||||
| 2023 | $ | |||
| 2024 | ||||
| 2025 | ||||
| 2026 | ||||
| 2027 | ||||
| Total lease payments | $ | |||
| Less: amount of lease payments representing interest | ( | ) | ||
| Present value of future minimum lease payments | $ | |||
| Less: current obligations under leases | $ | ( | ) | |
| Non-current obligations | $ | |||
| F-11 |
Advertising
The Company expenses the costs of advertising as incurred.
Advertising expenses which are included in Other Operating Expenses were approximately $
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Customer Concentration
The Company had nine customers which accounted for
approximately
The Company had ten customers which accounted for
approximately
The loss of any major customer could have a material adverse impact on the Company’s results of operations, cash flows and financial position.
Supplier Concentration
The Company had five major suppliers located in the United States, Indonesia, Vietnam and China and which accounted for approximately
The Company had four suppliers which accounted for
approximately
The loss of any major supplier could have a material adverse impact on the Company’s results of operations, cash flows and financial position.
Fair Value Measurements and Financial Instruments
Fair value is defined as the amount that would be received for selling an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date and is measured using inputs in one of the following three categories:
Level 1 measurements are based on unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that we have the ability to access. Valuation of these items does not entail a significant amount of judgment.
Level 2 measurements are based on quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets, quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active or market data other than quoted prices that are observable for the assets or liabilities.
| F-12 |
Level 3 measurements are based on unobservable data that are supported by little or no market activity and are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities.
The Company’s financial instruments include cash, accounts receivable, accounts payable, accrued expenses, and debt obligations. The Company believes the carrying values of cash, accounts receivable, accounts payable and accrued expenses approximate their fair values because they are short term in nature or payable on demand. The carrying value of long-term debt approximates fair value since the related rates of interest approximate current market rates. The Company does not have any assets or liabilities that are required to be measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2022 and 2021.
The Company accounts for earnings per share pursuant
to ASC 260, Earnings per Share, which requires disclosure on the financial statements of “basic” and “diluted”
earnings (loss) per share. Basic earnings (loss) per share are computed by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted average number of
common shares outstanding for the year. Diluted earnings (loss) per share is computed by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted average
number of common shares outstanding plus common stock equivalents (if dilutive) related to stock options and warrants for each year. As
further described in Note 9 - Series A Convertible Preferred Stock, as of December 31, 2021, shares of preferred stock were converted
into shares of common stock. As further described in Notes 10 and 11 – Options and Warrants, as of December 31, 2022 and
2021, and options may be exercised, respectively, and
As there was a net loss for the years ended December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, basic and diluted losses per share each year are the same.
Stock-Based Compensation
The Company accounts for stock-based compensation in accordance with ASC 718, “Compensation-Stock Compensation”. ASC 718 requires companies to measure the cost of services received in exchange for an award of equity instruments, including stock options, based on the grant-date fair value of the award and to recognize it as compensation expense over the period the individual is required to provide service in exchange for the award, usually the vesting period. The Company accounts for forfeitures as they occur.
Related Parties
The Company accounts for related party transactions in accordance with ASC 850 (“Related Party Disclosures”). A party is considered to be related to the Company if the party directly or indirectly or through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with the Company. Related parties also include principal owners of the Company, its management, members of the immediate families of principal owners of the Company and its management and other parties with which the Company may deal if one party controls or can significantly influence the management or operating policies of the other to an extent that one of the transacting parties might be prevented from fully pursuing its own separate interests. A party which can significantly influence the management or operating policies of the transacting parties or if it has an ownership interest in one of the transacting parties and can significantly influence the other to an extent that one or more of the transacting parties might be prevented from fully pursuing its own separate interests is also a related party.
As of December 31, 2022, and 2021, there was approximately
$
Income Taxes
The Company accounts for income taxes utilizing the liability method, where deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on the expected future tax consequences of temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial and income tax reporting purposes, using enacted statutory tax rates in effect for the year in which the differences are expected to reverse. The effects of future changes in tax laws or rates are not included in the measurement. Income tax expense is the total of the current year income tax due and the change in deferred tax assets and liabilities. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are the expected future tax amounts for the temporary differences between carrying amounts and tax bases of assets and liabilities, computed using enacted tax rates. A valuation allowance, if needed, reduces deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized. As changes in tax laws or rates are enacted, deferred tax assets and liabilities are adjusted through the provision for income taxes.
| F-13 |
A tax position is recognized as a benefit only if it is “more likely than not” that the tax position would be sustained in a tax examination, with a tax examination being presumed to occur. The amount recognized is the largest amount of tax benefit that is greater than 50% likely of being realized on examination. For tax positions not meeting the “more likely than not” test, no tax benefit is recorded.
The Company’s policy is to recognize interest
and penalties on uncertain tax positions in “Income tax expense” in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. There were
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
ASU 2020-06, Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40).
In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-06, Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40). The ASU simplifies the accounting for certain financial instruments with characteristics of liabilities and equity. The FASB reduced the number of accounting models for convertible debt and convertible preferred stock instruments and made certain disclosure amendments to improve the information provided to users. In addition, the FASB amended the derivative guidance for the “own stock” scope exception and certain aspects of the EPS guidance. The guidance is effective for smaller reporting companies for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted, but no earlier than fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company adopted the ASU effective January 1, 2022 and applied the provisions of the ASU to the convertible note issued during the year ended December 31, 2022.
ASU 2016-13 Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326)
In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, which requires entities to use a forward-looking, expected loss model to estimate credit losses. It also requires entities to consider additional disclosures related to credit quality of trade and other receivables, including information related to management’s estimate of credit allowances. ASU 2016-13 was further amended in November 2018 by ASU 2018-19, Codification Improvements to Topic 236, Financial Instrument-Credit Losses. For public business entities that are Securities and Exchange Commission filers excluding smaller reporting companies, the amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods within those fiscal years. For all other public business entities, the amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020, including interim periods within those fiscal years. On October 16, 2019, FASB voted to delay implementation of ASU No. 2016-13, “Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326) - Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments.” For all other entities, the amendments are now effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022. On November 15, 2019, FASB issued an Accounting Standard Update No. 2019-10 to amend the implementation date to fiscal year beginning after December 15, 2022, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2018. As this ASU became effective on January 1, 2023, the Company continues to evaluate the impact of these amendments to the Company’s financial position and results of operations and currently expects no material impact of the adoption of the amendments on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
Note 3. Going Concern
The accompanying consolidated financial statements
and notes have been prepared assuming the Company will continue as a going concern. The Company incurred a net loss of $
| F-14 |
Note 4. Other Current Assets
Other current assets totaled $
Note 5. Fixed Assets, Net
Fixed assets comprised the following at December 31:
| 2022 | 2021 | |||||||
| Computer equipment | $ | $ | ||||||
| RAS system | ||||||||
| Automobiles | ||||||||
| Leasehold improvements | ||||||||
| Total | ||||||||
| Less: Accumulated depreciation and impairment | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Fixed assets, net | $ | $ | ||||||
For the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, depreciation
expense totaled approximately $
Note 6. Goodwill and Intangible Assets, Net
The following table sets forth the changes in the carrying amount of the Company’s goodwill for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021.
| 2022 | 2021 | |||||||
| Balance, January 1 | $ | $ | ||||||
| Acquisition of TOBC | ||||||||
| Impairment | ( | ) | ||||||
| Balance, December 31 | $ | $ | ||||||
The following table sets forth the components of the Company’s intangible assets at December 31, 2022:
| Amortization Period (Years) | Cost | Accumulated Amortization and Impairment | Net Book Value | |||||||||||||
| Intangible Assets Subject to amortization | ||||||||||||||||
| Trademarks – Coastal Pride | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||||||
| Trademarks – TOBC | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||
| Customer Relationships – Coastal Pride | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||
| Customer Relationships – TOBC | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||
| Non-Compete Agreements – Coastal Pride | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||
| Non-Compete Agreements – TOBC | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||||||
The following table sets forth the components of the Company’s intangible assets at December 31, 2021:
| Amortization Period (Years) | Cost | Accumulated Amortization and Impairment | Net Book Value | |||||||||||||
| Intangible Assets Subject to amortization | ||||||||||||||||
| Trademarks – Coastal Pride | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||||||
| Trademarks – TOBC | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||
| Customer Relationships – Coastal Pride | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||
| Customer Relationships – TOBC | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||
| Non-Compete Agreements – Coastal Pride | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||
| Non-Compete Agreements – TOBC | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||||||
For
the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, amortization expense of intangible assets totaled approximately $
| F-15 |
Note 7. Debt
Working Capital Line of Credit
On March 31, 2021, Keeler & Co. and Coastal Pride
entered into a loan and security agreement (“Loan Agreement”) with Lighthouse Financial Corp., a North Carolina corporation
(“Lighthouse”). Pursuant to the terms of the Loan Agreement, Lighthouse made available to Keeler & Co. and Coastal Pride
(together, the “Borrowers”) a $
| F-16 |
The line of credit is secured by a first priority
security interest on all the assets of each Borrower. Pursuant to the terms of a guaranty agreement, the Company guaranteed the obligations
of the Borrowers under the note and John Keeler, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, provided a personal guaranty
of up to $
The Borrowers utilized $
John Keeler Promissory Notes – Subordinated
The Company had unsecured promissory notes outstanding
to its stockholder of approximately $
Lind Global Fund II LP investment
On January 24, 2022, the Company entered into a
securities purchase agreement with Lind Global Fund II LP, a Delaware limited partnership (“Lind”), pursuant to which
the Company issued to Lind a secured, two-year, interest free convertible promissory note in the principal amount of $
In connection with the issuance of the note, the Company granted Lind a first priority security interest and lien on all of its assets, including a pledge on its shares in John Keeler & Co. Inc., its wholly-owned subsidiary, pursuant to a security agreement and a stock pledge agreement with Lind, dated January 24, 2022. Each subsidiary of the Company also granted a second priority security interest in all of its respective assets.
The note is mandatorily payable prior to maturity if the Company issues any preferred stock (with certain exceptions described in the note) or, if the Company or its subsidiaries issues any indebtedness other than certain amounts under the current line of credit facility with Lighthouse. The Company also agreed not to issue or sell any securities with a conversion, exercise or other price based on a discount to the trading prices of the Company’s stock or to grant the right to receive additional securities based on future transactions of the Company on terms more favorable than those granted to Lind, with certain exceptions.
