Boise-based aquarium chain facing allegations of animal abuse files for bankruptcy
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Angela Palermo, Idaho Statesman
(Idaho Statesman) — An aquarium chain whose founder’s brother ran afoul of the law while running a Boise aquarium has filed for bankruptcy.
SeaQuest, which is based in Boise but does not have any locations in Idaho, filed for protection from creditors on Monday in federal bankruptcy court in Idaho.
The company has been plagued by allegations of animal abuse at several of its locations and closed its aquariums in Colorado, Texas and Virginia earlier this year, according to multiple news reports and the Internet Archive. It still has five aquariums in Utah, Nevada, California, Minnesota and New Jersey, its website shows.
Vince Covino, the founder and former CEO of SeaQuest, lives in Boise. He stepped down in August. His brother, Ammon Covino, co-founded the former Idaho Aquarium at the corner of Cole and Franklin roads in 2010 and operated it for about three years.
Ammon Covino went to prison in 2013 for conspiring to bring illegally harvested spotted rays and lemon sharks from Florida to display at the Boise aquarium, the Statesman previously reported.
The aquarium is now run by a nonprofit not associated with the Covinos and was renamed Aquarium of Boise in 2014, according to Nathan Hall, head biologist at the aquarium.
“We don’t have any affiliation with SeaQuest in any way, shape or form,” Hall told the Statesman by phone Tuesday. “But it is at the same site. We’ve worked really, really, really hard to distance ourselves from any sort of connection to them.”
SeaQuest filed under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy law. The chapter is designed to allow businesses to reorganize and pay back debts with protection from creditors in the meantime. An ABC News affiliate in Minnesota first reported the bankruptcy filing.
On its bankruptcy form, under a statement of financial affairs, SeaQuest revealed that its gross revenues dropped from more than $27 million in 2022 to about $15 million this year.
Seaquest CEO Aaron Neilsen told the Idaho Statesman by email Tuesday that the company has a long-term plan in place.
“At this point, it is business as usual,” Neilsen said. “Rest assured that the animals are safe and cared for and our employees are secure.”