Mariner Seafoods gets more time to find buyer

A Prince Edward Islandseafood company was given more time Thursday to avoid bankruptcy.

P.E.I. Supreme Court Justice Wayne Cheverie granted Mariner Seafoods more time to try and find a buyerin order to get the processing plant up and running in time for the spring lobster season.

Mariner Seafood and president Mark Bonnell are already under bankruptcy protection from creditors, but the court extended the deadline to April 8. Itwasset to expire on Monday.

The court was also told that Mariner Seafoods would bring in more money if sold as a going concern, rather than auctioning off the assets individually.

This is the second extension the court has granted to Bonnell. Last month, Cheverie gave him another 30 days to try and find a way to deal with his $11 million debt.

Creditors include the Montague-based development agency Active Communities, the P.E.I. government and Linda Love, the sister of company owner Mark Bonnell.

With 250 employees, Mariner Seafoods is one of the biggest employers in the Montague area. The extra time will allow Bonnell and court appointed monitor Grant Thornton to find a buyer for the seafood processing plant.

While Bonnell owes creditors $11 million, he is also owed $4.6 million by 375 lobster fishermen.

But Grant Thornton said that it's unlikely Bonnell will be able to collect the vast majority of the money he's owed.

Donnie Johnston has been selling his fish to the company for 25 years.

"For him to go, being the only independent fish processor left on Prince Edward Island, I think it's just a pure disaster for the fishermen," he said.

"Where do I go? Do I start knocking on somebody else's door that I ignored for the last 25 years, and ask them, 'Please take my fish.' I'm looking to get a price for my fish, but if I start knocking on doors and begging, what am I going to get?"

Provincial Fisheries and Rural Development Minister Neil LeClair just moved his office to Montague, and now it's possible the major fish plant in the area will not open in the spring.

"We have to look at that in the event of something like that happening, and try to mitigate the big issues and try to get the product sold in other areas. But, we'd love to see it continue and work," LeClair said.

The loan from Active Communities was the most recent received by Mariner, funded through a special federal program. Gail Shea, federal fisheries minister and minister responsible for P.E.I., said the government made money available through a number of programs in order to help businesses deal with the cash crunch during the recession. Court documents claim Mariner has paid none of the federal money back.

PEI Business Development is another one of the company's creditors.