If the Company fails to maintain
the listing and trading of its common stock, the note will become due and payable and Lind may convert all or a portion of the outstanding
principal at the lower of the then current conversion price and
| F-17 |
If the Company engages in
capital raising transactions, Lind has the right to purchase up to
The note is convertible into
common stock at $
Upon an event of default
as described in the note, the note will become immediately due and payable at a default interest rate of
During the year ended
December 31, 2022, the Company made principal payments on the note totaling $
First West Credit Union CEBA Loan
On June 24, 2021, the Company assumed a commercial
term loan with First West Credit Union Canada Emergency Business Account (“CEBA”) in the principal amount of CAD$
Walter Lubkin Jr. Note – Subordinated
On November 26, 2019, the Company issued a
five-year unsecured promissory note in the principal amount of $
Interest expense for the Walter Lubkin Jr. note totaled
approximately $
On October 8, 2021, $
For the year ended December 31, 2022, $
| F-18 |
Walter Lubkin III Convertible Note – Subordinated
On November 26, 2019, the Company issued a thirty-nine-month
unsecured promissory note in the principal amount of $
Interest expense for the Walter Lubkin III note totaled
approximately $
On October 8, 2021, $
For the year ended December 31, 2022, all of the
outstanding principal and accrued interest to date was paid through a combination of cash and shares of common stock issued on the
note by the Company totaling $
Tracy Greco Convertible Note – Subordinated
On November 26, 2019, the Company issued a thirty-nine-month
unsecured promissory note in the principal amount of $
Interest expense for the Tracy Greco note totaled
approximately $
On October 8, 2021, $
For the year ended December 31, 2022, all of the
outstanding principal and accrued interest to date was paid through a combination of cash and shares of common stock issued on the
note by the Company totaling $
John Lubkin Convertible Note – Subordinated
On November 26, 2019, the Company issued a thirty-nine-month
unsecured promissory note in the principal amount of $
Interest expense for the John Lubkin note totaled
approximately $
On October 8, 2021, $
For the year ended December 31, 2022, all of the
outstanding principal and accrued interest to date was paid through a combination of cash and shares of common stock issued on the
note by the Company totaling $
| F-19 |
Kenar Note
On March 26, 2019, the Company issued a four-month
promissory note in the principal amount of $
The amendment to the Kenar Note was analyzed under
ASC 470-50 and was determined that it will be accounted for as an extinguishment of the old debt and the new debt will be recorded at
fair value with the new effective interest rate of
On April 28, 2021, the Kenar Note was further amended to extend the maturity date to May 31, 2021.
On July 6, 2021, the Company entered into a note payoff
indemnity agreement with Kenar pursuant to which the Company paid Kenar $
Interest expense for the Kenar Note totaled approximately
$
Lobo Note
On April 2, 2019, the Company issued a four-month
unsecured promissory note in the principal amount of $
On January 1, 2021, the Company paid off the October
1, 2020 note with the issuance of a six-month unsecured promissory note in the principal amount of $
On November
1, 2021, the Company paid Lobo $
Interest expense for the Lobo Note totaled approximately
$
| F-20 |
Payroll Protection Program Loans
On
March 2, 2021, the Company received proceeds of $
Note 8. Acquisitions
Acquisition of Taste of BC Aquafarms
On
June 24, 2021, the Company consummated the acquisition of TOBC and TOBC became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. The acquisition
was accounted for as a business combination under the provisions of ASC 805. The aggregate purchase price of CAD$
The
transaction costs incurred in connection with the acquisition of TOBC amounted to $
Fair Value of Consideration Transferred and Recording of Assets Acquired
The following table summarizes the acquisition date fair value of the consideration paid, identifiable assets acquired, and liabilities assumed, including goodwill.
| Consideration Paid: | ||||
| Cash | $ | |||
| Common stock, shares of common stock of the Company | ||||
| Promissory notes to Sellers | ||||
| Contingent consideration - Common stock, shares of common stock of the Company in escrow | ||||
| Fair value of total consideration | $ | |||
| Purchase Price Allocation: | ||||
| Tangible assets acquired | $ | |||
| Trademarks | ||||
| Customer relationships | ||||
| Non-compete agreements | ||||
| Goodwill | ||||
| Liabilities assumed | ( | ) | ||
| Fair market value of net assets acquired | $ | |||
In determining the fair value of the common stock issued, the Company considered the value of the stock as estimated by the Company at the time of closing which was determined to be $, based on the Company’s private placement offering price.
| F-21 |
Liabilities
assumed included three mortgage loans of approximately CAD$
Pro Forma Information
The following pro forma information assumes the TOBC acquisition occurred on January 1, 2021. For the TOBC acquisition, depreciation and amortization has been included in the calculation of the below pro forma information based upon the actual acquisition costs.
| For the year ended December 31, 2021 | ||||
| Revenue | $ | |||
| Net loss attributable to common shareholders | $ | ( | ) | |
| Basic and diluted loss per share | $ | ( | ) | |
The information included in the pro forma amounts is derived from historical information obtained from the Sellers of TOBC.
Acquisition of Gault Seafood
On
February 3, 2022, Coastal Pride entered into an asset purchase agreement with Gault Seafood and Robert J. Gault II pursuant to which Coastal
Pride acquired all of Gault Seafood’s right, title and interest in and to assets relating to Gault Seafood’s soft-shell crab
operations, including intellectual property, equipment, vehicles and other assets used in connection with the soft-shell crab operations.
Coastal Pride did not assume any liabilities in connection with the acquisition. The purchase price for the assets consisted of a cash
payment in the amount of $
Fair Value of Consideration Transferred and Recording of Assets Acquired
The following table summarizes the acquisition date fair value of the consideration paid and identifiable assets acquired.
| Consideration Paid: | ||||
| Cash | $ | |||
| Common stock,shares of common stock of the Company | ||||
| Transaction costs | ||||
| Fair value of total consideration | $ | |||
| Purchase Price Allocation: | ||||
| Fixed assets acquired | $ | |||
| Customer relationships | ||||
| Fair market value of net assets acquired | $ | |||
Note 9. Stockholders’ Equity
Preferred Stock
Our
Board of Directors has designated
Dividends.
Cumulative dividends accrue on each share of Series A Stock at the rate of
Dividends of common stock were authorized for issuance to the stockholders in accordance with the terms of the Certificate of Designation for the Series A Stock. On March 31, 2021, the Company issued shares of common stock to Series A preferred stockholders as a common stock dividend for the quarter ended March 31, 2021.
Conversion. Each share of Series A Stock is convertible at any time and in the sole discretion of the holder, into shares of common stock at a conversion rate of shares of common stock for each share of Series A Stock (the “Conversion Rate”) The Company analyzed the embedded conversion option for derivative accounting consideration under ASC 815-15 “Derivatives and Hedging” and determined that the conversion option should be classified as equity. On June 30 2021, all preferred shares were converted to common shares and the Company issued an aggregate of shares of common stock to Series A preferred shareholders upon conversion of an aggregate shares of Series A Stock.
| F-22 |
Common Stock
The Company is authorized to issue shares of common stock at a par value of $ and had and shares of common stock issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
On
July 1, 2020, the Company entered into an investment banking engagement agreement, as amended on October 30, 2020, with Newbridge Securities
Corporation. In consideration for advisory services, the Company agreed to issue Newbridge a total of shares of common stock with
a fair value of $
On
February 8, 2021, the Company issued shares of common stock with a fair value of $
On
March 30, 2021, the Company issued shares of common stock with a fair value of $
On
March 31, 2021, the Company issued shares of common stock with a fair value of $
On
March 31, 2021, the Company issued shares of common stock to Series A preferred stockholders as a common stock dividend with an
aggregate fair value of $
On
April 15, 2021, the Company issued an aggregate of shares of common stock to Walter Lubkin Jr., Walter Lubkin III, Tracy Greco
and John Lubkin (collectively, the “Coastal Sellers”) in lieu of $
On
April 19, 2021, the Company issued shares of common stock with a fair value of $
On
April 29, 2021, the Company issued shares of common stock to Kenar in lieu of $
On
April 30, 2021, the Company issued shares of common stock with a fair value of $
On
May 31, 2021, the Company issued shares of common stock with a fair value of $
On June 24, 2021, the Company issued shares to the sellers of TOBC as partial consideration for the sale of TOBC to the Company.
On
June 30, 2021, the Company issued shares of common stock with a fair value of $
On
June 30, 2021, the Company issued shares of common stock with a fair value of $
On
June 30, 2021, the Company issued an aggregate of shares of common stock to Series A preferred stockholders upon conversion of
an aggregate
On
July 21, 2021, the Company entered into a consulting agreement as amended on November 10, 2021, with Intelligent Investments I, LLC (“Intelligent”).
In consideration for consulting services, the Company agreed to issue Intelligent a total of shares of common stock with a fair
value of $
| F-23 |
On
August 3, 2021, the Company issued shares of common stock with a fair value of $
On
November 5, 2021, we issued shares of common stock to Newbridge Securities Corporation (“Newbridge”), as underwriters’
representative, in connection with our underwritten public offering for gross proceeds of $
On November 5, 2021 we issued a warrant to purchase an aggregate of shares of common stock at an exercise price of $ per share to Newbridge. Such warrant is exercisable on a date which is 180 days from the closing of the underwritten offering and expires on November 11, 2024.
On December 31, 2021, the Company issued shares of common stock to Intelligent Investments I LLC for legal services provided to the Company.
On December 31, 2021, the Company issued shares of common stock to TraDigital Marketing Group for consulting services provided to the Company.
On December 31, 2021, we issued shares of common stock to each of Nubar Herian and John Keeler, shares of common stock to each of Timothy McLellan and Trond Ringstad and shares of common stock to Jeffrey Guzy for serving as directors of the Company.
