uh-oh! [& needs proofreading too.]

America's last sardine plant closing its doors

Associated Press

PROSPECT HARBOR, Maine -- The last sardine cannery in the U.S. packs its last can tomorrow in Prospect Harbor, Maine.

Stinson Seafood has succumbed to the same pressures as other canneries: declining demand triggered by changing tastes, a differing business climate, and stiff competition from overseas.

Lela Anderson has worked in sardine canneries since the 1940s. She can't believe she and her almost 130 co workers at Stinson are about to lose their jobs. She says she'll miss her friends, but won't miss the sardines, which she doesn't eat.

Bumble Bee Foods, which has owned Stinson Seafood since 2004, announced in February it was clsoing the plant because of steep cuts in the amount of herring fishermen are allowed to catch in the Northeast.