Zapata Corp. Forms
New Fishing Group-
Conrad Named President
Zapata Corporation, Zapata
Tower, P.O. Box 4240, Houston,
Texas 77001, announced that it
has consolidated all of its fishing
operations under the management
of a new wholly owned subsidiary,
Zapata Protein, Inc. The company
said that Earl J. Conrad Jr. will
be president of the new Houston-
based unit.
Zapata said that the consolida-
tion involves its menhaden, an-
chovy, tuna and sardine fishing
and processing operations, which
previously had been conducted by
a number of independent subsid-
iaries and affiliates. The company
explained that, under the new
Zapata Protein organization, these
functions are being centralized
into four divisions.
Ronald C. Lassiter, Zapata Cor-
poration senior executive vice
president, said that the company's
fishing activities have grown sub-
stantially in recent years until
today Zapata is one of the largest
companies in the Free World's
fishing industry. He said that,
with the new centralized organi-
zation, management has expanded
its continuity of effort in dealing
with the larger scope, and broader
geographical and resource diver-
sity of its fishing businesses.
"We plan to continue to expand
Zapata's participation in the fish-
ing industry as economics war-
rant," Mr. Lassiter stated. "Do-
mestically, the resources in New
England, the Gulf of Mexico and
the Pacific Northwest are of par-
ticular interest," he said. "Chang-
ing international jurisdictions
point the way to ventures in those
countries which control access to
fish resources, such as Costa Rica
and Mexico," he added.
Mr. Conrad, the new Zapata
Protein president, comes to that
company from Zapata Haynie
Corporation, Zapata's menhaden
fishing operation, where he has
served as president since 1975. A
veteran of 25 years in the indus-
try, he has been associated with
Zapata Haynie and predecessor
companies since 1953.
Also joining Zapata Protein is
Michael L. Patton, who will serve
as vice president-finance and ad-
ministration. Previously, he held a
similar post with Zapata Haynie.
He has been with Zapata since
1971.
Zapata Protein operations pres-
ently include a total of 58 fishing
vessels, 35 spotter aircraft and
seven processing plants, operating
in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and
Costa Rica. In Zapata's fiscal 1977,
fishing provided $86.1 million in
revenues, or about 20 percent of
the parent company's total sales.
The company's fishing operations
currently employ about 2,000 peo-
ple.
Zapata Corporation began its
involvement in the fishing indus-
try in 1967, when it purchased a
Louisiana menhaden fishing oper-
ation which had two processing
plants and a fleet of 16 vessels.
In 1972, the size of the menhaden
operation was doubled with the
acquisition of a Baltimore, Md.-
based firm which had two plants
and 18 vessels.
The company entered the tuna
fishing business in 1973, when it
made the first of several separate
vessel purchases. Acquisition of a
Canadian tuna cannery and fleet
early in 1976 provided vertical
integration for the tuna opera-
tion, and gave Zapata its entry
into the consumer marketplace
with a substantial share of the
Canadian market for canned tuna.
Later that year, a Zapata joint
venture on Mexico's Pacific coast
began an anchovy fishing and
processing operation.
In 1977, Zapata transferred
some of its tuna vessels to a joint
venture in Costa Rica, which
added tuna fishing and canning to
its existing sardine fishing and
processing operations. Plans for a
new joint venture for tuna fish-
ing and processing in Mexico are
nearing completion.
Under the new Zapata Protein
organization, the company's ma-
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