During
the year ended December 31, 2021, we issued an aggregate of shares of common stock to investors upon the exercise of warrants
for total proceeds of $
During
the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company sold pursuant to subscription agreements an aggregate of shares of common stock
at $ per share and issued warrants to purchase an aggregate of shares at an exercise price of $ to various accredited
investors in private offerings for gross proceeds of $
On
January 24, 2022, the Company issued shares of common stock to an investor upon the exercise of warrants for total proceeds of
$
On
February 3, 2022, the Company issued shares of common stock with a fair value of $
On
March 31, 2022, the Company issued shares of common stock to Intelligent Investments I LLC, with a fair value of $
On
March 31, 2022, the Company issued shares of common stock with a fair value of $
On
April 1, 2022, the Company issued shares of common stock with a fair value of $
On
April 4, 2022, the Company issued shares of common stock with a fair value of $
On
April 5, 2022, the Company issued an aggregate of shares of common stock with a fair value of $
On
May 1, 2022, the Company issued shares of common stock with a fair value of $
On
June 1, 2022, the Company issued shares of common stock with a fair value of $
| F-24 |
On
June 3, 2022, the Company issued shares of common stock with a fair value of $
On
June 30, 2022, the Company issued shares of common stock to Intelligent Investments I LLC, with a fair value of $
On
July 1, 2022, the Company issued shares of common stock with a fair value of $
On
August 1, 2022, the Company issued shares of common stock with a fair value of $
On
August 25, 2022, the Company issued shares of common stock to Lind, with a fair value of $
On
September 1, 2022, the Company issued shares of common stock with a fair value of $
On
September 26, 2022, the Company issued shares of common stock to Lind, with a fair value of $
On
October 1, 2022, the Company issued shares of common stock with a fair value of $
On
November 1, 2022, the Company issued shares of common stock with a fair value of $
On
December 1, 2022, the Company issued shares of common stock with a fair value of $
On
December 21, 2022, the Company issued shares of common stock to Lind with a fair value of $
On
December 31, 2022, the Company issued shares
of common stock to each of Nubar Herian and John Keeler, shares of common stock to each of Timothy McLellan and Trond Ringstad,
shares of common stock to each of Juan Carlos Dalto and Silvia Alana and shares of common stock to Jeffrey Guzy with a
total fair value of $
On
December 31, 2022, the Company issued an aggregate of shares of common stock to Walter Lubkin Jr., Walter Lubkin III, Tracy Greco
and John Lubkin in lieu of $
During the years ended December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, $ and $, respectively, in compensation expense was recognized on the following:
| 1. | -year options to purchase shares of common stock at an exercise price of $, which vest from the date of grant, were issued to Christopher Constable, the Company’s former Chief Financial Officer, under the 2018 Plan during the year ended December 31, 2018 and have vested during the year ended December 31, 2019. In connection with our underwritten public offering, such shares underlying the option are subject to a lock-up and may not be sold or otherwise transferred until May 3, 2022. |
| F-25 |
| 2. | -year options to purchase shares of common stock at an exercise price of $, which vest as to % of the shares subject to the option each year from the date of grant, were issued to various long-term employees under the 2018 Plan during the year ended December 31, 2019. |
| 3. | -year options to purchase shares of common stock at an exercise price of $, which vest as to % of the shares subject to the option each year from the date of grant, were issued to an employee under the 2018 Plan during the year ended December 31, 2019. |
| 4. | -year options to purchase shares of common stock at an exercise price of $, which vest as to % of the shares subject to the option each year from the date of grant, were issued to various contractors during the year ended December 31, 2019. |
| 5. | -year options to purchase an aggregate of shares of common stock at an exercise price of $, which vest in equal monthly installments during the first year from the date of grant, were issued to the Company’s directors during the year ended December 31, 2021. |
6.
7.
8.
9. |
-year options to purchase an aggregate of shares of common stock at an exercise price of $, which vest in equal monthly installments during the term of the option, were issued to an officer of the Company during the year ended December 31, 2021. -year options to purchase an aggregate of shares of common stock at an exercise price of $, which vest in equal monthly installments during the term of the option, were issued to the Company’s directors during the year ended December 31, 2022. -year options to purchase shares of common stock at an exercise price of $, which vest in equal monthly installments during the term of the option, were issued to an employee during the year ended December 31, 2022. -year options to purchase shares of common stock at an exercise price of $, which vest in equal monthly installments during the term of the option, were issued to an employee during the year ended December 31, 2022. |
| 2022 | 2021 | |||||||
| Expected Volatility | % – | % | % – | % | ||||
| Risk Free Interest Rate | % – | % | % – | % | ||||
| Expected life of options | – | – |
Under
the Black-Scholes option pricing model, the fair value of the options to purchase an aggregate of shares of common stock granted
during the year ended December 31, 2021 was estimated at $
On April 20, 2022, the Company’s existing directors and two newly appointed directors each entered into a one-year director service agreement with the Company, which will automatically renew for successive one-year terms unless either party notifies the other of its desire not to renew the agreement at least 30 days prior to the end of the then current term, or unless earlier terminated in accordance with the terms of the agreement. As compensation for serving on the Board of Directors, each director will be entitled to a $ annual stock grant and for serving on a Committee of the Board, an additional $ annual stock grant, both based upon the closing sales price of the common stock on the last trading day of the calendar year. Each director who serves as chairman of the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Nominating and Governance Committee will be entitled to an additional $, $ and $ annual stock grant, respectively. As additional consideration for such Board service, on April 20, 2022, shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $ per share, which shares will vest in equal quarterly installments of shares during the term of the option. The agreement also includes customary confidentiality provisions and one-year non-competition and non-solicitation provisions.
| F-26 |
On September 16, 2022, the Company granted an employee a -year option to purchase shares of common stock at an exercise price of $ which vests in equal monthly installments during the term of the option.
On November 22, 2022, the Company granted an employee a -year option to purchase shares of common stock at an exercise price of $ which vests in equal monthly installments during the term of the option.
Under
the Black-Scholes option pricing model, the fair value of the options, options and options granted during the year
ended December 31, 2022 is estimated at $
| Number of Options | Weighted Average Exercise Price | Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life in Years | Aggregate Intrinsic Value | |||||||||||||
| Outstanding - December 31, 2020 | $ | |||||||||||||||
| Exercisable - December 31, 2020 | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Granted | $ | |||||||||||||||
| Forfeited | ( | ) | $ | |||||||||||||
| Vested | ||||||||||||||||
| Outstanding - December 31, 2021 | $ | |||||||||||||||
| Exercisable - December 31, 2021 | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Granted | $ | |||||||||||||||
| Forfeited | ( | ) | $ | |||||||||||||
| Vested | ||||||||||||||||
| Outstanding - December 31, 2022 | $ | |||||||||||||||
| Exercisable - December 31, 2022 | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
For the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company determined that the -year option to purchase shares of common stock at an exercise price of $ granted to an employee of TOBC in 2021 does not meet the vesting requirements pursuant to the terms of the option grant and accordingly, reversed the expense recorded of approximately $ and $ for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
The non-vested options outstanding are and for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
| F-27 |
Note 11. Warrants
| Number of Warrants | Weighted Average Exercise Price | Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life in Years | Aggregate Intrinsic Value | |||||||||||||
| Outstanding – December 31, 2021 | $ | |||||||||||||||
| Exercisable – December 31, 2021 | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Granted | $ | |||||||||||||||
| Exercised | ( | ) | $ | |||||||||||||
| Forfeited or Expired | $ | |||||||||||||||
| Outstanding – December 31, 2022 | $ | |||||||||||||||
| Exercisable – December 31, 2022 | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
As
of December 31, 2021, the Company issued warrants to purchase an aggregate of
On
January 24, 2022, in connection with the issuance of the $
For
the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company issued
Note 12. Income taxes
Federal income tax expense differs from the statutory federal rates of 21% for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 due to the following:
| Rate Reconciliation | December 31, 2022 | December 31, 2021 | ||||||||||||||
| Provision/(Benefit) at Statutory Rate | $ | ( | ) | % | $ | ( | ) | % | ||||||||
| State Tax Provision/(Benefit) net of federal benefit | ( | ) | % | ( | ) | % | ||||||||||
| Permanent Book/Tax Differences | ( | )% | ( | )% | ||||||||||||
| Change in valuation allowance | ( | )% | ( | )% | ||||||||||||
| Other | ( | )% | ( | ) | % | |||||||||||
| Income Tax Provision/(Benefit) | - | % | ||||||||||||||
| F-28 |
The components of the net deferred tax asset at December 31, 2022 and 2021, are as follows:
| December 31, 2022 | December 31, 2021 | |||||||
| Deferred Tax Assets | ||||||||
| Business Interest Limitation | $ | $ | ||||||
| Fixed Assets | ( | ) | ||||||
| Stock based compensation | ||||||||
| Net Operating loss carryovers | ||||||||
| Non-Capital Losses | ||||||||
| Other | ( | ) | ||||||
| Net Deferred Tax Asset/(Liability) | ||||||||
| Valuation Allowance | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Net Deferred Tax Asset/(Liability) | $ | $ | ||||||
Tax
periods for all fiscal years after 2018 remain open to examination by the federal and state taxing jurisdictions to which the
Company is subject. As of December 31, 2022, the Company has cumulative net federal and state operating losses of $
ASC 740, “Income Taxes” requires that a valuation allowance be established when it is “more likely than not” that all, or a portion of, deferred tax assets will not be recognized. A review of all available positive and negative evidence needs to be considered, including the scheduled reversal of deferred tax liabilities, projected future taxable income, and tax planning strategies. After consideration of all the information available, management believes that uncertainty exists with respect to future realization of its deferred tax assets and has, therefore, established a full valuation allowance as of December 31, 2022.
As of December 31, 2022, and 2021, the Company has evaluated and concluded that there were no material uncertain tax positions requiring recognition in the Company’s financial statements. The Company’s policy is to classify assessments, if any, for tax related interest as income tax expenses. No interest or penalties were recorded during the years ended December 31, 2022, and 2021.
Note 13. Commitment and Contingencies
Office lease
The
Company leased its Miami office and warehouse facility from JK Real Estate, a related party through common family beneficial ownership.
The lease which had a
Coastal
Pride leases approximately
On
February 3, 2022, in connection with the acquisition of certain assets of Gault, the Company entered into a -year lease agreement
for
The
offices and facility of TOBC are located in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada and are on land which was leased to TOBC for approximately
$
| F-29 |
Rental
and equipment lease expenses were approximately $
Legal
The
Company has reached a settlement agreement with a former employee. Although the agreement is not finalized the Company has reserved $
Note 14. COVID-19 Pandemic
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) had become a pandemic, and on March 13, 2020, the U.S. President declared a National Emergency concerning the disease. Additionally, in March 2020, state governments in the Company’s geographic operating area began instituting preventative shut down measures in order to combat the novel coronavirus pandemic. The coronavirus and actions taken to mitigate the spread of it have had and are expected to continue to have an adverse impact on the economies and financial markets of the geographical areas in which the Company operates. On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) was enacted to amongst other provisions, provide emergency assistance for individuals, families and businesses affected by the novel coronavirus pandemic for 2020 and into 2021. The Company’s business not being deemed essential resulted in decreased financial performance that may not be indicative of future financial results. Government-mandated closures of businesses and shipping delays have affected our sales and inventory purchases. The Company continues to face uncertainty and increased risks concerning its employees, customers, supply chain and government regulation. In April 2021, the U.S. government has made available the COVID-19 vaccine to most of its population to aid with the pandemic but the long-term effects of this development are yet to be seen. By the end of 2021, the U.S. government has made available a booster of the COVID-19 vaccine to continue the fight against the pandemic. The Company’s sales and supply were adversely affected due to COVID-19, during 2021 and 2022. The Company recognized impairment losses on goodwill and long-lived assets for Coastal Pride and TOBC due to the lower forecasted revenues and gross losses recognized in the year ended December 31, 2022 as a result of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s business.
Note 15. Employee Benefit Plan
The Company provides and sponsors a 401(k) plan for its employees. For the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, no contributions were made to the plan by the Company.
Note 16. Subsequent Events
In
January 2023, the Company sold an aggregate of
On January 31, 2023, the Company issued shares of common stock to Lind with a fair value of $
On
February 10, 2023, the Company entered into an underwriting agreement (the “Underwriting Agreement”) with Aegis Capital Corp.
(the “Underwriter”), pursuant to which the Company agreed to sell to the Underwriter, in a firm commitment public offering,
(i) shares of common stock for a public offering price of $ per share and (ii) pre-funded warrants (the “Pre-funded
Warrants”) to purchase
The
offering closed on February 14, 2023 with gross proceeds to the Company of approximately $
In March
2023, the Company issued an aggregate of
shares of common stock to Lind with a fair value of $
| F-30 |
ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE
None.
ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as of December 31, 2022, we conducted an evaluation of our disclosure controls and procedures, as such term is defined under Rule 13a-15(e) and Rule 15d-15(e) promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Based on this evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of such date to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in reports filed or submitted under the Securities Exchange Act were recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms and that our disclosure controls are not effectively designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file or submit under the Securities Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Internal control over financial reporting is defined in Rule 13a-15(f) or 15d-15(f) promulgated under the Exchange Act as a process designed by, or under the supervision of, our principal executive and principal financial officers and effected by our board of directors, management and other personnel, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with GAAP and includes those policies and procedures that:
| ● | Pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of our assets; |
| 45 |
| ● | Provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and board of directors; and | |
| ● | Provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements. |
Our management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, existing as of December 31, 2022, based on the criteria for effective internal control over financial reporting established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and SEC guidance on conducting such assessments. Based on that evaluation, we believe that, during the period covered by this Report, such internal controls and procedures were not effective to detect the inappropriate application of GAAP rules due to deficiencies that existed in the design or operation of our internal controls over financial reporting that adversely affected our internal controls and that the following may be considered to be material weaknesses under the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board:
| ● | inadequate monitoring controls over inventory maintained in the Company’s third-party warehouse; | |
| ● | ineffective controls over the Company’s financial close and reporting process; and | |
| ● | inadequate segregation of duties consistent with control objectives, including lack of personnel resources and technical accounting expertise within the accounting function of the Company. |
Management believes that the material weaknesses that were identified did not have an effect on our financial results. However, management believes that these weaknesses, if not properly remediated, could result in a material misstatement in our financial statements in future periods.
Management’s Remediation Initiatives
In an effort to remediate the identified material weaknesses and other deficiencies and enhance our internal controls, we plan to further initiate the following measures, subject to the availability of required resources:
| ● | We plan to create an internal control framework that will address financial close and reporting process, among other procedures; and | |
| ● | We plan to create a position to segregate duties consistent with control objectives and hire personnel resources with technical accounting expertise within the accounting function.
|
This Annual Report does not include an attestation report of our registered public accounting firm regarding our internal control over financial reporting. Management’s report was not subject to attestation by our registered public accounting firm pursuant to rules of the SEC that exempt smaller reporting companies from this requirement.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during our fourth quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
None
ITEM 9C. DISCLOSURE REGARDING FOREIGN JURISDICTIONS THAT PREVENT INSPECTIONS
Not applicable.
| 46 |
PART III
ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Directors and Executive Officers
Below are the names of and certain information regarding the Company’s current executive officers and directors:
| Name | Age | Position | ||
| John Keeler | 52 | Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer | ||
| Nubar Herian | 53 | Director | ||
| Jeffrey J. Guzy | 71 | Director | ||
| Timothy McLellan | 66 | Director | ||
| Trond Ringstad | 55 | Director | ||
| Silvia Alana | 39 | Director and Chief Financial Officer | ||
| Juan Carlos Dalto | 58 | Director | ||
| Miozotis Ponce | 52 | Chief Operating Officer |
Our directors hold office for three-year terms and until their successors have been elected and qualified. Our officers are elected by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors.
The principal occupation and business experience during the past five years for our executive officer and directors is as follows:
John Keeler has been Executive Chairman of the Board since November 8, 2018. Mr. Keeler founded John Keeler & Co., d/b/a Blue Star Foods in May 1995 and served as its Executive Chairman of the Board since inception during which time he grew the company to become one of the leading marketers of imported blue swimming crab meat in the United States. Mr. Keeler built sales over the past 20 years to $35+ million annually through 2017. Mr. Keeler oversees procurement as well as operating facilities in the Philippines and Indonesia. Mr. Keeler is an executive committee member of the National Fisheries Institute-Crab Council and a founding member of the Indonesia and Philippines crab meat processors associations. Mr. Keeler received his BS in Economics from Rutgers University in 1995 and attended Harvard Business School executive programs in supply chain management, negotiations and marketing in 2005. Mr. Keeler’s extensive experience in the industry led to the decision to appoint him to the board of directors.
Nubar Herian has served as a director since November 8, 2018. Since 2014, Mr. Herian has been the chief executive officer of Monaco Group Holdings, a privately-held company headquartered in Miami, Florida, which owns and operates Monaco Foods, Inc., an importer, exporter and distributor of premium gourmet foods from around the world. Since 1995, Mr. Herian has been the commercial director of Casa de Fruta Caracas, a privately-held company based in Caracas, Venezuela, that focuses on importing foods. Mr. Herian is also the president of Lunar Enterprises, Corp. (“Lunar”), a holding company for his family’s public and private equity investments and real estate holdings. Mr. Herian received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Florida Atlantic University in 1994 and an Executive M.B.A. from the University of Miami in 2014. Mr. Herian’s experience in the food import industry led to the decision to appoint him to the board of directors.
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Jeffrey J. Guzy has served as a director since April 12, 2021. Mr. Guzy served as a director of Leatt Corp. (OTC: LEAT), since April 2007 and from October 2007 to August 2010, as its President. Mr. Guzy has served as an independent director and chairman of the audit committee of Capstone Companies, Inc. (OTC: CAPC), a public holding company, since April 2007, as an independent director and chairman of the audit committee of Purebase Corporation (OTC: PUBC), a diversified resource company, since April 2020 and as Chairman of CoJax Oil and Gas Corporation, an early stage oil and gas exploration and production company, since May 2018, and was appointed as its chief executive officer in January 2020. Mr. Guzy has served as an executive manager or consultant for business development, sales, customer service, and management in the telecommunications industry, specifically, with IBM Corp., Sprint International, Bell Atlantic Video Services, Loral CyberStar, and FaciliCom International. Mr. Guzy has also started his own telecommunications company providing Internet services in Western Africa. Mr. Guzy has an MBA in Strategic Planning and Management from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, an M.S. in Systems Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Penn State University, and a Certificate in Theology from Georgetown University. Mr. Guzy’s extensive public company board experience led to the decision to appoint him to the board of directors.
Timothy McLellan has served as a director since April 12, 2021. Mr. McLellan has more than 35 years of operating experience and has served as a seafood executive in both the U.S. and Asia. Mr. McLellan has been managing director of Maijialin Consulting Company Ltd. which provides international business development consulting services for import/export cold chain supply logistics and foodservice distribution, since April 2012. From April 2009 until February 2019, Mr. McLellan was managing director, business development for Preferred Freezer Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, a Hong-Kong-based logistics and industrial infrastructure provider. Between 2019 and 2020, Mr. McLellan served as a private equity operating partner for CITIC Capital Partners (Shanghai) Ltd. Prior to that, from 2009 through 2019, Mr. McLellan served in various executive capacities, including Chairman for SinotransPFS Cold Chain Logistics Company, Ltd., a logistics company. Between 2004 and 2009, Mr. McLellan served as President of Empress International, a division of Thai Union Group. Between 2003 and 2004, he served in a senior manager position with the seafood division of ConAgra Foods. Mr. McLellan’s knowledge and background in seafood operations management led to the decision to appoint him to the Board.
Trond Ringstad has served as a director since April 12, 2021 and has more than 20 years of operating experience as a seafood executive in both the U.S. and Europe. Since April 2017, Mr. Ringstad has been managing partner of American Sea, LLC, a seafood processing and sales company, and since October 2013, Mr. Ringstad has been an independent consultant for AGR Partners. Between 2003 and 2007, he served as president of Pacific Supreme Seafoods, a global importing and wholesaling seafood company. Between 2001 and 2003, he served as vice president of sales and marketing for Royal Supreme Seafoods, a Norwegian / Chinese seafood importer and sales company. Mr. Ringstad graduated from the BI Norwegian Business School with a Degree in International Marketing and has a BA in Business Management from Washington State University. Mr. Ringstad’s knowledge and background with regard to seafood operations management led to the decision to appoint him to the board of directors.
Silvia Alana has served as a director since April 20, 2022 and has been chief financial officer of the Company since May 2021. Ms. Alana was the corporate controller of the Company from August 2020 to May 2021. Prior thereto, Ms. Alana was Global Technical Accounting Manager at Brightstar Corporation from April 2018 to July 2020 and Audit Manager at Crowe Horwath, LLP from July 2016 to April 2018. Ms. Alana was a Senior Accountant in Global Accounting and Reporting Services at Carnival Corporation & Plc., from May 2013 to February 2015, and an Auditor in Assurance at Pricewaterhouse Coopers, LLP, from January 2010 to May 2013. Ms. Alana graduated from Florida International University with a Bachelor degree in Accounting in 2008 and a Master of Accounting in 2009. Ms. Alana is a Certified Public Accountant.
Juan Carlos Dalto has served as a director since April 20, 2022. Mr. Dalto has served as a director of Lifeway Foods Corp. (OTC: LWAY), since August 2022. Mr. Dalto has been the president of Dole Sunshine Company-Dole Packaged Foods, LLC, since January 2021, where he leads business development for North and Latin America of the Dole packaged fruits business, From March 2017 to December 2020, Mr. Dalto was regional chief executive officer of Savencia Fromage & Dairy Latin America where he led business development in the production, imports, distribution and marketing of dairy products. Prior thereto, among other positions, Mr. Dalto held various international executive positions with Danone, a world leading food company. Mr. Dalto has an industrial engineer degree from the Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires – ITBA (Argentina), with post-graduate executive studies on strategic marketing from Adam Smith Open University (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and the University of Michigan, and on leadership from the London Business School. Mr. Dalto’s extensive knowledge and experience in the food industry, sustainability and business development, led to his appointment as a director.
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Miozotis Ponce has served as Chief Operating Officer since April 19, 2022. From May 2012, Ms. Ponce was the Company’s Vice President of Operations, where she has led sales and marketing and operations. Prior thereto, from June 2005, Ms. Ponce served as Operations Manager. Ms. Ponce joined the Company in June 2004 as Customer Service Director and has over 25 years of experience in the food industry. Ms. Ponce holds an AA degree in Business from Miami Dade Community College.
Committees
We have established three committees under the board of directors: an audit committee, a compensation committee and a nominating and corporate governance committee. We have adopted a charter for each of the three committees. Each committee’s members and functions are described below.
Audit Committee. Our audit committee consists of Jeffrey Guzy, Trond Ringstad and Timothy McLellan. Mr. Guzy is the chairman of the audit committee. We have determined that Messrs. Guzy, Ringstad and McLellan each satisfy the “independence” requirements of NASDAQ Listing Rule 5605(a)(2) and meets the independence standards under Rule 10A-3 under the Exchange Act. We have determined that Mr. Guzy qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert.” The audit committee oversees our accounting and financial reporting processes and the audits of the financial statements of our company. The audit committee is responsible for: (a) representing and assisting the Board in its oversight responsibilities regarding the Company’s accounting and financial reporting processes, the audits of the Company’s financial statements, including the integrity of the financial statements, and the independent auditors’ qualifications and independence; (b) overseeing the preparation of the report required by SEC rules for inclusion in the Company’s annual proxy statement; (c) retaining and terminating the Company’s independent auditors; (d) approving in advance all audit and permissible non-audit services to be performed by the independent auditors; (e) reviewing related person transactions.(d) approving in advance all audit and permissible non-audit services to be performed by the independent auditors; and (f) performing such other functions as the Board may from time to time assign to the Committee.
