About Us
Founded in 1997 by Kevin and Kathy Lee in Oakland, California, Nor-Cal Seafood has grown to be one of the main seafood distributors in the San Francisco Bay Area to markets and restaurants seeking out the best fish there is on the west coast.
John Nguyen (left), Executive Director of the Vietnamese Fisherman’s Association, and Kevin Lee (right) on Lee’s fishing vessel at the Berkeley Marina (image published in the Oakland Tribune, 1992)
Dad and Mom, also known as Kevin and Kathy, immigrated to the U.S. as refugees in the early 1980’s after the Fall of Saigon and end of the Vietnam War. They fled from war, famine, and suffering to start a new life in the U.S. It was here in California that they got married, and later founded Nor-Cal Seafood because of Dad’s love of fishing, seafood, and cooking.
The parents started as commercial fishermen years before Nor-Cal Seafood. We’d sell fish at local farmers and flea markets, and to restaurants and markets in Oakland and San Francisco’s Chinatown. Over time, their business and demand for their live products grew, so they opened up shop in East Oakland.
Today, as the parents near retirement age, the next generation have stepped in to help with daily operations which include the second generation of Lee’s, Jenny and Eric, and the Wong family.
- Written by Jenny Lee