Established in 1989, ISF Trading Inc. is located on Hobson's Wharf on the beautiful waterfront in downtown Portland, Maine. It is the pioneer of the sea urchin industry on the East Coast of the United States and one of the largest sea urchin exporters to Japan from the US . Fresh sea urchin is processed in-house and shipped directly to retail and wholesale customers. ISF's annual sales are about $2 million.

Atchan (Atsushi) Tamaki is the founder of ISF Trading Inc. He was born and grew up in Wakayama, a famous seafood town in Japan. This is where he acquired an appreciation for sea vegetables and fish. He moved to Nebraska from Japan in 1978 to attend college. Atchan moved to Maine in 1985 after graduating from the University of Montana with a degree in business. Shipping live Maine lobsters to Japan introduced him to the Maine sea urchin.

Lan Gao moved to Maine in 1991 from Shanghai, China, and earned a Master's Degree in Education at the University of Southern Maine. A former college language instructor, she has been an office manager for more than 10 years in the seafood industry. Lan has brought extensive management strategies to the business dealing with ISF Trading Inc. clients worldwide.