Compensation Committee. Our compensation committee consists of Jeffrey Guzy, Trond Ringstad and Timothy McLellan. Mr. Guzy is the chairman of our compensation committee. We have determined that Messrs. Guzy, Ringstad and McLellan each are “independent,” as such term is defined for directors and compensation committee members in the listing standards of the NASDAQ Stock Market LLC. Additionally, each qualify as “non-employee directors” for purposes of Rule 16b-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and as “outside directors” for purposes of Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Committee has been established to: (a) assist the Board in seeing that a proper system of long-term and short-term compensation is in place to provide performance oriented incentives to attract and retain management, and that compensation plans are appropriate and competitive and properly reflect the objectives and performance of management and the Company; (b) assist the Board in discharging its responsibilities relating to compensation of the Company’s executive officers; (c) evaluate the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and set his or her remuneration package; (d) make recommendations to the Board with respect to incentive compensation plans and equity-based plans; and (e) perform such other functions as the Board may from time to time assign to the Committee. The Compensation Committee has adopted a formal written charter which is available on the Company’s Internet website at www.bluestarfoods.com.
In determining the amount, form, and terms of such compensation, the Compensation Committee will consider the annual performance of such officers in light of company goals and objectives relevant to executive officer compensation, competitive market data pertaining to executive officer compensation at comparable companies, and such other factors as it deems relevant, and is guided by, and seeks to promote, the best interests of the Company and its shareholders.
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Our nominating and corporate governance committee consists of Jeffrey Guzy, Trond Ringstad and Timothy McLellan. Mr. Guzy is the chairman of our nominating and corporate governance. We have determined that each of Messrs. Guzy, Ringstad and McLellan qualify as “independent” as that term is defined by NASDAQ Listing Rule 5605(a)(2). The Committee is responsible for: (a) assisting the Board in determining the desired experience, mix of skills and other qualities to provide for appropriate Board composition, taking into account the current Board members and the specific needs of the Company and the Board; (b) identifying qualified individuals meeting those criteria to serve on the Board; (c) proposing to the Board the Company’s slate of director nominees for election by the shareholders at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders and nominees to fill vacancies and newly created directorships; (d) reviewing candidates recommended by shareholders for election to the Board and shareholder proposals submitted for inclusion in the Company’s proxy materials; (e) advising the Board regarding the size and composition of the Board and its committees; (f) proposing to the Board directors to serve as chairpersons and members on committees of the Board; (g) coordinating matters among committees of the Board; (h) proposing to the Board the slate of corporate officers of the Company and reviewing the succession plans for the executive officers; (i) recommending to the Board and monitoring matters with respect to governance of the Company; and (j) overseeing the Company’s compliance program; and performing such other functions as the Board may from time to time assign to the Committee.
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Each Committee has adopted a formal written charter which is available on the Company’s Internet website at www.bluestarfoods.com.
The Nominating Committee will consider any director candidates recommended by stockholders, although there is no formal policy with regard to directors recommended by stockholders, when considering a candidate submitted by stockholders, the Nominating Committee will take into consideration the needs of the Board and the qualifications of the candidate. Nevertheless, the Board may choose not to consider an unsolicited recommendation if no vacancy exists on the Board and/or the Board does not perceive a need to increase the size of the Board.
There are no specific minimum qualifications that the Nominating Committee believes must be met by a Nominating Committee-recommended director nominee. However, the Nominating Committee believes that director candidates should, among other things, possess high degrees of integrity and honesty; have literacy in financial and business matters; have no material affiliations with direct competitors, suppliers or vendors of the Company; and preferably have experience in the Company’s business and other relevant business fields (for example, finance, accounting, law and banking). The Nominating Committee considers diversity together with the other factors considered when evaluating candidates but does not have a specific policy in place with respect to diversity.
Members of the Nominating Committee plan to meet in advance of each of the Company’s annual meetings of stockholders to identify and evaluate the skills and characteristics of each director candidate for nomination for election as a director of the Company. The Nominating Committee reviews the candidates in accordance with the skills and qualifications set forth in the Nominating Committee’s charter and the rules of the NASDAQ. There are no differences in the manner in which the Nominating Committee plans to evaluate director nominees based on whether or not the nominee is recommended by a stockholder.
Role of Board in Risk Oversight Process
Risk assessment and oversight are an integral part of our governance and management processes. Our board of directors encourages management to promote a culture that incorporates risk management into our corporate strategy and day-to-day business operations. Management discusses strategic and operational risks at regular management meetings and conducts strategic planning and review sessions during the year that include a discussion and analysis of the risks facing us.
Director Independence
Our board of directors currently consists of seven members. We were not subject to listing requirements of any national securities exchange that has requirements that a majority of the board of directors be “independent.” However, as a NASDAQ listed company, we are required to comply with NASDAQ’s corporate governance standards applicable to director independence upon listing. Rule 5605 therein requires companies listed on NASDAQ to maintain a majority independent board. In addition, the rules of the NASDAQ Capital Market require that each member of a listed company’s audit, compensation, and corporate governance and nominating committees be independent. Our board of directors has determined that all of our directors except John Keeler, our Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Silvia Alana, our Chief Executive Officer, are “independent” within the definition of independence provided in the rules of NASDAQ Capital Market and the independence requirements contemplated by Rule 10A-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
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Board Diversity
The Board is committed to diversity of experience, gender, race and ethnicity, and seek to ensure that there is diversity among the directors. The Company believes that its directors should be of a diverse group of individuals who have broad experience and the ability to exercise sound business judgment from many factors including professional experience, life experience, socio-economic background, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, skill set and geographic representation.
Family Relationship
There are no family relationships between our directors or executive officers.
Involvement in Certain Legal Proceedings
There are no legal proceedings that have occurred within the past ten years concerning our directors, or control persons which involved a criminal conviction, a criminal proceeding, an administrative or civil proceeding limiting one’s participation in the securities or banking industries, or a finding of securities or commodities law violations.
Delinquent Section 16(a) Reports
Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 requires our executive officers and directors, and persons who beneficially own more than 10% percent of our equity securities (“Reporting Persons”) to file reports of ownership and changes in ownership with the SEC. Based solely on our review of copies of such reports and representations from the Reporting Persons, we believe that during the year ended December 31, 2022, the Reporting Persons timely filed all such reports, except that (i) Nubar Herian, a director, failed to timely file Form 4s to report the sale of an aggregate of 7,616 shares of common stock in January 2022, the purchase of an aggregate of 19,464 shares of common stock in February and March 2022, the purchase of 4,000 shares in October 2022, the purchase of an aggregate of 3,165 shares in December 2022, and the acquisition of 62,500 shares in December 2022 for serving as a director; (ii) John Keeler, our Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, failed to timely file a Form 4 to report the sale of 566 shares of common stock, and the acquisition of 62,500 shares in December 2022 for serving as a director; and (iii) Trond Ringstad, a director failed to timely file Form 4s to report the purchase of an aggregate of 5,199 shares of common stock in October 2022 the acquisition of 100,000 shares in December 2022 for serving as a director; (iv) Jeffrey Guzy, a director, failed to timely file a Form 4 to report the acquisition of 143,750 shares in December 2022 for serving as a director; (v) Timothy McLellan, a director, failed to timely file a Form 4 to report the acquisition of 100,000 shares in December 2022 for serving as a director; (vi) Juan Carlos Dalto, a director, failed to timely file a Form 4 to report the acquisition of 43,403 shares in December 2022 for serving as a director; (vii) Silvia Alana, our Chief Financial Officer, failed to timely file a Form 4 to report the acquisition of 43,403 shares in December 2022 for serving as a director; and (viii) Miozotis Ponce, our Chief Operating Officer, failed to timely report 500 shares on a Form 3.
Code of Ethics
We have adopted a code of ethics that applies to our executive officers, directors and employees. We have filed a copy of our Code of Ethics as an exhibit to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on July 19, 2021. Our Code of Ethics and the charters of the committees of our board of directors may be reviewed by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov. In addition, a copy of the Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us.
ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
The table below sets forth certain information about the compensation awarded to, earned by or paid to our Chief Executive Officer and our other two most highly compensated executive officers whose total compensation exceeded $100,000 during 2022 (each, a “Named Executive Officer”).
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Summary Compensation Table
| Name and Principal Position | Year | Salary ($) | Stock awards ($) | Option awards ($)(1) | All other compensation ($) | Total ($) | ||||||||||||||||||
| John Keeler - | 2022 | 79,409 | 25,000 | (2) | 50,000 | (3) | 38,543 | (4) | 192,952 | |||||||||||||||
| Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and Director | 2021 | 79,409 | 17,917 | (5) | 200,000 | (6) | 23,704 | (4) | 321,030 | |||||||||||||||
| Silvia
Alana - Chief Financial Officer and | 2022 | 150,000 | 17,361 | (7) | 50,000 | (3) | 5,400 | (8) | 222,761 | |||||||||||||||
| Director | 2021 | 143,250 | - | 42,075 | (9) | 5,400 | (8) | 190,725 | ||||||||||||||||
| Miozotis Ponce - | 2022 | 170,000 | - | - | 5,400 | (8) | 175,400 | |||||||||||||||||
| Chief Operating Officer | 2021 | 147,581 | - | - | 5,400 | (8) | 152,981 | |||||||||||||||||
| (1) | All option grants are calculated at the grant date fair value computed in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718. | |
| (2) | Represents 62,500 shares of common stock at $0.40 per share issued on December 31, 2022. | |
| (3) | Represents an option to purchase 25,000 shares of common stock at $2.00 per share granted on December 31, 2022. | |
| (4) | Represents health insurance premiums paid on behalf of Mr. Keeler by the Company. | |
| (5) | Represents 10,922 shares of common stock at $1.63 per share issued on December 31, 2021. | |
| (6) | Represents an option to purchase 100,000 shares of common stock at $2.00 per share granted on December 31, 2021. | |
| (7) | Represents 43,403 shares of common stock at $0.40 per share issued on December 31, 2022. | |
| (8) | Represents health insurance premiums paid by the Company. | |
| (9) | Represents an option to purchase 7,013 shares of common stock at $6.00 per share granted on August 3, 2021. |
We offer a 401(k) plan to eligible employees, including our executive officer. In accordance with this plan, all eligible employees may contribute a percentage of compensation up to a maximum of the statutory limits per year. We intend for the 401(k) plan to qualify, depending on the employee’s election, under Section 401(a) of the Code, so that contributions by employees, and income earned on those contributions, are not taxable to employees until withdrawn from the 401(k) plan.
Employment Agreements
We do not currently have employment agreements with our executive officers, other than with Silvia Alana, our Chief Financial Officer. Ms. Alana is party to a three-year employment agreement, dated August 3, 2020, with the Company for an annual base salary of $127,500, which increased to $150,000 in August 2021. The agreement provides for the grant on the first anniversary of the agreement of a three-year option to purchase that number of shares equal to 30% of Ms. Alana’s then current salary at the market price of the Company’s common stock. The agreement also includes a non-competition provision for 12 months following employment with the Company.
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OUTSTANDING EQUITY AWARDS AT DECEMBER 31, 2022
Outstanding Equity Awards
The table below reflects all equity awards made to each Named Executive Officer that were outstanding on December 31, 2022.
| Name | Grant Date | Number
of Securities Underlying Unexercised Options (#) Exercisable | Number
of Securities Underlying Unexercised Options (#) Unexercisable | Option ($) | Option Date | |||||||||||||||
| John Keeler | 4/20/22 | 25,000 | (1) | - | 2.00 | 4/20/27 | ||||||||||||||
| 4/12/21 | 100,000 | (2) | - | 2.00 | 4/12/25 | |||||||||||||||
| Silvia Alana | 7,013 | (3) | - | 6.00 | 8/1/24 | |||||||||||||||
| 4/20/22 | 25,000 | (1) | - | 2.00 | 4/20/27 | |||||||||||||||
| Miozotis Ponce | 1/15/19 | 100,000 | (4) | 150,000(4) | 2.00 | 1/14/29 | ||||||||||||||
| (1) | Shares subject to the option vest in equal quarterly installments of 1,250 for the term of the option. | |
| (2) | Shares subject to the option vested in equal installments during the first year of the grant. | |
| (3) | Shares subject to the option vest in equal monthly installments of 194 for the term of the option. | |
| (4) | Shares subject to the option vest as to 50,000 shares on each of January 15, 2020, January 15, 2021, January 15, 2022, January 15, 2023 and January 15, 2024. |
2018 Equity Incentive Award Plan
In connection with the Merger, we adopted the 2018 Equity Incentive Award Plan (the “2018 Plan”), which was effective immediately prior to the consummation of the Merger. The principal purpose of the 2018 Plan is to attract, retain and motivate selected employees, consultants and non-employee directors through the granting of stock-based compensation awards and cash-based performance bonus awards.
Under the 2018 Plan, we are authorized to issue incentive stock options intended to qualify under Section 422 of the Code and non-qualified stock options. The 2018 Plan is administered by our board of directors. In connection with the Merger, we issued options to purchase an aggregate of 6,240,000 million shares of common stock to certain executive officers and directors (3,120,000 of which were subsequently forfeited unexercised).
Share Reserve. 7,500,000 shares of common stock are reserved for issuance under the 2018 Plan pursuant to a variety of stock-based compensation awards, including stock options, stock appreciation rights (“SARs”), restricted stock awards, restricted stock unit awards, deferred stock awards, dividend equivalent awards, stock payment awards, performance awards and other stock-based awards.
● to the extent that an award terminates, expires or lapses for any reason or an award is settled in cash without the delivery of shares, any shares subject to the award at such time will be available for future grants under the 2018 Plan;
● to the extent shares are tendered or withheld to satisfy the grant, exercise price or tax withholding obligation with respect to any award under the 2018 Plan, such tendered or withheld shares will be available for future grants under the 2018 Plan;
● to the extent that shares of common stock are repurchased by us prior to vesting so that shares are returned to us, such shares will be available for future grants under the 2018 Plan;
● the payment of dividend equivalents in cash in conjunction with any outstanding awards will not be counted against the shares available for issuance under the 2018 Plan; and
● to the extent permitted by applicable law or any exchange rule, shares issued in assumption of, or in substitution for, any outstanding awards of any entity acquired in any form of combination by us or any of our subsidiaries will not be counted against the shares available for issuance under the 2018 Plan.
Administration. The compensation committee is expected to administer the 2018 Plan unless our board of directors assumes authority for administration. The compensation committee must consist of at least three members of our board of directors, each of whom is intended to qualify as an “outside director,” within the meaning of Section 162(m) of the Code, a “non-employee director” for purposes of Rule 16b-3 under the Exchange Act and an “independent director” within the meaning of the NASDAQ rules. The 2018 Plan provides that the board of directors or compensation committee may delegate its authority to grant awards to employees other than executive officers to a committee consisting of one or more members of our board of directors or one or more of our officers, other than awards made to our non-employee directors, which must be approved by our full board of directors.
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Subject to the terms and conditions of the 2018 Plan, the administrator has the authority to select the persons to whom awards are to be made, to determine the number of shares to be subject to awards and the terms and conditions of awards, and to make all other determinations and to take all other actions necessary or advisable for the administration of the 2018 Plan. The administrator is also authorized to adopt, amend or rescind rules relating to administration of the 2018 Plan. Our board of directors may at any time remove the compensation committee as the administrator and revest in itself the authority to administer the 2018 Plan. The full board of directors will administer the 2018 Plan with respect to awards to non-employee directors.
Eligibility. Options, SARs, restricted stock and all other stock-based and cash-based awards under the 2018 Plan may be granted to individuals who are then our officers, employees or consultants or are the officers, employees or consultants of subsidiaries. Such awards also may be granted to our directors. Only employees of the Company or certain subsidiaries may be granted ISOs.
Awards. The 2018 Plan provides that the administrator may grant or issue stock options, SARs, restricted stock awards, restricted stock unit awards, deferred stock awards, deferred stock unit awards, dividend equivalent awards, performance awards, stock payment awards and other stock-based and cash-based awards, or any combination thereof. Each award will be set forth in a separate agreement with the person receiving the award and will indicate the type, terms and conditions of the award.
Nonstatutory Stock Options (“NSOs”). NSOs will provide for the right to purchase shares of common stock at a specified price that may not be less than the fair market value of a share of common stock on the date of grant, and usually will become exercisable (at the discretion of the administrator) in one or more installments after the grant date, subject to the participant’s continued employment or service with us and/or subject to the satisfaction of corporate performance targets and individual performance targets established by the administrator. NSOs may be granted for any term specified by the administrator that does not exceed 10 years.
Incentive Stock Options (“ISOs”). ISOs will be designed in a manner intended to comply with the provisions of Section 422 of the Code and will be subject to specified restrictions contained in the Code. Among such restrictions, ISOs must have an exercise price of not less than the fair market value of a share of our Common Stock on the date of grant, may only be granted to employees, and must not be exercisable after a period of 10 years measured from the date of grant. In the case of an ISO granted to an individual who owns (or is deemed to own) at least 10% of the total combined voting power of all classes of our capital stock, the 2018 Plan provides that the exercise price must be at least 110% of the fair market value of a share of our Common Stock on the date of grant and the ISO must not be exercisable after a period of five years measured from the date of grant.
Restricted Stock Awards. Restricted stock awards may be granted to any eligible individual and made subject to such restrictions as may be determined by the administrator. Restricted stock, typically, may be forfeited for no consideration or repurchased by us at the original purchase price if the conditions or restrictions on vesting are not met. In general, restricted stock may not be sold or otherwise transferred until restrictions are removed or expire. Purchasers of restricted stock, unlike recipients of options, will have voting rights and will have the right to receive dividends, if any, prior to the time when the restrictions lapse; however, extraordinary dividends will generally be placed in escrow, and will not be released until restrictions are removed or expire.
Restricted Stock Unit Awards (“RSU”). Restricted stock units may be awarded to any eligible individual, typically without payment of consideration, but subject to vesting conditions based on continued employment or service or on performance criteria established by the administrator. Like restricted stock, restricted stock units may not be sold, or otherwise transferred or hypothecated, until vesting conditions are removed or expire. Unlike restricted stock, stock underlying restricted stock units will not be issued until the restricted stock units have vested, and recipients of restricted stock units generally will have no voting or dividend rights prior to the time when vesting conditions are satisfied.
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Deferred Stock Awards. Deferred stock awards represent the right to receive shares of common stock on a future date. Deferred stock may not be sold or otherwise hypothecated or transferred until issued. Deferred stock will not be issued until the deferred stock award has vested, and recipients of deferred stock generally will have no voting or dividend rights prior to the time when the vesting conditions are satisfied and the shares are issued. Deferred stock awards generally will be forfeited, and the underlying shares of deferred stock will not be issued, if the applicable vesting conditions and other restrictions are not met.
Deferred Stock Units. Deferred stock units are denominated in unit equivalent of shares of common stock and vest pursuant to a vesting schedule or performance criteria set by the administrator. The common stock underlying deferred stock units will not be issued until the deferred stock units have vested, and recipients of deferred stock units generally will have no voting rights prior to the time when vesting conditions are satisfied.
Stock Appreciation Rights (“SARs”). SARs may be granted in connection with stock options or other awards, or separately. SARs granted in connection with stock options or other awards typically will provide for payments to the holder based upon increases in the price of our Common Stock over a set exercise price. The exercise price of any SAR granted under the 2018 Plan must be at least 100% of the fair market value of a share of our Common Stock on the date of grant. Except as required by Section 162(m) of the Code with respect to a SAR intended to qualify as performance-based compensation as described in Section 162(m) of the Code, there are no restrictions specified in the 2018 Plan on the exercise of SARs or the amount of gain realizable therefrom, although restrictions may be imposed by the administrator in the SAR agreements. SARs under the 2018 Plan will be settled in cash or shares of common stock, or in a combination of both, at the election of the administrator.
Dividend Equivalent Awards. Dividend equivalent awards represent the value of the dividends, if any, per share paid by us, calculated with reference to the number of shares covered by the award. Dividend equivalents may be settled in cash or shares and at such times as determined by our compensation committee or board of directors, as applicable.
Performance Awards. Performance awards may be granted by the administrator on an individual or group basis. Generally, these awards will be based upon specific performance targets and may be paid in cash or in common stock or in a combination of both. Performance awards may include “phantom” stock awards that provide for payments based upon the value of our Common Stock. Performance awards may also include bonuses that may be granted by the administrator on an individual or group basis and that may be payable in cash or in common stock or in a combination of both.
Stock Payment Awards. Stock payment awards may be authorized by the administrator in the form of common stock or an option or other right to purchase common stock as part of a deferred compensation or other arrangement in lieu of all or any part of compensation, including bonuses, that would otherwise be payable in cash to the employee, consultant or non-employee director.
Change in Control. In the event of a change in control where the acquirer does not assume or replace awards granted prior to the consummation of such transaction, awards issued under the 2018 Plan will be subject to accelerated vesting such that 100% of such awards will become vested and exercisable or payable, as applicable. Performance awards will vest in accordance with the terms and conditions of the applicable award agreement. In the event that, within the 12 month period immediately following a change in control, a participant’s services with us are terminated by us other than for cause (as defined in the 2018 Plan) or by such participant for good reason (as defined in the 2018 Plan), then the vesting and, if applicable, exercisability of 100% of the then-unvested shares subject to the outstanding equity awards held by such participant under the 2018 Plan will accelerate effective as of the date of such termination. The administrator may also make appropriate adjustments to awards under the 2018 Plan and is authorized to provide for the acceleration, cash-out, termination, assumption, substitution or conversion of such awards in the event of a change in control or certain other unusual or nonrecurring events or transactions. Under the 2018 Plan, a change in control is generally defined as:
● the transfer or exchange in a single transaction or series of related transactions by our stockholders of more than 50% of our voting stock to a person or group;
● a change in the composition of our board of directors over a two-year period such that the members of the board of directors who were approved by at least two-thirds of the directors who were directors at the beginning of the two-year period or whose election or nomination was so approved cease to constitute a majority of the board of directors;
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● a merger, consolidation, reorganization or business combination in which we are involved, directly or indirectly, other than a merger, consolidation, reorganization or business combination that results in our outstanding voting securities immediately before the transaction continuing to represent a majority of the voting power of the acquiring company’s outstanding voting securities and after which no person or group beneficially owns 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the surviving entity immediately after the transaction; or
● stockholder approval of our liquidation or dissolution.
Adjustments of Awards. In the event of any stock dividend, stock split, spin-off, recapitalization, distribution of our assets to stockholders (other than normal cash dividends) or any other corporate event affecting the number of outstanding shares of our Common Stock or the share price of our Common Stock other than an “equity restructuring” (as defined below), the administrator may make appropriate, proportionate adjustments to reflect the event giving rise to the need for such adjustments, with respect to:
● the aggregate number and type of shares subject to the 2018 Plan;
● the number and kind of shares subject to outstanding awards and terms and conditions of outstanding awards (including, without limitation, any applicable performance targets or criteria with respect to such awards); and
● the grant or exercise price per share of any outstanding awards under the 2018 Plan.
In the event of one of the adjustments described above or other corporate transactions, in order to prevent dilution or enlargement of the potential benefits intended to be made available under the 2018 Plan, the administrator has the discretion to make such equitable adjustments and may also:
● provide for the termination or replacement of an award in exchange for cash or other property;
● provide that any outstanding award cannot vest, be exercised or become payable after such event;
● provide that awards may be exercisable, payable or fully vested as to shares of common stock covered thereby; or
● provide that an award under the 2018 Plan cannot vest, be exercised or become payable after such event.
In the event of an equity restructuring, the administrator will make appropriate, proportionate adjustments to the number and type of securities subject to each outstanding award and the exercise price or grant price thereof, if applicable. In addition, the administrator will make equitable adjustments, as the administrator in its discretion may deem appropriate to reflect such equity restructuring, with respect to the aggregate number and type of shares subject to the 2018 Plan. The adjustments upon an equity restructuring are nondiscretionary and will be final and binding on the affected holders and the Company.
For purposes of the 2018 Plan, “equity restructuring” means a nonreciprocal transaction between us and our stockholders, such as a stock dividend, stock split, spin-off, rights offering or recapitalization through a large, nonrecurring cash dividend, that affects the number or kind of shares (or other securities) or the share price of our Common Stock (or other securities) and causes a change in the per share value of the common stock underlying outstanding stock-based awards granted under the 2018 Plan. In the event of a stock split in connection with an offering, the administrator will proportionately adjust (i) the number of shares subject to any outstanding award under the 2018 Plan, (ii) the exercise or grant price of any such awards, if applicable, and (iii) the aggregate number of shares subject to the 2018 Plan.
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Amendment and Termination. Our board of directors or the compensation committee (with board approval) may terminate, amend or modify the 2018 Plan at any time and from time to time. However, we must generally obtain stockholder approval:
● to increase the number of shares available under the 2018 Plan (other than in connection with certain corporate events, as described above);
● reduce the price per share of any outstanding option or SAR granted under the 2018 Plan;
● cancel any option or SAR in exchange for cash or another award when the option or SAR price per share exceeds the fair market value of the underlying shares; or
● to the extent required by applicable law, rule or regulation (including any NASDAQ rule).
Termination. Our board of directors may terminate the 2018 Plan at any time. No ISOs may be granted pursuant to the 2018 Plan after the 10th anniversary of the effective date of the 2018 Plan, and no additional annual share increases to the 2018 Plan’s aggregate share limit will occur from and after such anniversary. Any award that is outstanding on the termination date of the 2018 Plan will remain in force according to the terms of the 2018 Plan and the applicable award agreement.
Director Compensation
The following table sets forth certain information concerning compensation earned by the Company’s non-employee directors for services rendered as a director during the year ended December 31, 2022:
Director Compensation Table
| Name | Fees Earned or Paid in Cash | Stock Awards(1) | Option Awards(1) | Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation | Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Earnings | All Other Compensation | Total | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Nubar Herian | $ | - | $ | 25,000 | $ | 50,000 | - | - | - | $ | 75,000 | |||||||||||||||||
| Jeffrey Guzy | $ | - | $ | 57,500 | $ | 50,000 | - | - | - | $ | 107,500 | |||||||||||||||||
| Timothy McLellan | $ | - | $ | 40,000 | $ | 50,000 | - | - | - | $ | 90,000 | |||||||||||||||||
| Trond Ringstad | $ | - | $ | 40,000 | $ | 50,000 | - | - | - | $ | 90,000 | |||||||||||||||||
| Juan Carlos Dalto (2) | $ | - | $ | 17,361 | 50,000 | - | - | - | $ | 67,361 | ||||||||||||||||||
(1) The aggregate grant date fair value is computed in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718.
(2) Joined the Board as of April 20, 2022.
Director Compensation
Director Service Agreements
On March 25, 2021, the Company entered into one-year director service agreements with each of Messrs. Guzy, McLellan, Ringstad, Herian and Keeler, the then current directors. In consideration for their services, each director was issued $25,000 of shares of common stock for each year of service based upon the closing sale price of the common stock, on the principal market on which it is then traded, on the final trading day of the calendar year. On April 12, 2021, the Company granted each director an option to purchase 100,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.00 per share, which option vests in equal monthly installments over the course of the year and expires three years from the date the option is fully vested.
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On April 20, 2022, the Company entered into new one-year director service agreements (which replaced the agreements entered into in March 2021) with each of the current members of the Board. The agreement will automatically renew for successive one-year terms unless either party notifies the other of its desire not to renew the agreement at least 30 days prior to the end of the then current term, or unless earlier terminated in accordance with the terms of the agreement. As compensation for serving on the Board, each director will be entitled to a $25,000 annual stock grant and for serving on a committee of the Board, an additional $5,000 annual stock grant, both based upon the closing sales price of the common stock on the last trading day of the calendar year. The director who serves as chairman of the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Nominating and Governance Committee will be entitled to an additional $15,000, $10,000 and $7,500 annual stock grant, respectively. As additional consideration for such Board service, on April 20, 2022, each director was granted a five-year option to purchase 25,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.00 per share, which shares vest in equal quarterly installments of 1,250 shares during the term of the option.
ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS
Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management
The following table sets forth, as of April 14, 2023, the number of shares of common stock beneficially owned by (i) each person, entity or group (as that term is used in Section 13(d)(3) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) known to the Company to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of its outstanding shares of common stock; (ii) each of the Company’s directors (iii) each Named Executive Officer and (iv) all of the Company’s executive officers and directors as a group. The information relating to beneficial ownership of Common Stock by our principal stockholders and management is based upon information furnished by each person using “beneficial ownership” concepts under the rules of the SEC. Under these rules, a person is deemed to be a beneficial owner of a security if that person directly or indirectly has or shares voting power, which includes the power to vote or direct the voting of the security, or investment power, which includes the power to dispose or direct the disposition of the security. The person is also deemed to be a beneficial owner of any security of which that person has a right to acquire beneficial ownership within 60 days. Under the SEC rules, more than one person may be deemed to be a beneficial owner of the same securities, and a person may be deemed to be a beneficial owner of securities as to which he or she may not have any pecuniary interest. Unless otherwise indicated below, each person has sole voting and investment power with respect to the shares beneficially owned and each stockholder’s address is c/o Blue Star Foods Corp., 3000 NW 109th Avenue, Miami, Florida 33172.
The percentages below are calculated based on 43,824,177 shares of common stock issued and outstanding as of April 14, 2023.
| Name and Address of Beneficial Owner | Number of Shares Beneficially Owned | Percentage of Beneficial Ownership | ||||||
| 5% or Greater Stockholder | ||||||||
| Christopher Constable | 3,145,000 | (1) | 6.7 | % | ||||
| Named Executive Officers and Directors | ||||||||
| John Keeler | 15,107,134 | (2) | 34.4 | % | ||||
| Nubar Herian | 205,838 | (3) | * | |||||
| Jeffrey Guzy | 292,992 | (4) | * | |||||
| Timothy McLellan | 218,440 | (5) | * | |||||
| Trond Ringstad | 223,639 | (5) | * | |||||
| Silvia Alana | 49,951 | (6) | * | |||||
| Juan Carlos Dalto | 80,386 | (7) | * | |||||
| Miozotis Ponce | 163,000 | (8) | * | |||||
| All current directors and executive officers as a group (8 persons) | 16,341,380 | 36.8 | % | |||||
* Less than 1%
| (1) | Includes (i)12,500 shares underlying a warrant and (ii) 3,120,000 shares issuable upon the exercise of a stock option. |
| (2) | 15,003,801 of such shares are held with Mr. Keeler’s wife as tenants in the entirety and are subject to the terms of a lock-up agreement pursuant to which Mr. Keeler may not sell more than one-third of the common stock held by him in any two-month period. Includes 103,333 shares underlying a stock option which are exercisable within 60 days. |
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| (3) | Includes 103,333 shares underlying stock options which are exercisable within 60 days. |
| (4) | Includes (i)12,500 shares underlying a warrant and (ii) 103,333 shares underlying stock options exercisable within 60 days. |
| (5) | Includes 103,333 shares underlying stock options which are exercisable within 60 days. |
| (6) | Includes 6,548 shares underlying stock options which are exercisable within 60 days. |
| (7) | Includes 3,333 shares underlying a stock option which are exercisable within 60 days. |
| (8) | Includes 162,500 shares underlying a stock option which is exercisable in 60 days. |
Change-in-Control Agreements
The Company does not have any change-in-control agreements with any of its executive officers.
ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE
The following is a description of transactions since January 1, 2021 to which we have been a party, in which the amount involved exceeded or will exceed $120,000, and in which any of our directors, executive officers or holders of more than 5% of our capital stock, or an affiliate or immediate family member thereof, had or will have a direct or indirect material interest.
From January 2006 through May 2017, Keeler & Co issued an aggregate of $2,910,000, 6% demand promissory notes to John Keeler, our Chief Executive Officer, Executive Chairman and a director. We may prepay the notes at any time first against interest due thereunder. If an event of default occurs under the notes, interest will accrue at 18% per annum and if not paid within 10 days of payment becoming due, the holder of the note is entitled to a late fee of 5% of the amount of payment not timely received. On December 30, 2020, we entered into a debt repayment agreement with Mr. Keeler pursuant to which we issued 796,650 shares of common stock to a third party designated by Mr. Keeler as repayment for an aggregate principal amount of $1,593,300 due under four such notes. All interest due on the notes had previously been paid on a monthly basis. As of December 31, 2022, the Company remains indebted to Mr. Keeler under the remaining promissory notes in the aggregate principal amount of $893,000.
John Keeler, our Chief Executive Officer, Executive Chairman and director owns 95% of Bacolod, an exporter of pasteurized crab meat from the Philippines.
John Keeler, our Chief Executive Officer, Executive Chairman and director, owns 95% of Bicol, a Philippine company, and an indirect supplier of crab meat via Bacolod to the Company.
The Company’s transactions with Bacolod were $0 and $1,280,589 for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. There were no transactions between the Company and Bicol for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021.
John Keeler, our Chief Executive Officer, Executive Chairman and director, and Christopher Constable, our former Chief Financial Officer and director, own 80% and 20%, respectively, of Strike the Gold Foods, Ltd., a UK company, which sold the Company’s packaged crab meat in the United Kingdom in 2019.
Keeler & Co leased approximately 16,800 square feet of office/warehouse space for our executive offices and distribution facility for $16,916 per month from John Keeler Real Estate Inc., a Florida corporation, 33% owned by a trust for each of John Keeler III, Andrea Keeler and Sarah Keeler, each of whom is a child of John Keeler, our Chief Executive Officer. On December 31, 2020, this facility was sold to an unrelated third-party purchaser and the lease was terminated. In connection with the sale, the Company retained approximately 4,756 square feet of such space, rent-free, for 12 months.
From time to time, we may prepay Bacolod for future shipments of product which may represent five to six months of purchases. There was $1,299,984 due as of December 31, 2022 for future shipments from Bacolod.
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John Keeler, our Executive Chairman, was a party to an Unconditional and Continuing Guaranty, dated August 31, 2016, with ACF, pursuant to which Mr. Keeler guaranteed the Company’s obligations under its Loan and Security Agreement with ACF. On March 31, 2021, John Keeler, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, provided a personal guaranty of up to $1,000,000 to Lighthouse in connection with its revolving credit facility.
John Keeler, pledged 5,000,000 shares of common stock to secure the Company’s obligations under the $1,000,000 Kenar Note issued on March 26, 2019. On May 21, 2020, the Kenar Note was amended to, among other things, reduce the number of pledged shares by Mr. Keeler to 4,000,000. The Kenar Note was paid off and the pledged shares released as of July 6, 2021. Marcos Herian, President of Kenar, a former 5% stockholder, is the brother of Nubar Herian, a director of our Company.
On March 31, 2021, we issued 136 shares of common stock to a company owned by the stepmother of John Keeler, our Executive Chairman, as a quarterly dividend on the Series A Stock acquired by such company in connection with the Company Settlement. On June 30, 2021, all Series A Stock held by such company were converted into 8,000 shares of common stock. On November 2, 2021 and November 3, 2021, we issued an aggregate of 4,000 shares of common stock to a company owned by the stepmother of John Keeler upon the exercise of warrants for total proceeds of $9,600.
On March 31, 2021, we issued 5,085 shares of common stock to Lunar, as a quarterly dividend on the Series A Stock acquired by Lunar in the Offering. Nubar Herian, a director, is the President of Lunar. On June 30, 2021, all 600 shares of such Series A Stock were converted into 300,000 shares of common stock. On November 5, 2021, a total of 150,000 shares were issued upon the exercise of warrants for total proceeds of $360,000.
On February 25, 2020, Christopher Constable, the Company’s former Chief Financial Officer entered into a Separation and Mutual Release Agreement pursuant to which Mr. Constable resigned as Chief Financial Officer, Secretary, Treasurer and a director of the Company. The Agreement contained mutual general releases, a two-year confidentiality provision and provides for Mr. Constable’s outstanding stock options to remain in effect until November 8, 2028.
On March 25, 2021, the Company entered into one-year director service agreements with each of Messrs. Guzy, McLellan, Ringstad, Herian and Keeler, the then current directors. In consideration for their services, each director was issued $25,000 of shares of Common Stock for each year’s service based upon the closing sale price of the Common Stock, on the principal market on which it is then traded, on the final trading day of the calendar year. On April 12, 2021, the Company granted each director an option to purchase 100,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.00 per share, which option vests in equal monthly installments over the course of the year and expires three years from the date they are fully vested. Pursuant to the terms of the director service agreement, on December 31, 2021, the Company issued 10,992 shares of common stock to Nubar Herian, 15,107 shares of common stock to Timothy McLellan, 10,992 shares of common stock to John Keeler, 15,107 shares of common stock to Trond Ringstad, and 19,909 shares of common stock to Jeffrey Guzy for serving as a director of the Company.
On April 20, 2022, the Company entered into new one-year director service agreements (which replaced the agreements entered into in March 2021) with each of the current members of the Board. The agreement will automatically renew for successive one-year terms unless either party notifies the other of its desire not to renew the agreement at least 30 days prior to the end of the then current term, or unless earlier terminated in accordance with the terms of the agreement. As compensation for serving on the Board, each director will be entitled to a $25,000 annual stock grant and for serving on a committee of the Board, an additional $5,000 annual stock grant, both based upon the closing sales price of the Common Stock on the last trading day of the calendar year. Each director who serves as chairman of the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Nominating and Governance Committee will be entitled to an additional $15,000, $10,000 and $7,500 annual stock grant, respectively. As additional consideration for such Board service, each director was granted a five-year option to purchase 25,000 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $2.00 per share, which shares vest in equal quarterly installments of 1,250 shares during the term of the option.
On June 30, 2021, MO7 Boats LLC, invested $275,000 in a private offering and was issued 137,500 shares of common stock and a warrant to purchase 137,500 shares of common stock. Marcos Herian, managing member and President of MO7 Boats LLC, is the brother of Nubar Herian, a director of our Company.
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On June 30, 2021, Promarine Boats LLC, invested $250,000 in a private offering and was issued 125,000 shares of common stock and a warrant to purchase 137,500 shares of common stock. Marcos Herian, managing member of Promarine Boats LLC, is the brother of Nubar Herian, a director of our Company.
On June 30, 2021, R&N Ocean Inc., invested $250,000 in a private offering and was issued 125,000 shares of common stock and a warrant to purchase 137,500 shares of common stock. Marcos Herian, President of Kenar, a former 10% stockholder, is the brother of Nubar Herian, a director of our Company.
On August 3, 2021, the Company issued a stock option to purchase an aggregate of 7,013 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $6.00 per share to Silvia Alana, its chief financial officer.
On February 14, 2023, each of the Company’s executive officers and directors entered into the Aegis Lock-Up.
In connection with a settlement agreement between Nubar Herian, a director, and certain stockholders of the Company, on November 23, 2023, Mr. Herian, paid $43,446 to the Company in full satisfaction of any stockholder claims.
Director Independence
We are not currently subject to listing requirements of any national securities exchange or inter-dealer quotation system that has requirements that a majority of the board of directors be “independent.” Our board of directors currently has seven members, Jeffrey J. Guzy, Timothy McLellan, Trond Ringstad, John Keeler, Nubar Herian, Silvia Alana and Juan Carlos Dalto. We believe that all of our directors except Mr. Keeler who serves as our Executive Chairman, and Silvia Alana who serves as our Chief Executive Officer, are “independent” within the definition of independence provided in the Marketplace Rules of the NASDAQ Stock Market and the independence requirements contemplated by Rule 10A-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES
Audit Fees
The aggregate fees billed to us by our principal accountants, MaloneBailey, LLP, for professional services rendered for the year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 are set forth below:
| Fee Category | Year ended December 31, 2022 | Year ended December 31, 2021 | ||||||
| Audit fees (1) | $ | 170,500 | $ | 148,000 | ||||
| Audit-related fees (2) | 48,715 | 41,000 | ||||||
| Tax fees (3) | - | - | ||||||
| All other fees (4) | - | - | ||||||
| Total fees | $ | 219,215 | $ | 189,000 | ||||
| (1) | Audit fees consist of fees incurred for professional services rendered for the audit of financial statements, for reviews of our interim consolidated financial statements included in our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and for services that are normally provided in connection with statutory or regulatory filings or engagements. |
| (2) | Audit-related fees consist of fees billed for professional services that are reasonably related to the performance of the audit or review of our financial statements but are not reported under “Audit fees.” |
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| (3) | Tax fees consist of fees billed for professional services relating to tax compliance, tax planning, and tax advice. |
| (4) | All other fees consist of fees billed for services not associated with audit or tax. |
Audit Committee’s Pre-Approval Practice
Prior to our engagement of our independent auditor, such engagement was approved by our board of directors. The services provided under this engagement may include audit services, audit-related services, tax services and other services. Pre-approval is generally provided for up to one year and any pre-approval is detailed as to the particular service or category of services and is generally subject to a specific budget. Pursuant our requirements, the independent auditors and management are required to report to our board of directors at least quarterly regarding the extent of services provided by the independent auditors in accordance with this pre-approval, and the fees for the services performed to date. Our board of directors may also pre-approve particular services on a case-by-case basis. All audit-related fees, tax fees and other fees incurred by us were approved by our board of directors.
Pre-Approval of Audit and Permissible Non-Audit Services
The Company’s Audit Committee approves our audit and non-audit services. The auditors engaged for these services are required to provide and uphold estimates for the cost of services to be rendered. The percentage of hours expended on Malone Bailey’s engagement to audit our financial statements for the most recent fiscal year that were attributed to work performed by persons other than the principal accountant’s full-time, permanent employees was 0%.
PART IV
ITEM 15. EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
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| * | Filed herewith |
ITEM 16. FORM 10–K SUMMARY
None.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the registrant has duly caused this Annual Report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
| BLUE STAR FOODS CORP. | ||
| Dated: April 17, 2023 | By: | /s/ John Keeler |
| Name: | John Keeler | |
| Title: |
Chief Executive Officer and Executive Chairman (Principal Executive Officer) | |
| Dated: April 17, 2023 | By: | /s/ Silvia Alana |
| Name: | Silvia Alana | |
| Title: | Chief Financial Officer | |
| (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) | ||
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, this Annual Report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
| Signature | Title | Date | ||
| /s/ John Keeler | Chief Executive Officer, Executive Chairman and Director | April 17, 2023 | ||
| John Keeler | ||||
| /s/ Silvia Alana | Chief Financial Officer and Director | April 17, 2023 | ||
| Silvia Alana | ||||
| /s/ Nubar Herian | Director | April 17, 2023 | ||
| Nubar Herian | ||||
| /s/ Jeffrey J. Guzy | Director | April 17, 2023 | ||
| Jeffrey J. Guzy | ||||
| /s/ Timothy McLellan | Director | April 17, 2023 | ||
| Timothy McLellan | ||||
| /s/ Trond Ringstad | Director | April 17, 2023 | ||
| Trond Ringstad | ||||
| /s/ Juan Carlos Dalto | Director | April 17, 2023 | ||
| Juan Carlos Dalto |
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